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Website about my antique 35mm movie camera

Herb Montes

Herb Montes

I put up a site about a 35mm movie camera I recently acquired. I have not found any information about the company that made it. My best guess is this camera was made in the 1930's. Anyone who might have more information about this camera I would appreciate it if you contacted me. Thank you.

http://www.hmontes.com/Sites/cine35mm.htm
 
Whoa 100ft loads thats pretty hard core!

Sorry I don't know much about that camera! It must have been from the 30's though because I dont think cameras were non crank until after talkies came out.
 
Wow that's some camera you got there Herb! :) How did you come across it? Does it still run? That's pretty crazy for a 35mm camrea to take 100ft spools! Don't know anything about the camera, but I hope you'll find someone that might be able to help you.
 
@Hailtotheking: I found the camera on the Pacific Rim Camera website. I was looking for lenses when I came across it. Yes, it does run, just needs a little cleaning and lubrication. I found lenses for it though they come from Russia. I plan on modifying this camera to shoot stop motion animation by adding an animation motor. The 100 foot capacity is ideal for this kind of use. Supposedly cameras like these were used for newsreel filming.

@Zensteve: The plate holding the lens moves over so it sits in front of the side viewfinder to make it easy to focus through it. The venerable Mitchell from the same period racked-over the entire body to allow focusing and framing through the taking lens.
 
A perfect example would be the camera that Buster Keaton uses in The Cameraman, in which he is a news camera op, obviously only 100ft loads.

The Mitchell would have taken 400ft loads and eclipsed the long standing work horse of the movie industry, the B&H 2709 (A beauty of a cam.)

I was going to suggest that about the only thing you can do with a 100ft load would be stop motion animation, trying to make films with it would be like.. what, 30-40secs on actual capture time?
 
100 feet of 35mm at 24fps is about 1 minute of film time. I want to eventually get a Mitchell or a Bell & Howell 2709. Right now for longer rolls and pin registration accuracy I have a Russian-made 35mm movie camera called the Rodina. I'm making an animation drive for that as well. This camera is heavy and bulky plus the 400' magazines uses non-standard cores. The magazines are on either side and it's not easy to thread.
 
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Lol thats rediculous!

Unless you have 7-15k you cant afford a nice 2709 though. I've been looking for one as a prop for a project a few years down the line, but it may be less expensive to just build a case replica, or comprimise with a mitchell.

Did you not find the Konvas suitable for stop motion? I thought it had single frame ability?
 
I do have a Konvas which I planned to use for animation, it does have a single frame shaft. But it can't backwind. The Rodina, besides having pin registration and reflex viewing, also has a variable shutter and can run backwards. I can use it for multiple exposures and special matte effects.
 
Zensteve said:
What is a rackover plate? Some kind of precursor to a reflex lens?
Click to expand...

I still can't fathom racking the lens over to focus, then racking back and seeing nothing through the viewfinder during the actual shot. But apparently, that is the way it was done for a few decades.

There were some lenses made with built in viewfinders but they only fit on certain cameras. The viewfinder itself sticks out from the lens in such a way that screwing it onto certain 35mm cameras was virtually impossible.
 
You may want to edit your previous links.
 
indietalk said:
You may want to edit your previous links.
Click to expand...

Thanks, I'm in the process of setting up a website which will show my collection of cameras for live action animation. In fact I'm close to acquiring a Mitchell.

Update: I have removed the old links that no longer work.
 
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I'm going to be taking this site down since I want to sell the camera. I would really rather have a 35mm Mitchell but for the time being I got enough professional gear as it is with my Rex5, 16mm Mitchell and CP-16. And I don't have the room to maintain a collection as I would rather have equipment I can use.
 
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