16mm -- Cine Kodak Special or K-3?

Chamber005

Chamber005

Carbonite Member
I'm going to be doing some 16mm work (first time) on a project.

I have the option to either use a Cine Kodak Special or a K-3.

Any advice on which one I should use and why?

Thanks!
 
Sorry. Meant to respond to this the other day.

Personally, I'd go with the K-3. (Mind you, I haven't shot with the Kodak, but I have some with the K-3.)

It just seems that there are so many more K-3 resources out there now, including S16 mods, interval and timelapse motors, and newer, fresher bodies. I actually think one of the CA film schools (USC, maybe?) was using some of them just recently.
 
Haven't used the Kodak, but I've owned and used many K-3s over the years. The K-3 is hit or miss. If you get a good one, it's a great little spring-wound 16mm camera. But if you get a dodgy one (supposedly those that were manufactured on Friday, or on a Monday after a hard weekend's vodka binge) then... not so good.

Kodak probably uses c-mount lenses and might have a wide variety, whereas the K3's M42 lens mount means you could use still-camera SLR lenses. The lens on the K-3's not bad at all, it's a 4:1 zoom with, I think, an f/1.9 - T2.2 maximum opening. I presume they're both spring-wound, which means you'll get about 25 seconds of running time from the K3, don't know about the Kodak.

K-3 has a built-in light meter but it's dodgy, I'd recommend using an external...
 
Yeah, I've noticed that there are entire sites (and stores) still active catering to the K-3. I've also heard, though, as Barry mentioned that they can be hit or miss.

I didn't know about the still lenses fitting on a K-3. That's pretty awesome as well...
 
DJDecay said:
Agree 100%, but it mostly depends not on the Vodka, but more on whom maintained, cared-for and other factors for the camera and which manufacturing plant in Russia it came from (no they were not all made equal on the Krasnogorsk Line). And who was the target destination customer for the camera, Govt' Employees, Military, Export, Regular users.

K-3 takes M42 lenses, but the most flexible results I got with the built-in Meteor.
The C-Mount cameras don't quite deliver.
If the OP gets a dodgy K-3 the first thing will be is - Groun Glass out of collimation (focusing will suffer), 2nd Flicker in the footage.

The built-in TTL light meter works great, even though it was designed for another battery no longer made, but I've always metered separately for the film-stock.

The included ND filters are okay, the yellow filter is absolutely useless.

To the OP:
I own 3, one with GG out of collimation, 1 serivced at able Cine with Flicker problems 1 with both. - They take only 100ft day-light rolls of film and can speed up-to about 30 seconds per take, so MOS only please.
You'll need to have a de-flicker method for your telecine footage. Test first with a day-light roll.

I chap on Cinematography.com asked another to adopt a Kinor 16mm lens to the K3, worked very well for him - he shot a whole music vid.

Don't buy into the hype of converting them to super-16. Not very useful.
(my milage is based on Kodak Vidion 2 negative stock, at 50/100/500ASA)

I would run like from fire away from the Kodak camera.

Also the OP should opt for getting the M42 mount (not the bayonet mount) version with Cyrillic Kransogorsk-3 not english lettering.
With a Kit that includes the Meteor, 2 diopters/ND/Yellow filters.

The OP should also not forget that aside from the Chap Digibeta Interlaced (SD) transfer, he might want a higher quality transfer from the Spirit Datacine, which will cost way more in $$$ than just the stock and processing and TC rushes.
Click to expand...

When you mentioned the type of lettering, were you speaking specifically about the mount or the camera itself?

The one I just picked up was probably an 80s, mass production model as it reflects the Zenit logo as well as Krasnogorsk-3
 
That is seriously tempting.

Sad thing is, I just sold a crystal-sync 35mm movie camera with four lenses and all the accessories, for the same price as that Super8 camera...
 
Barry_Green said:
That is seriously tempting.

Sad thing is, I just sold a crystal-sync 35mm movie camera with four lenses and all the accessories, for the same price as that Super8 camera...
Click to expand...


Super 8 can't be utilized for any sort of filmmaking, can it? I mean, except for some akward fringe stuff?

I'm totally clueless on 8mm. I just always assumed that it bred too tiny a frame.
 
Super 8 is a quirky look, and it's about standard-def resolution. It's fun for what it is, but it's nothing more than what it is.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top