COMMIE CAMS

[Spoon boy]

I'm thinking in purchasing a Krasnogorsk 3 16mm film camera but before i do i would like to know if there are any "MAJOR" niggles with it? I'm told these are great cameras for beginners.

Also...

I've been looking into 16mm to dv telecine transfers. The average price i have found for 100 foot of film is between ?40 to ?60. It seems it's actually cheaper doing it yourself with a projector and a transfer box. I will be going this way if nobody can suggest a cheaper alternative or lab.

Filmmaking by definition of the word isn't encouraged over here like it is in the U.S.A. Perhaps that's obvious but I can see why many people stick with D.V. People get intimidated by the whole process because you never get a straight answer from anyone. I'd like to prove me and the people wrong and say it's not a scary experience. I would like to gain a less of a bias towards film.

Thanks for your help.

[technicolour]

it russian for a start, and its got a clockwork motor

Ask in one of the super 8 forums theres far more people into 16mm in there

[Spoon boy]

I see your point.

[wahiba]

Don't know about the 16mm camera, but the standard 8mm I had for years and the super 8 recently acquired are both built like tanks. The Standard 8 was used until I acquired a Fuji Single-8 P2 that fits in the pocket. I was in to hiking then and the Ruskies are no light weights.

One advantage of a clockwork camera is that you do not waste film on overlong shots which then get edited to nothing. Get yourself an old Johnson calculator for exposures and you go anywhere and film without electricity.

As for DIY telecine. It seems to be variable and has a lot to do with the camcorder, quality of the image etc. I am quite happy with my efforts, but short of catching an exclusive of the second coming I am unlikely to make my fortune.

My, very, amaterur efforts can be seen on the site on the signature.

Good luck, and do not forget the wrist exercises!

[Spoon boy]

Exercising.

Johnson calculator? Do you mean a light meter of some sort.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 27, 2002 11:27 AM: Message edited by: Spoon boy ]</font>

[Lightingcam]

The K3 is similar in principle as the Bolex 16, being a clockwork camera it is no good for sync sound, as it's noisy and doesn't run at sync speed. It can also only run at 24 f.p.s instead of 25. The built-in light meter runs of a PX-640 mercury battery, which is no longer available, as mercury cells were banned years ago, for being evil pollutants to the environment. The only way to run the light meter is to buy a PX-640 adapter (difficult to source through specialist photographic suppliers for use in 60's and 70's cameras) as so you can adapt a 1.2 volt zinc air (hearing aid battery which lasts 4 months and expires whether you use it or not) battery. The 17-69mm f1.9 standard Zenit zoom lens is only optically of passable quality when compared to lenses made by their German or French counterparts. The Zenit is a little on the soft side.

Now the good points. It's affordable and you can get it converted to Super 16, but as there is no ground glass viewfinder available framing for 16:9 is based mainly on guesswork. The K3 uses the old M42 screw mount, so you can fit old screw mount lenses (CHEAP!) for 35mm SLRs, which is useful is you need lenses with long focal lengths.

As for transferring 16mm to tape by filming off a projector - Don't do it! It just looks awful, unless it's for personal use. But if you're going for an edit, see what kind of deal you can get at the lab for a neg dev and telecine, as telecine is charged by the 1/2 and 1 hour, as opposed to per 100ft rolls.

Finally, a Johnson's calculator was a basic exposure calculator popular in the UK in the 50's and 60's. I'd say, Buy a lightmeter.....

[wahiba]

Best place to find a Johnsons Calculator is at a Camera collectors Fair.

They are surprisingly accurate for general use. many times I have compared the calculator with the meter, and it is always spot on. Even with a meter it is necessary to make allowances for shade etc. factors that you dial in on one of these devices.

As for telecine. I was told by someone who should know that the BBC often use the video off the screen technique. Probably for old films used in documentaries and reckoning that any extra quality from a more modern method not being worth it. I doubt, however, that they use the technique for new films.

In reverse, at one time the only way to record a TV production was to film it off the screen. Of coures, this was in the days when 1984 and the like with Peter Cushing were transmited live.