Bolex P3 double 8MM, oil in the gate

[Claudio]

Hello all,

Just subscribed.

Have been meaning to get into motion film for quite some time, but just moved back to Europe from China where small gauge film was impossible to work with. I already have a few years experience with analog photography and video. I quite like the idea of double 8mm, the fine cameras, loading the film, winding the mechanism and having all the in camera editing possibilities.

Last week I got a Bolex P3 from a private seller on Kijiji for 45 euro with 4 rolls of old kodakchrome, cosmetically decent, mechanically in need of service. The camera barely ran even at 12 fps, the winding mechanism felt incredibly dry and hard to pull. Not having any technicians willing to work on it in my town I decided to take it apart to clean and lube the mechanism myself; all worked quite well afterwards, film rolled very smoothly at all speeds without noise

But, I must have either a)exaggerated with the sewing machine oil (but I don't think so, just a drop or two on the moving gears/elements) b)run the mechanism without the cover plate at high speed (64 fps), and with the movement of all the parts got oil in the gate/through the gate and onto the back element of the lens (could this be possible?). When I got the camera, the viewfinder was clear, and now it looks smeared and difficult to look through, so I'm sure it's because of the oil. I've tried cleaning the gate with lens cleaning cloth but I'm not so sure it did anything, maybe spread the oil around more if anything at all, hard to tell. I've also tried to find a way to take off the zoom lens, to attempt cleaning the gate from the other side and glass of the lens but haven't been able to.

Any experience with this? Does anyone know how to take the lens off the p3? Is it worthwhile trying to clean it or would it be better to move onto a different camera? Hoping to salvage the old machine

[Claudio]

I have since solved the problem. Oil wasn't in the gate, but in the interior of the viewfinder.

[nikonr10]

Hello all,

Just subscribed.

Have been meaning to get into motion film for quite some time, but just moved back to Europe from China where small gauge film was impossible to work with. I already have a few years experience with analog photography and video. I quite like the idea of double 8mm, the fine cameras, loading the film, winding the mechanism and having all the in camera editing possibilities.

Last week I got a Bolex P3 from a private seller on Kijiji for 45 euro with 4 rolls of old kodakchrome, cosmetically decent, mechanically in need of service. The camera barely ran even at 12 fps, the winding mechanism felt incredibly dry and hard to pull. Not having any technicians willing to work on it in my town I decided to take it apart to clean and lube the mechanism myself; all worked quite well afterwards, film rolled very smoothly at all speeds without noise

But, I must have either a)exaggerated with the sewing machine oil (but I don't think so, just a drop or two on the moving gears/elements) b)run the mechanism without the cover plate at high speed (64 fps), and with the movement of all the parts got oil in the gate/through the gate and onto the back element of the lens (could this be possible?). When I got the camera, the viewfinder was clear, and now it looks smeared and difficult to look through, so I'm sure it's because of the oil. I've tried cleaning the gate with lens cleaning cloth but I'm not so sure it did anything, maybe spread the oil around more if anything at all, hard to tell. I've also tried to find a way to take off the zoom lens, to attempt cleaning the gate from the other side and glass of the lens but haven't been able to.

Any experience with this? Does anyone know how to take the lens off the p3? Is it worthwhile trying to clean it or would it be better to move onto a different camera? Hoping to salvage the old machine

Hi you should never run a camera at a high speed with out a film in it ? never a good thing ,
Try and get hold of a manual , Alway a good starting point ,

[slashmaster]

Yeah, I agree with Nikor10. I think it's hard on the claws bearing to run it faster than 32 fps without a load. If you still want to take the lens off to clean it better, what happens when you remove the 4 screws for the plate the lens mounts to?