Bolex 525XL info?

[inlieubeaulieu]

Hi everyone,

I work at the NW Film Center in Portland, Oregon, and we have an old Bolex 525 XL Super-8 camera... problem is that several of the labels have fallen off, so we're not sure exactly what some of the switches do. On the left-hand side of the camera there are two switches, I know the right-hand switch changes frame-rate (18 or 9 fps), but the left-hand switch is a complete mystery. I have seen some photos out there that seem to show L and R, but I have no idea what this could correspond to. Does anyone know what this switch does? or, better yet, does anyone have a manual (or a link to one)? The manual isn't on ApeCity (as to why I have posted here). Any help is much appreciated

[inlieubeaulieu]

okay, so after playing around with it, I figured out the left switch is a Run-Lock...

but after doing more research, it looks like some claim that this camera is capable of manual exposure... but I cannot for the life of me figure out how this is achieved. I'm betting that it's a Super8wiki error

[Charlie Blackfield]

Not sure if it's of any help, but I've got a Bolex 551XL Sound Super 8 camera of the same era. The manual/auto exposure knob is located next to the fps selector knob - and the run-lock knob happens to be in the handgrip.

Going through the whole lot:
Top row, left-hand side, from lens to eyepiece: knob for manual retraction of conversion filter; backlight control; fade control; built-in timer setting knob.
Middle, left-hand side: manual/auto exposure knob; filming selector (18 fps or single frame)
There's also a diaphragm correcting knob underneath the viewfinder.

I'm sure yours will be slightly different, but I would imagine they wouldn't have changed everything around when they introduced the 551XL in 1977.

Charlie