American Cinematographer - May 1933 - 20

AMATEUR SECTION

16 mm.

May 1933 *

American Cinematographer

21

Camera
From Eastman
by
Karl Hale

masks, and a set of simple masks will be supplied with the
camera.
Half-masks, which blank out one side of the film or the
other, permit the same person to appear twice in one picture
when the winding-back feature is used to produce a double
exposure on a single length of film. Animated and human
subjects, as a matter of fact, can thus appear together in
one scene. By the use of horizontal half-masks the bottom
or the top of the picture similarly may be blanked out.
Almost 40 feet of film can be "shot" at a winding. An
audible signal warns when the spring is nearly wound and
when it is nearly run down.
The hand-cranking feature of the camera permits the
filming to be carried on when the spring motor runs down,
thus letting an entire film be shot without stopping.
The Cine-Kodak Special possesses a turret head for two
lenses.
Lenses are quickly interchangeable on the turret
head, which will accommodate the various lenses that are
available for the Cine-Kodak Special.
A reflex finder, which cuts in on the main lens system
of the camera, thus shows the image actually formed by
the taking lens. By the use of this finder, both the exact
picture field and the precise focus may be obtained, even
in such extreme closeup position as when the camera is
only an inch or two from the object to be photographed.
Such an extreme close-up necessitates the use of proper
supplementary lenses.
Backed film as well as clear-base
film can be used without hindering this finder's operation.
The camera is also equipped with the usual direct view
finder.
The speeds of the Cine-Kodak Special range from 8 to
64 frames a second, in the following gradations: 8, 16,
24, 32, 64.
There is a cushioned stopping mechanism for high speeds.
There are two film meters.
One, governed by the
diameter of the roll of film, is for indication of the footage
left for exposure in the film chamber. The other, geared
and marked in individual feet, is intended as a guide in
connection with the winding-back feature.
T
he variable shutter is useful not only for fades and dis¬
solves but also as an additional exposure control.
It is val¬
uable for producing sharp images of fast-moving objects.
It can be used in place of a neutral density filter to cut
down the light in Kodacolor filming.
The engineers who designed the Cine-Kodak Special con¬
sider its most important innovations perhaps to be: the
eight-frame shaft (moving the film eight frames to one
turn of the crank, for winding back or for hand cranking) ;
the one-frame shaft (for special single-frame work such as
growth studies or for driving the camera in synchronism
with experimental laboratory equipment) ; the variable
shutter; the removable film chamber; and the reflex finder.
Simultaneously with the Cine-Kodak Special, the Cine-

Kodak Tripod will become available, designed for the
Special but useful also for other l 6-millimeter cameras and
still cameras. Horizontal and vertical and diagonal panorams
can be made with it. Furthermore, a motion picture cam¬
era attached to the Cine-Kodak Tripod can be pointed
straight up or straight down-a tripod feature not ordinarily
found.
A 1-inch f. 1.9 Kodak Anastigmat lens will be supplied
with the Cine-Kodak Special unless a special order indicates
that the substitution of another lens is desired. In addition
to this lens, others directly available are the 15-millimeter
f.2.7 wide-angle lens, the 2-inch f.3.5 lens, and the 3-inch,
4j/2 -inch, and 6-inch telephoto lenses. Other desired focal
lengths can be adapted to the Special.
The new camera is, in a word, virtually a professional
camera in minature. It is able to do anything that a profes¬
sional, studio-type camera will do-and some things (such
as photographing Kodocolor) which professional equipment
cannot do. By virtue of its reflex focusing device, it should
be the ideal equipment for use with extreme telephoto
lenses, as field, focus, etc., can be checked with 100%
accuracy.
Since it can be fitted with an electric motor-drive, the
Cine-Kodak Special should lend itself excellently to ex¬
perimental recording, especially by the disc method. While
there is no information as yet forthcoming from the manu¬
facturers, the camera should likewise prove easily adapta¬
ble to sound-on-film recording, using the newly-standard¬
ized R-C-A-16 mm. sound-on-film dimensions.
However, considered apart from its potentialities as a
sound-camera, the Cine-Kodak Special will clearly appeal
to a surprisingly large clientele of advanced amateurs, semi¬
professionals, and professionals, who have been heretofore
practically disregarded by the manufacturers.
Amateur
clubs, especially those interested in the serious production
of dramatic pictures, and individual advanced amateurs
who have long sought a camera as completely flexible as
this will naturally find the new Cine-Kodak Special a cam¬
era ideally suited to their needs. The individuals who work
in specialized fields, such as scientific and medical films,
time-lapse studies, and the like, will also welcome it.
Moreover, it is sure to reveal to the manufacturers an
hitherto untouched field-that of the professional makers
of 16 mm. productions for commercial or industrial use.
These have heretofore been forced either to use simple
amateur equipment, or to make their pictures with profes¬
sional 35 mm. "release-prints."
American Cinematographer - May 1933

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of American Cinematographer - May 1933
