Crystal Eyemo up and Running

[Will2]

Finally have my 35mm crystal Eyemo up and running after much testing and lens mount maneuvering. This has a Nikon mount on it. Previously it had a Panavision mount but it's a little impractical to rent a Panavision lens for anything, much less to put on an Eyemo. Must have several million dollars worth of production insurance. The leaf pile gig just didn't have the budget.

Little camera takes a good picture...even if each load is less than a minute. Must have been a pain on the WWII battlefield changing the film out constantly as bullets were flying.

http://vimeo.com/35259360

[carllooper]

Beautiful. Stunning. Gorgeous. Love the punctuation as well (lens flare, light leaks,frame jumps).

[grainy]

Gorgeous indeed.
I may have missed this earlier, but why is it crystal (sync?)? Could you possibly blimp it enough to use it for double system shooting?

[Will2]

why is it crystal (sync?)? Could you possibly blimp it enough to use it for double system shooting?

The crystal sync is just to make sure there was good, constant speed (4-60fps). You wouldn't actually shoot sync sound with it. Probably meant more as a crash cam. It is pretty loud although slightly quieter than my windup Eyemo.

It was a modification by Steve's Cine in Vancouver. Steve was the go-to-guy to make Eyemos usable in professional productions before he semi-retired last year. If you see a fully tricked out reflex crystal Eyemo for rent in LA, it was probably done by him.

I spoke with Steve and he said it would have been about a $5000 conversion. I paid $500 for two Eyemos and tons of spare parts, cables & batteries. One was this one and the other a 24v motor conversion done by someone else that I haven't worked on yet. Still has a Panavision mount on it.

This one is a crystal motor unfortunately without the reflexed lens. I bought it from the estate of a Hollywood stunt man who had a couple sitting around; I guess in case they needed to hang it from a car or off a bridge or something.

[Will2]

Beautiful. Stunning. Gorgeous. Love the punctuation as well (lens flare, light leaks,frame jumps).

Thanks!

All flares leaks and burns are of course real; no cheesy plugins used. I had no hood on the lens and the Nikon 28mm 2.8 definitely flared like crazy.

I love all sizes of film but I'm having fun exploring 35mm right now. 35mm film is cheaper than 16mm when you use short ends and recans and transfer is the same as 16mm. Processing works out a little more though.

[Nicholas Kovats]

That is a gorgeous 'test', Will. Inspiring.

[einzelhaft83]

Wow, great looking colors and sharpness. It reminded me of what I used to tell my kids a few years ago; they were probably the only ones in their school that have been immortalized on actual movie film.

[Will2]

Thanks for the kind words.

I have no viewfinder on the camera so I just point in the general direction of the action and hope for the best. In transfer I tell the colorist to adjust framing as needed so there's some vertical play in the full frame that helps.

I also use 24mm or 28mm lenses so as long as I stay 4 feet or more away from the action focus isn't an issue. A few times I got closer in and guessed at the distance which turned out ok but I miss not having a reflex viewfinder.

Wow, great looking colors and sharpness. It reminded me of what I used to tell my kids a few years ago; they were probably the only ones in their school that have been immortalized on actual movie film.

Yes, not that many 5 year old's soccer (football) games are immortalized in 35mm. It's also a little distracting to the other parents but oh well. I do my best to label the films well and have just started putting data DVDs or thumb drives of the transfers in the box with the film.