Should I buy a movie camera?

In My Humble Opinion
1

I’ve been wanting to make films for some years now (I actually even have a degree in it, although I’ve never used it), and with my tax refund this year I can afford to buy a moderate-quality 16mm camera, like maybe a Bolex. I’m thinking I could get a camera, start playing around with reversal film stock, then after a while take on some more ambitious projects.

The thing is, film editing is expensive and inconvenient, while at the same time video editing is convenient and practically free.

But a video camera that makes images approaching the quality of 16mm film is well beyond my budget (I think; I’d love to be told I’m wrong (if I actually AM wrong)). So I’m on the horns of a dilemma.

Shout outs to Cartooniverse and any other movie-savvy Dopers who may be able to help me with this.

2

Funny you should mention that. I just called Kodak for five rolls each of 7276 Plus-X and 7278 Tri-X.

If you’re looking at 16mm cameras there is one thing you need to remember: You won’t be able to record sound on your (seperate) recorder unless the camera is quiet. So if you’re thinking of making a “talkie”, you can pretty much forget a Bolex. (If you’re innovative you can do it, but it would be a hassle.) Also, you’re inexpensive Bolex isn’t going to have a crystal motor on it to keep the film rolling at precisely 24 fps. If you’re looking for a good, quiet, crystal-controlled camera, you can look at the Eclair NPR. (No, mine’s not for sale!) A kit with a zoom lens, two 400’ magazines, battery, cable, charger and case should be between $4,000 and $6,000.

You can have the film duplicated onto tape with the time code burned in or not, and edit on your computer.

I have three Bolexes of different types. One accepts 400’ mags and has a nice zoom lens with a “dog-leg” reflex viewfinder, one is a REX-1 reflex camera with two primes, and one is a non-reflex with primes and a top viewer. Seems I have two Bolexes too many, actually. (I’d like to keep the REX-1. I don’t need the M-5 because my Arriflex has a zoom lens and accepts 400’ mags.)

I also have two Krasnagorsk-3s ("K-3"s), which is one too many.

If you don’t want to make a “feature film” and don’t mind using cameras you have to wind up, a Bolex or a Krasnagorsk is a nice thing to have. I like the Bolex better, but the Kras is great because of its funky Russian engineering. While we shot most of Night for Nixie on DV, we did use the Kras for a shot, and it turned out great.

There is a thread about the premiere of Night for Nixie, but the board is so sackin’ slow that I can’t do a search for it in MPSIMS. If you want to read it, and if you can search, look for “bellingham” and “movie” in MPSIMS.

3

Okay, here’s the link to the movie premiere thread in MPSIMS.

4

I do want to make talkies, and I know the Bolex is notoriously noisy. But I can’t afford $4-$6000 worth of camera; I’m thinking more like $1000. Is it such a big deal to wrap a blanket around a Bolex, as Rick Schmidt suggests? Or are there less-noisy inexpensive cameras out there? What about a CP-16?

5

I haven’t used a CP-16, so I don’t know. No, it’s not a big deal to wrap a blanket around a Bolex. To stop the noise from being projected through the lens you might try this: Get a large down jacket and wrap the camera in it. Put the lens through a sleeve. Get a piece of optical glass (a clear filter) and gaffer-tape it to the sleeve hole. Have an assistant hold the filter so that it does not touch the lens. That should quiet the thing fairly well.

Other things to do would be to: A) Don’t shoot indoors. B) Put the camera well away from the actors (and staying downwind can help too.) C) Loop the whole thing. (i.e., “dub” the voices. Can be a real pain in the nuts.) D) Keep dialog to a minimum.

If you are shooting for dialog, you run into the problem of synching the sound and picture. This will require the crystal-controlled camera and tape recorder I mentioned earlier. With the advances in computer editing software, you might be able to synch it up in editing. Robert Rodriguez used a non-synch camera on El Mariachi. Not only that, but he shot the scene, then restaged it for sound. Weird. When he edited, he kept on the actors until they started getting obviously out-of-synch, then he cut away. It worked!

If you do get a Bolex (as much as I like the Krasnagorsk-3, the Bolex is much better IMO), you can always get a crystal motor (about $1,100) later. It won’t be extremely useful if you only have 100’ loads, but if you should get a Bolex with 400’ capacity then it will be great. (You’ll have to request that it be wired to work with the 400’ mags.)

LMK what goes on. I love filmmaking, even though we never have a budget!

6

Can I kill a thread, or what?