Bolex...

BlitzKrieg

Was peaking around ebay and i spotted this:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Paillard-Bolex-H-16-F-25-16mm-Camera-in-Case_W0QQitemZ7541275600QQcategoryZ4691QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


Apart from the obvious risk that the owner knows nothing of cameras and is unsure if it works or not. I feel it could be a good Bolex to pick up for shooting short films. Only problem is i cant figure out if its worth it or not cause the lens and most of the equipment looks quite dated.



I was wondering if anyone here who knows a bit about bolex's could spot some obvious flaws with the camera just from some of the images. Cause if it looks like a perfectly fine bolex i'll be very tempted to pick it up for the price its being offered at.

monkeyfudge

That's one beautiful little piece of technology.

BlitzKrieg

that was what i was thinking...but years of cynicism has a few alarm bells ringing when i look at that price (compared to the other 2nd hand bolex a few pages down which is 400 dollers and has only half the equipment this one has)

BlitzKrieg

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Paillard-Bolex-Reflex-H16-3-lenses-Leather-case_W0QQitemZ7540918990QQcategoryZ628QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


here's another fine one...but the bids havnt reached the reserve yet, so i dont know how much it is actually going for.

mycroft

BlitzKrieg wrote:

http://cgi.ebay.ie/Paillard-Bolex-Reflex-H16-3-lenses-Leather-case_W0QQitemZ7540918990QQcategoryZ628QQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem


here's another fine one...but the bids havnt reached the reserve yet, so i dont know how much it is actually going for.

I've used bolex's a couple of times.

Things to keep in mind

1) They're clockwork, not crystal sync, so you can't do sync. They start to drift after a few seconds.

2) The viewfinder is parralex, not refractive, which means the framing isn't 100% accurate.

3) Sturdy wee buggers. Kubrick dropped three off a roof to get the alex commits suicide shot in a clockwork orange. I've seen one strapped to the front of car (using bungee cords) and the ones I'd used, were the cameras eamonn de butler and gurt van geldern used to do alot of their film making on. They'd been sat on, submerged, and one was loaded one handed while driving a jeep over african savannah.

BlitzKrieg

I've used Bolex's before (twice) but they were owned by the university so i have been keeping an eye open for one for myself. I dont mind the clockwork (though i have forgotten a few times to wind it up and heard that aweful *clunk* sound while filming.) and the reason i see this as such a good offer is that the ones in university had aweful selection of lenses (25mm only) so seeing 1 for a cheap price with 3 pretty good lenses has me drooling for a chance to improve my camerawork.

mycroft

BlitzKrieg wrote:

I've used Bolex's before (twice) but they were owned by the university so i have been keeping an eye open for one for myself. I dont mind the clockwork (though i have forgotten a few times to wind it up and heard that aweful *clunk* sound while filming.) and the reason i see this as such a good offer is that the ones in university had aweful selection of lenses (25mm only) so seeing 1 for a cheap price with 3 pretty good lenses has me drooling for a chance to improve my camerawork.

Then its a good deal. Keep in mind Kodak still do student deals on stock, and are, er, a little lax on the checking of ID when you're shooting a small amount of stock.

BlitzKrieg

well i just bidded on the one in america so fingers crossed.

The viewfinder is parralex, not refractive, which means the framing isn't 100% accurate.

cant you have the viewfinder converted, or is that different models of bolex?

Hugh_C

You going to stay up till three to see if you've won?



Here's a thing, there's a bloke near the Lower Deck in Portobello who services cameras, very nice guy. He's a bit of a collector and, although I never asked him, I'm sure he'd look it over for you and remove the mould inside the lenses. Looks like it's going for a reaosnable price thus far. Are you doing proxy bidding? You should.

mycroft

BlitzKrieg wrote:

well i just bidded on the one in america so fingers crossed.




cant you have the viewfinder converted, or is that different models of bolex?

Er no, look at the view finder, it's a seperate piece to the eye piece, to change it would require a complex setting of mirrors eye and light tight to natural light, look at the eye piece, see it's entirely different to the eye piece. thats a cost cutting excerise.

BlitzKrieg

hmm the bolex's i used were refractive, so i assume they were different models.

i have another 16mm kodak camera which is also parralex so shouldnt be a bother, but i am curious as to how one takes in changes in lens sizes with a parralex (my kodak is from the 1930's and had only one lense)

Here's a thing, there's a bloke near the Lower Deck in Portobello who services cameras, very nice guy. He's a bit of a collector and, although I never asked him, I'm sure he'd look it over for you and remove the mould inside the lenses. Looks like it's going for a reaosnable price thus far. Are you doing proxy bidding? You should.

my university has a department for servicing bolex so i will run it pass them first (take the cheap route) and if they cant help i'll take up your advice cheers.

oh and i'm curious about the film which is in the camera...the seller says one of two stocks of film with the camera is in the camera...a man can dream (lost footage of a john ford western or a sixties porno...)

BlitzKrieg

CURSES!


i was outbidded in the final moments...went beyond my budget. ahh well...

monkeyfudge

BlitzKrieg wrote:

oh and i'm curious about the film which is in the camera...the seller says one of two stocks of film with the camera is in the camera...a man can dream (lost footage of a john ford western or a sixties porno...)

Or perhaps the killing spree alternate ending to It's a Wonderful Life?

Too bad you didn't get it.. looks like there was a bit of sniping going on there at the end.

Hugh_C

monkeyfudge wrote:

.. looks like there was a bit of sniping going on there at the end.

I use a thing called Jbidwatcher, a java based, platform independent piece of software which snipes on your behalf, amongst other things. I had often missed out on items before and wasn't aware of sniping until I downloaded it. Only really useful on broadband I imagine, beacuse dialup would possibly not respond quickly enough to get your snipe in (about 12 seconds before end of auction).

mycroft

BlitzKrieg wrote:

hmm the bolex's i used were refractive, so i assume they were different models.

i have another 16mm kodak camera which is also parralex so shouldnt be a bother, but i am curious as to how one takes in changes in lens sizes with a parralex (my kodak is from the 1930's and had only one lense)

I don't really know, but yes they are many types of bolex's on the market.