Filmshooting

For short scenes, it is worth knowing that even ordinary portable mono cassette recorders in good condition are stable to better than 0.2%. That is a quarter of a second in one and a half minutes. I've tested a large number of both portable recorders and those in hi-fi stacks and none of them has be...

You should be able to see through the lens if the 85 filter moves out of the way. The fit of the key is fairly firm (to hold a movie light securely) but don't overdo it! 'scope', from 'CinemaScope' means full widescreen, twice the width of the normal 4 x 3 screen. A lens on the front of the camera s...

The 'bit of metal' is the 85 switch. Normally the movie light mounts in that slot. It should go in around 3/4".

My 518SV is normally used for 'scope. I, too, have a 738: a very nice camera that takes noticeably sharper pics than any other camera I have.

Don't dismiss the humble audio cassette recorder. Performance can be very good. Stability is better than you might think. I've tested many, both portable and fixed, and seldom found one whose speed stability is worse than 0.2%. This is equivalent to holding lip-sync over around 100 seconds.

For still photography, the 'normal' lens has a focal length equal to the frame diagonal. This gives the closest to the effect of normal vision on perspective. For cine, this would be 5.6 mm for R8 and 6.8 mm for S8. However, camera lenses are usually slightly longer than this:about 6.5 mm for R8 and...

500 W photofloods get pretty hot so a metal/ceramic socket is a good idea. Another help is to use a lamp dimmer to run them up and down slowly: this greatly increases their life. Moeover, you can use a lower-power setting to make a djustment and set focus.

Chinon also did a sync system with a dedicated cassette recorder and C200 SP projector. The recorder could also use the projector as a sync source for adding commentary.

There are special greases for nylon, and plastic gears generally. Small grease kits are available for servicing video recorders etc. Never use a mineral grease, it will eventually harden and embrittle nylon.

Yes, I've had the odd cart. take 3 - 4 weeks. Don't Panic.

From the UK, registered cash is a cheaper alternative to bank transfer. Sending cash otherwise has become a no-no since all airmail is being x-rayed. Shows up the metal bits in notes beautifully! Then they vanish ... . If cash is the only way, wrap it around a bit of aluminium sheet (1.5 mm ish) and...

Take scrap R8 colour film and soak it in a 50/50 solution of household bleach for an hour or so. Result: clear leader.

Belts: take a look at

http://www.filmshooting.com./community/ ... /belts.php

The belting is available from

http://www.isoplethics.co.uk/belts.htm

who ship worldwide.

You can always look through

http://www.kolumbus.fi/puistot/

I have one of these, and use it a lot. It works fine. It is worth looking for the handle with the built-in intervalometer and trigger.

I actually have one of these and have to say that as a general purpose camera, it is probably the least user friendly one I know. The lens on mine is a bit stiff and the power zoom doesn't really happen either. You must have a duff one. Mine is excellent - I've had two. The current one has the inte...