One of the things that kept getting put off when we moved from our previous location at MovieTech Studios to our current location in Lawndale is organizing the many, many boxes of documents and printed materials I have collected over the years. Many of these items are service and parts manuals for various cameras, but […]
Almost Finished with Organizing and Labeling Our Library Read More »
During the steady and scratch test on this Fries VistaVision camera, the operator noticed an unusual noise. The camera was brought to me so I could take a look. What I discovered was that the camera had been in storage for a while, and the lubrication in the shutter and spinning mirror assemblies had dried
Maintenance on the Fries VistaVision Camera Read More »
I know I said it was going to be a couple of weeks before I reported back on the problem with this Fries VistaVision camera, and at the time, it seemed it was going to take a lot more detective work. It turns out that the problems were simpler than I feared. The first problem
Revisiting the Fries VistaVision Camera Read More »
Recently, my friend and long-time client Ben Ziryab asked if I could diagnose a rough spot in the drive of this Fries Engineering-built VistaVision camera. This camera is based on a Mitchell VistaVision movement that has been installed in a custom Fries camera body with custom electronics. When this camera arrived, it had a profound
When last we talked, I shared with you a collection of lenses that were used by visual effects master David Allen. With the exception of one particularly stubborn zoom lens, I have finished cleaning, lubricating, and collimating all of the lenses I shared. This week I promised to give you a look at one of
A Fries Mitchell 35R from the Studio of David Allen Read More »
A client asked me to inspect 2 more Fries 15-perf pull-across 3×65 IMAX-format movements. At first, this looked like it would be a simple project as I rebuilt a similar movement to these recently. However, no simple repair is ever as simple as it seems, and during my initial examination of the first of these
I’ve had to put all other projects on hold for a week or so while I rebuild two more of the Fries 3×65 Imax-format camera movements. Still facing a few challenges to getting the movements back into good working order, but I will meet that challenge by sometime early next week. In the meantime, I
A Simple Update to the MovieCam SuperAmerica Magazines Read More »
I acquired this Fries 35R3 camera as part of a retired cinematographer’s kit and held onto it for a while to play with it as it just had so many lens mounts! Now that my curiosity is satisfied, I began to go through the camera to make it ready for sale. The interesting thing I
Lens Mounts for All Occasions: The Versatile Fries 35R3 Read More »
Last week we had a sneak peak at the Moviecam SuperAmerica and the two Showscan CP65 cameras as a couple of the many ongoing projects on my plate right now. On my list of tasks this week were: sourcing and ordering new batteries for the SuperAmerica camera and magazine digital counters; begin planning the baseplates
Even More Too Many Projects Read More »
Last week’s brilliant solution to modify the Fries 3×65 15-perf pull-across camera was partially unsuccessful when the camera was run at speed. Join me as I rethink the problem with the pull-down assembly on this Fries 3×65 camera movement.
Fries Engineering 3×65 15-perf Camera Movement Modification, Again Read More »
