The task at hand with Mitchell Standard #46 is now to put metal back where it was unceremoniously removed. This problem is compounded by the fact that so much material was removed from the bottom of the camera casting, that some areas are perilously thin. After three days of contemplating the next steps, and a […]
Mitchell Standard 46 – Creating the Replacement Bottom and Front Plates Read More »
To go along with our ongoing restoration of Mitchell Standard #46, we are currently in the process of researching the history of the camera’s first owner, the Christie Film Company. Brothers Al and Charles Christie founded the Christie Film Company in Hollywood in 1916 and produced short and feature-length comedies through 1933. The Great Depression
Some Help with a History of the Christie Film Co. Read More »
Progress at last! Sadly Mitchell 46 has been far more butchered than I had anticipated. Still, we shall persevere. I managed to get about 90% of the working pieces out of the camera casting, though the shutter shaft stubbornly remains in place due to corrosion. The screw that holds the focal plane shutter to the
Undoing What Has Been Done – Mitchell Standard 46 Read More »
I have been working minus one thumb this week after having some minor surgery last week, and am unable to lift anything over 5lbs. for a few more days, so a brief update this week. I was able to calculate how much material needs to be added back to Mitchell Standard no. 46, as well
Wounded Camera, Wounded Engineer Read More »
The starting point to restore Mitchell Standard #46 is to determine exactly what and how much material was removed from the original casting. The problem with this particular camera is that the previous owner machined away all of the material that registered the dovetails, the rackover registration plate, and the rack gears that slid the
Assessing the Damage: Mitchell Standard sn. 46 Read More »
Now that the Fox Cine Simplex camera is finished, it is time to take up another long-term restoration project. I won’t be working on this one full time, as there is much other work to be done, but it is finally time to begin bringing Mitchell Standard sn. 46 back to life. In its previous
A New Project Begins: Mitchell Standard sn.46 Read More »
The Twentieth Century-Fox Cine Simplex camera represented a revolutionary change in the design and intended use of a studio sound production camera. From its inception, this camera was designed specifically to be sound silent without the added size and weight of a blimp housing. To achieve this, the camera’s designers rethought everything about how the
Fox Cine Simplex Now Available! Read More »
I have come as close to completion on the Fox Cine Simplex as time allows. This camera is 95% complete and in good working order, with the exception of a few parts that make the automatic slater and follow focus units work. Some of the parts that attach the automatic slater to the camera are
An End of the Journey, and Some Reflections Read More »
The camera is all back together and, as you’ll see in the video, it is amazingly quiet. I hope you will forgive the road noise in the background, but frankly I just couldn’t drag the camera back upstairs where it is quieter. At the end of the video is a demonstration of the unique rackover
A Penultimate Update on the Fox Camera Read More »
My disappointment was palpable, though not unexpected, when I turned the camera on for the first time and heard the terrible sound of the shutter scraping against the innards of the camera. The journey now returned to taking the camera apart again, and removing the camera from the rackover cradle so I could get to
Oxidation Troubles with the Fox Camera Shutter Read More »
