Film camera books and resources?

J

JaredSMark

Active member
I'd like to study up on cinema/film cameras of yesteryear, the ones used in the hits, but the ones used for the more underground stuff too. There seems to be an severe lack of information on these things, at least when I search for them on Google. Are there any books out there on the subject? Bonus points if it's from the 70s or 80s. Maybe there's even a forum for this stuff?
 
You might want to take a look at back issues and archives at magazines like American Cinemaphotographer , Filmmaker, ICG, British Cinemaphotographer or websites like http://www.cinematography.com/.

I'm going to go out on a limb and suggest that the vast majority of American films made between 1920 and 1950 were made with Mitchell cameras. Films made in Europe were more likely made with Arri cameras. Films made in the Soviet Union were made with various soviet knockoffs of Mitchell and Arri cameras.
 
If you're more interested in independent/underground/experimental/verite style film rather than Hollywood, see if you can get a copy of Lenny Lipton's _Independent Filmmaking_ (1972), which was a virtual catalog of the tools and techniques of the day, told with a great deal of verve and personal conviction. Apparently, used copies are available on Amazon:

http://www.amazon.com/Independent-filmmaking-Lenny-Lipton/dp/0879320109

The emphasis is very much on the 16mm format. A few years later, he also wrote _The Super 8 Book_ (1975) that covers the equipment of that time; my opinion is that it hasn't aged quite as well as the first book, however:

http://www.amazon.com/The-super-book-Lenny-Lipton/dp/0879320915

Both of these were very influential for me in my student days.

An interesting footnote is that although he has spent most of his life in the film business, Lenny Lipton is actually best known as the songwriter of "Puff, The Magic Dragon." :)

- Greg
 
Last edited:
If you really want to play with this stuff, a Krasnogorsk 16mm is considered a great entry level camera. I knew a DP who was crazy about his. They often on ebay for $250 or so complete. But do some googling, supposedly there are US importers who get the good ones or tune them up.

Look for one converted to super 16 - almost grabbed on from eBay for under $400 once. There are companies that will sell you your film, and after you shoot you return the rolls with a hard drive. they process and scan and return it all to you.
 
I have a Krasnogorsk optical viewfinder that I was going to use for something else that could be sold if anyone is interested.
 
I got my super-16 modified Krasnogorsk K3 a few days ago.
I have a Bolex H16 which is nice but I think this is better if I compare build and form factor.

I ordered an m42 mount since I have loads of m42 lenses.
Unfortunately they sent me the wrong one and I got a Bayonett. But I need it for this weekend so I will just go with it.

Payed $199 on eBay, it's almost mint.

Very excited to see the footage.

 
$200 for a super-16 modded Kras? SCORE! I think the mod alone is a couple hundred bucks!

I believe someone still sells a crystal synch motor for those too.
 
There is atleast one a week on eBay for about $200.
But it's just the gate that's modified so the lens isn't centered perfectly.
So in essence one could modify the gate DIY really easy.

But I'm happy :)
 
If you can find older editions of the ASC cinematographer's manuals they pretty much cover the full loading, operating, and basic maintenance procedures for most 35mm and 16mm film cameras available when they were published.
 
Lobbamobba said:
There is atleast one a week on eBay for about $200.
But it's just the gate that's modified so the lens isn't centered perfectly.
So in essence one could modify the gate DIY really easy.

But I'm happy :)
Click to expand...

Yep, but the lens centering issue is only really apparent if you're doing zooms, right?

Of course if you're shooting 16mm, you'll probably feel that "it's the 70s!! I'm gonna zoom on this shot" sensation.

Watched The French Connection with my wife last night and I kept saying "zoooooooom!!!! zoooooooooom!!" Very 70's. I asked if she noticed (and she's a smarty-pants, PhD anthropologist). She said "well, I guess there is something dated about those shots but it didn't jump out at me". I think when the whole look and feel is kind of dated, it just fits to the average viewer. Still, I bet directors were pretty psyched when the techno crane came out...
 
Michael Carter said:
Yep, but the lens centering issue is only really apparent if you're doing zooms, right?

Of course if you're shooting 16mm, you'll probably feel that "it's the 70s!! I'm gonna zoom on this shot" sensation.

Watched The French Connection with my wife last night and I kept saying "zoooooooom!!!! zoooooooooom!!" Very 70's. I asked if she noticed (and she's a smarty-pants, PhD anthropologist). She said "well, I guess there is something dated about those shots but it didn't jump out at me". I think when the whole look and feel is kind of dated, it just fits to the average viewer. Still, I bet directors were pretty psyched when the techno crane came out...
Click to expand...

I shot a little family film today at my parents summer house and threw a few zooms in it just for kicks :)
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top