Zeiss Movinette 8 (et alia)

[granfer]

Does anyone have Information / Documentation on accessing the "works" of this unusual range of Double 8 Cameras? I am reluctant to experiment with the various exposed screws in case I upset the Lens/Film distance. Thank you.
Granfer

[Will2]

Don't have any documentation but I love this camera! Looks like a still camera (and can act like one with single frame advance) but shoots 8mm. Also known as the Zeiss Movikon.

I just took it on my kid's field trip and had a blast.

[BAC]

I just got one of these recently but have not shot film with it yet. Mine seems to run good but I did notice the speed slows down a bit as the spring winds down. I have heard that is common with this camera. At this point I think I will leave well enough alone until I see what kind of results I get from it. If you do open it up I would be interested to find out how it goes. Take some pictures of the innards.

[cameratech]

Great little cameras, very cool and unusual transport design, where the film twists in and out of the gate to keep everything horizontal. In all the models the spring just slows down towards the end of the run. I've pulled apart both a Movinette 8B and a Movikon 8 (advanced brother to the Movinette), here's a photo of the Movikon apart:



The lens base stays attached with the mechanism - on the Movikon 8 you have to remove the front focussing part of the lens so you may lose collimation if you don't mark and measure it, but with the Movinette having a fixed focus lens only the iris rings need to come off so you can disassemble without losing focus collimation.

The basic procedure for the Movinette 8B (which has a light meter) is to remove the spring winder and the front plate (and any bits that may stop the front plate coming off - two iris rings and the meter window cover) and then undo only the 3 big screws under the plate. There are also 3 little screws around the body edge, and in the film chamber only undo the top left screw below the meter dial. You also have to unscrew the release knob and the ring/bowl under the release knob - I found that last one quite tricky to unscrew and had to drill 2 little holes in it to unscrew it with a lens wrench.

I'll try and find the photos of the Movinette, I recall it wasn't as well-made inside as the Movikon.

[granfer]

Thank you. So far very interesting.. though surprising that the internals vary between models (other than the refinements, of course). My model is the Movienette 8 so there should be no problem with the lens focus. If you can find the other picture it would be appreciated... but no hurry!

Very good cameras producing excellent pictures and very easy to access the gate for cleaning. Some people found loading awkward because of the twists in the film... but the secret was to put the leader into the take up spool OUTSIDE the camera, hold the spools in the left hand with the film towards the camera, place the film in the gate, close the pressure plate and then twist the feed spool onto its spindle followed by twisting the takeup spool onto its spindle.

[cameratech]

OK, some camera surgery photos.. don't look if you're squeemish!



The Movinette 8B opened up.



A close-up of the mechanism, showing the very simple speed governor in its plastic housing. Just a one-piece brass disc cut into a sort of S shape, the arms flex out and hit the plastic housing when the mechanism runs at 16 fps. There are centre punch marks in the arms, a simple way for the factory technicians to adjust the governor's speed.



If you undo the remaining screws inside the film chamber, remove the drive belt and the release arm, you can take off the mechanism plate, revealing the long claw arm beneath. It's permanently synched to the shutter via the eccentric cam fixed to the back of the shutter hub. Like a lot of 8mm camera claws it simply oscillates up and down, spring pressure pushes it into the perf during pull-down and allows it to retract as it slides back during the exposure phase.

The shutter angle is quite large, looks to be about 200 degrees.

[granfer]

Wonderful! And I'm not squeamish (I've been marrieds for 52 years .. so NOTHING, except my scars, worries me).

Off to Brazil for 4 weeks so will be off-line for that time. Anything new would still be useful but will comment on my return.
Thanks again...
Granfer