Quieting an Arri 16S with a Blimp

[Timmyjoe]

Was able to win an eBay auction for an ARRI Lightweight Fibre Glass Blimp 16 last month. It came from the inventory of RIT's film department and I had talked with their equipment person about it. He assured me the Blimp was like "Brand New" and he thought it had never been used.

Turned out that it probably hadn't been used in decades, ever since someone broke it. A number of the wires were broken off down inside the sound proof housing and many little parts were missing. Luckily it's a typical ARRI piece of equipment from that period, which means it's totally rebuild-able. I was able to disassemble the whole thing, fix the broken wires, find numerous lost small parts lodged deep in the guts of the inner cavity, and get it all back up and working. Now even the little interior lights work. It's really a cool piece of equipment with its built in follow focus and iris controls. It is quite heavy though at 42 lbs with camera and full 400 ft load.

And it is quite large:

http://www.arri16s.com/Assets/images/BlimCamC.jpg

Anyway, I just added a new page to the "How To" section of the web site. You can view it by clicking on the link entitled, "Quieting an Arriflex 16S - Part #2, Using an ARRI Lightweight Blimp 16".

Arri16S.com (http://www.arri16s.com/)

It compares the sound levels (with audio clips) of the camera running by itself (Naked), the camera running in the Custom Upholstery Products Barney, and the camera running in the ARRI Lightweight Fibre Glass Blimp 16.

Enjoy,
-Tim

[cyclone]

I used one of those blimps with great success. The only problem is that you need a worrall head and a heavy duty set of sticks to put it on.

[Timmyjoe]

That's the truth.

[Dmitry Kichenko]

Wow, looks cool. And BIG. The 16S looks like a toycamera next to it!

Did you ask for some money back after winning the auction by the way?

[Erik Olson]

There were several occassions I wished I had one of these for my 16S/B. Nice revamp - it's good that there's someone out there taking care of these great cameras.

e

[Timmyjoe]

There were several occassions I wished I had one of these for my 16S/B. Nice revamp - it's good that there's someone out there taking care of these great cameras.

e

Thanks. I am truly amazed by the designs of the cameras and the accessories. They are absolutely beautiful.

-Tim

PS: If you ever need anything taken care of on your S/B, I hope you look me up.

[Timmyjoe]

Did you ask for some money back after winning the auction by the way?

When the Blimp first arrived (in a shipping crate no less, it's really big), I opened it up and found that all the electrical connection plugs were severely corroded from years of sitting in a moist environment. So I contacted the seller who sent me a rather nasty reply saying they wouldn't take it back or refund any of my money because there was a little "as is" note on the auction, which was hard to notice because of the really big, "All items were student-used and were pulled from service when new, replacement equipment was purchased. They were working when last used. All obvious damage will be noted and we will include notes, if any, from the university." Of course nowhere on the auction did they mention all the electrical contacts being corroded or parts missing.

So no, I did not get any money back. Oh well, it's eBay, what do you expect.

Cheers,
-Tim