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tumerns of Yesteryear
By W. Wallace Clendenin
Part III
Gamer eclair
Although as has been seen, many of the early-day producing organizations made their own cameras, very few do today. Almost the only exception is the Eclair Film Company, of Paris, which since 1907 has built cameras for use in the Eclair studios and, during the last two decades, for the general market, as well.
The original Eclairs were built solely for use in the firm’s own studios, however, and were introduced in this country some twenty-eight years ago when Eclair established its first American studio. When the war began in 1914, Eclair had two studios in this country, one in the east, and one in Arizona. Because of the war, these studios were closed, and the cameras sold to various buyers; most of them went to the World Film Co. of Fort Lee. N.J. for some reason now obscure, these cameras were usually called “Gillons” by American cinematographers.
The old Camereclair was small and compact. The outside dimensions were 6x6x131/2 inches. The 400-foot magazines were mounted side by side in the rear of the box, with a metal partition separating them. This partition ran all the way to the gate panel, the gate was toward the left side of the camera, instead of being centrally located.
Three small sprockets were used: one to feed the film from the unex
posed magazine up to a second sprocket above the gate, with the third placed below the gate. An opening was left at the top of the central partition to permit the film to pass over to the left side of the camera.
The intermittent was a modification of the Lumiere-Pathe, retaining the essential features, hut of somewhat lighter construction. An unusual feature was the lens panel, which could be adjusted vertically, like the rising and falling front commonly used in still cameras. A reflex mirror back of the aperture was provided for focusing.
Later Eclairs
In the post-war years, the Camereclair underwent many changes and refinements, including semi-silencing to meet the demands of the first talkies, but it remained still closely related mechanically to the earlier models.
Perhaps the most unique feature of these post-war Eclairs was the Mery focusing system, which was different from the methods used in any other camera, and combined many desirable features. It is well known that many European cinematographers favor the idea of not only focusing through the the film itself, hut even “following” the action through the film as the scene is being photographed. On the other hand, focusing the image on a ground-glass focusing screen is easier, and usually more accurate.
The Mery system provided for both
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