ENQUIRY
DESK

While we welcome enquiries from readers,
we regret that it is not possible to send 
individual replies. Questions of sufficient 
interest, however, will be answered by our 
technical experts in this column. Please do 
not send stamped addressed envelopes with 
enquiries.


Reproduced from the November 1972 issue of Movie Maker.


I have devised a method of transferring sound from six tape tracks onto stripe. As the tapes used are perforated I can cut and edit the two tracks carrying lip-sync speech and spot effects, the remainder of the tracks being dubbed by re- recording methods. I use two quarter-track stereo recorders fitted with extra stacked stereo heads, reading tracks two and four, and fitted with record and replay pre-amps. One of the recorders is to be a variable speed type or to be capable of being speed controlled by an external variac. My idea is to put pulses from a tone generator onto two of the perforated tapes. What I want to know is: will the Farnell-Tandberg FT1 unit show the state of sync when the two perf/pulse tracks are fed from the two recorders to the FT1 ? - Roy Alexander, Borth, Cardiganshire. 

The FT1 will only control the Tandberg 11 battery recorder but it can be used to show the state of sync if the second recorder has its own variable speed control.


Like Bill Fleming whose letter was published in your June 1972 issue, I am interested in 3D movies and have had some success with a beam splitter. My problem is to find some optical method of aligning a prism stereo splitter on a 13mm lens. As yet I have found no one who can divide a 16mm frame into two equal parts. Would you happen to know of any optical firm in your country that would undertake such a project? J Kane.Jr. USA. 

One of the specialist lens companies that advertise in the American Cinematographer should be able to do the line up but it is essential that you send the camera as well as the lenses. The use of a reflex camera would of course help you to do it yourself. The Elmo 3D device is intended for one of the Elmo super 8 cameras so you would have the same line up problems. I am sure one of the main London dealers would be pleased to supply one to you.



I have just read Peter Mountain's article, Backwind with Sellotape, in Q the July Movie Maker and I am wondering if it is true that taping over the take-up disc so that it cannot revolve, in no way damages the camera mechanism. - M. 1. Seccombe, Doncaster, Yorks.

The camera mechanism will not be damaged as the drive is designed to slip.



I have seen the Eumig Mini 3 camera advertised in Movie Maker and would Q very much like to read a test report on this model. However, on looking through some back numbers I can only find a report on the very similar Bolex 233. Would this report apply also to the Eumig mini 3 ? - _7. Lincoln, Acton, London.

Yes. The Bolex and Eumig are basically the same camera but the Bolex has a slightly longer zoom range and focusing down to 4ft. 



I have just received the enclosed standard 8 film back from processing Q and it appears to be fogged down the left side. The opening for the film insertion in my camera is very slightly loose after closing but there is a deep enough flange and no light should get through. Can you suggest any reasons why my film should be spoiled? A. Brown, Prestwich, Lancs. 


The film is not fogged but unexposod. It looks as though something is stuck between the lens and the gate.



I have been using the Eumig Chemo splicer and am very dissatisfied with the results. When running a piece of test film with six splices through the projector I found that while none of the joins actually failed, one chemo join had started to open at one side. Is there a fault in my splicer ? - H. Mason, Pinner, Middx.

After examining your test film, we s found that too much cement was used on the joins and the film base had buckled. To be successful with any joiner, you must keep it spotlessly clean and use just enough fresh film cement to cover the join.



Can you help me with these four queries about the Bolex 233 super 8 camera? 
(1) Is it possible to film in very bright light (i.e. in brilliant sunshine) ?
(2) In the unlikely event Of Kodachrome II being replaced by a faster speed film would this camera be unusable P 
(3) Would I be able to film at night P 
(4) Finally, do the CdS cells last indefinitely or do they need replacing at intervals ? - 
N. Hinde, Hounslow, Middx.

The automatic system in the Bolex 233 As camera should cope with most light conditions and the latest models will take the new 160 ASA Ektachrome film, which is also the ideal stock for night filming. The CdS cell should last the life of the camera.



I recently bought two films from a library and, on projecting them on my Boots 200 Zoom super 8 projector, discovered that the film often jammed in the gate. I had the projector repaired but as the trouble still persisted I consulted a dealer who told me that when the film was being printed down from 16mm to 8mm the distance from each sprocket had to vary slightly to give the correct speed. The library confirmed this and explained that this was the reason for the closing down of their super 8 hire service. Is this true and have I spent £15 for nothing? - F. S. Treves, London SW20.

The reason given by your dealer seems to us a fanciful one. The super 8 film stock on which library films are printed would have the sprocket holes on a standard pitch and there is absolutely no possibility of this pitch being altered to suit the running speed of the film. We know that some libraries have discontinued the supply of super 8 prints on the grounds that these are more susceptible to damage than standard 8 (sprocket holes are smaller and therefore a greater degree of precision is needed in the claw mechanism) and we have reported this argument at some length in Movie Maker together with a carefully researched reply from Kodak Ltd who supply most of the film stock used.

Reproduced from the November 1972 issue of Movie Maker


This page was last updated 02 Dec 2002

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