Camera Problem

[Mike Buckles]

Aside from my main super 8 bell and howell ms45, i have an older Technicolor super 8 camera and projector made in 1968...I bought it off of a friend about 8 years ago...The projector works, but it uses those funky Technicolor looped cartridges, so I just use it for display...it's very retro looking, design is straight out of the Jetson's...really cool! The camera is in good physical shape too, but I tried putting batteries in it last night, and it won't run...it does have a separate mercury battery for the light meter...if that needs replacing, will that prevent the entire camera from running? I also noticed some green color around the mercury battery cover...is this oxidation? I bought the set mainly for the cool projector, I just thought i'd try the camera if I could. Mike

[wahiba]

Possibly

Automatic light meters do not actually open and close the iris, they set a stop which is then mechanically reached as the iris is operated by the camera mechanism. Now it might be your camera has an interlock that means that if the iris stop has not moved the power is not available to the rest of the camera. This will be provided to prevent a duff film being produced.

Note: modern automatic self focussing probably use a seperate power source for the iris and focussing, but I doubt if yours falls into this category.

[Alex]

Any Luck getting the camera to work?

[Mike Buckles]

No, I can't get the mercury battery cover off...is welded on shut...i'll have to take a pair of pliers with a washcloth wrapped over the screw cover to get it off, the green oxidation has sealed the cover tight! The camera was an expensive one in it's day (1968)...i saw my friend's purchase agreement with the store..for the camera and projector, it was 800.00...a pretty penny in 1968! The camera is solidly built....metal and plastic...and has some nice features...even has manual exposure lock...pretty advanced for 1968...i do want to shoot one roll with it....but i think after my bell and howell ms45, i'll probably be disappointed with the results! mike

[Mike Buckles]

Hey..since Technicolor is still in business, I should be able to send it to them for repair, right? If they could fix it, would probably cost more than 4 times what the camera is worth! mike

[Alex]

That would still be a bargain!