One of the finest examples of Panavision’s legendary engineering, the PSR was introduced ca. 1967 and met with immediate success across the movie making world. Based on the Mitchell NC and BNC cameras, the Panavision PSR was smaller, lighter, quieter, and easier to use than the Mitchell BNC or BNCR. Under the guidance of Robert […]
Panavision SPSR Super R200 sn. 160 Read More »
While I had the movement out of a Mitchell GC, I thought I would demonstrate the lubrication points on the movement for those who have never worked with one of these cameras. 1. Movement removed from camera 2. Working from top to bottom, 1st is the cam that operates the registration pins. A drop of
Lubricating a Mitchell GC Camera Movement Read More »
As we were going over the 3 Blanke cameras we showed last week, we found that the 2 GCs were missing their flywheels, and all of the cameras desperately needed to be serviced after sitting unused for so long. These cameras were previously used to shoot time lapse sequences, and it was common to remove
Mitchell GC sn. 903 Read More »
New arrivals! After many twists and turns with Fedex, we finally took delivery of equipment from the collection of Gunnar Blanke, a filmmaker from the Denver, CO area. Lots of neat stuff in this collection, including a Mitchell NC that was purchased by Lookout Mountain in 1959, two Mitchell GCs, an Akeley Gyro Head, a
An Estate Purchase Out of Colorado Read More »
It’s alive! The FC friction head restoration is finally complete! Here, you can see the friction head supporting Mitchell FC camera sn.8. Mitchell friction heads have a surprising number of parts that all had to be reconditioned or remanufactured in order to make this unit complete again. The casting hides 10 steel friction plates, 14
The Mitchell FC Friction Head Is Complete! Read More »
After much struggle, hammering, prying, wiggling, pushing, and pulling, I was finally able to completely disassemble this much abused unit. It is shown here in its current state, all the pieces cleaned for rust, petrified grease, and stripped of the old, crumbling paint. I still need to make a couple more parts before everything gets
An Update on the Mitchell FC Friction Head Read More »
A pan/tilt head for our John Wayne Grandeur camera! My friend Michael Geiger came across this partial original Mitchell FC friction head and was nice enough to sell it to me. It arrived missing the top plate, tie-down screw, castle nut, handle attachment plate, and the telescopic handle. But, it has an original Mitchell FC
Mitchell FC Friction Head Restoration Read More »
In the days of yore, back when I was shooting movies with Mitchell and Bell & Howell cameras, we often struggled with getting leather belts spliced together so they ran quietly and smoothly. Several of the assistant cameramen I worked with had a bag full of pieces that they would use to splice belts together.
Leather Camera Belt Splicing Block Read More »
We had so many interesting comments on last week’s trip down memory lane, I thought I would show another interesting solution to a problem we ran into while shooting space ships. Budget always being a problem, I had to devise a way to get close enough to the miniatures to give the illusion of the
Mitchell Underslung Magazine Adapter Read More »
A trip down memory lane . . . The movie industry always calls for unique solutions to unique problems. Many of us without the budget to build a Dykstraflex needed a device that would allow our cameras to be focused by computer control and hold the camera at nodal point. To solve this problem, I
Mitchell Follow Focus L-base Read More »
