Amateur Cine World (May 1934)

TEST REPORTS OF LATEST APPARATUS WHAT'S NEW IN APPARATUS AND IDEAS DEVELOPING YOUR OWN CINE FILMS. MATEUR cine-photographers who wish to develop their own rooft. spools of film are not a high percentage of our number (Heaven forbid that I should ever try to develop 1ooft. in my small darkroom !), but there is a minority of pretty expert workers using, I presume, negativepositive stock—who will seek to do it. To help them the firm who make the admirable Correx Tank for ordinary roll-films have introduced the Correx tank for 16mm. cine-film and a very good job they have made of it. It is sold in this country by Sands, Hunter & Co. (Bedford Street, Strand, W.C.2.) Let me first make it clear that this Correx Tank is for darkroom use and is not for daylight development. Easy Loading. The outfit for 10oft. reels consists of a wooden frame (T-shaped) for loading; two metal skeleton reels; a Correx apron of transparent celluloid (or something like celluloid) with corrugated edges; and a circular developing dish, which I prefer to a a tank, to hold the developer and the m. After a few moments’ practice the loading of the tank I am sure could done in complete darkness—a great advantage in these days of fast pan cine-film. The two wheels, 13 inches in diameter, are first placed on upright spindles on the T-frame, one of them with the rooft. apron coiled around it. The spool of film, taken straight from the camera, is placed on another spindle midway between them. You clip the end of the apron on to the axle of the empty wheel and at the same time also i is end of the undeveloped film to the wheel. Then the wheel is turned slowly and the film is thereby wound inside the apron on to the empty wheel. The corrugations on the apron keep the coils from touching when the film lies snugly within the coils; and so you proceed till you have wound all of the exposed film safely inside the apron on to the take-up wheel. The loaded wheel has a skeleton cover to keep the apron in place—this is more a precaution than a necessity, however, and I discovered no tendency for the film or apron to “ride” up as it was wound. In this feature, which will appear regularly in “ Amateur Cine World,’ new apparatus likely to be helpful to the amateur worker will be critically reviewed—judged solely on merit and from the standpoint of usefulness. Previous to winding the film the developer has been prepared in the tank—you can choose your own developer. You then lower the loaded wheel, with apron and film on it, into the developer and calculate the development period by the time and temperature method. It is wise to move the loaded wheel up and down several times during development to secure evenness of development and to avoid unwanted ‘‘haloes’’ around some of your principal objects. When development is complete pour the developer away, rinse your film and apron with water as they lie and then pour the fixing solution into the tank and fix the film in it. This won’t hurt the apron or leave it contaminated if it is washed well at the end of the processes. The film can be washed in the tank and I should think that the amateur worker will do it that way rather than wrestle with 1ooft. of wet film in his darkroom. For Experienced Amateurs. For the t1ooft. film the outfit costs £5 17s. 6d. For a soft. outfit the cost is £3 12s. 6d. One other piece of machinery is needed— a drying frame. This is a skeleton revolving frame of wooden bars on which the film is wound, with metal pegs to keep the coils apart. The dryer costs 32s. 6d The Correx tank seems to me an exceedingly efficient article for its purpose, but I hesitate to recommend the beginner to adopt it. It is decidedly meant for those who know what T-shaped frame for use with the new Correx tank which is fully described on this page. they are doing—such as a few of my own friends who have the knowledge and the facility needed for developing their own films. _It is also valuable for the man who makes his own titles on negative stock. If he has an accident in his dark room (and who doesn’t ?) he at least has not ruined a strip of irreplaceable film. Again, the worker who buys reversal film at a price that includes the processing by the makers of the film, does not need to develop his own films and sacrifice the money he has paid for development when he bought 13 the film. And I should not like to take the responsibility for advising the inexpert amateur to attempt to reverse a film in his little darkroom. But for all that there is still a residue of experienced workers and_ semi-professional workers to whom the personal development of their films in their own darkrooms will appeal and it is to them that I commend this Correx as something well worth their consideration. It is at least a sensible method of saving trouble and time and space in the cine-workroom. NEW ENSIGN KINECAM tendency of our manufacturers to appreciate that amateur cinematography is no longer the hobby of the rich man only and that enthusiasts with slender bank balances are coming eagerly into our delightful pursuit of home movies in increasing numbers. One indication of this desire to meet the needs of new cinematographers is the new model of the Ensign Kinecam (Model 6) for 16mm. films (Ensign Ltd., High Holborn, W.C.1.) which is to be a feature of the coming season in Britain. The Kinecam family has won its way to the front for some years now. This new Model 6 offers to the cinephotographer a sound camera of up-todate design, with a Dallmeyer F3.5 fixed focus anastigmat, for thirteen guineas, and it is therefore sound value. The camera is a good instrument, not difficult to load and certainly not difficult to handle and by giving it a fixed-focus lens, of one inch focal length, Messrs. Ensign have provided an instrument which will fulfil the real needs of the majority of amateurs who do not seek out some special line of work demanding specialist equipment. I meet many cine-amateurs with costly instruments and a battery of big-aperture lenses who would do work just as good as they are (Continued on next page) \ WELCOME sign of the times is the