The Cine Technician (1943 - 1945)

July — August, 1943 THE CINE-TECHNICIAN 83 Edited by A. E. Jeakins Technical Abstracts Lab. for Field Service (Wm. Stull, American Cinematographer, November, Portable A.S.C. 1942). The H. W. Houston Co. of Hollywood are turning out a complete 16mm. reversal processing plant for field service with the U.S. Armed Forces. Its compact dimensions — 30" wide, 54" high, 70" long — and its weight of only 15001bs., make it easily transportable to any location. The machine is designed for daylight working, and once the exposed film has been attached to the leader threaded through the machine, all operations are entirely automatic until it emerges processed and dried 30 minutes later. The film travels first through a " dark " compartment, then in succession through the first developer, stop bath, rinse, past the "flashing" light, through the bleach, clearing bath, second developer, hypo rinse and drying box, and is finally fed to a take-up reel beside the feed magazine. Only three connections are needed to operate the machine, one to an electric power supply, one to a water main, and one to some form of drainage. Built-in refrigerating and heating units maintain the solutions at a constant temperature under any climatic conditions. A device incorporating a photo-electric cell measures the film processed by the apparatus and also stops the machine if there is no film passing through. Compensation for under and over exposure is provided by a light control system. A test negative exposed at f3.5 in fl6 light still gave a recognisable image in the final reversed positive. Chemicals for the baths are supplied in premeasured packages. The operator has only to dissolve the contents in the specified amount of water and in the order indicated by numbers on the packages. Each package provides sufficient solution to process 10,000 feet of film. Several hundreds of these machines are already in use with the U.S. Army Air Force. A similar machine to handle 35mm — for fixed base operation in a dark room — has been built. Combat Camera (Wm. Stull, A.S.C, American Cinematographer, November, 1942). Harry Cunningham, head of E.K.O.'s camera machine-shop, has designed and built a motion picture camera specifically for combat use. Sample prototypes are being tested by U.S. military photographic units prior to mass production. Designed primarily as a hand camera (it can be used with a tripod) it is fitted with a gun stock and pistol grips on each side. Loaded and with all its lenses, it weighs 15 lbs. The magazine has a 200 foot capacity and also contains the film movement and take-up. The movement is of the pilotpin registering type. Two sprockets are used ; one feeding the film to the gate and the other feeding it to the take-up. The take-up method is novel, doing away with belts and friction clutches. The film feeding out from the feed spindle passes under a spring tensioned idling roller — the edges of which also contact the take-up roll. So, as one foot of film is fed from the feed spindle it automatically drives the take-up roll to take up one foot of film from the movement. The magazine is inserted in the camera through a hinged opening in the top and automatically engages the drive and footage counter connections. An electric motor in the gunstock mount drives the camera, current comes from two small radio type batteries carried in a pack hooked on the user's belt. Three camera speeds are provided, 16, 24 and 48 frames per second. The present camera is fitted with 35mm, 75mm, 6 inch and 101 inch lenses on a turret. A quadrant next to each lens mount carries the diaphragm scaling, visible from the rear and operated by the index finger of the left hand. Focussing is carried out by moving the magazine and film back and forth in relation to the lenses. Not only does this allow a greater degree of rigidity in the lens mountings but also means that a single lever, operated by the thumb of the left hand, controls the focussing of all four lenses. The simple positive tj'pe finder is mounted on top of the camera. A New Camera Car (Wilton Scott, American Cinematographer, December, 1942). When Eepublic found themselves needing a new and better camera car they decided to build one from the ground up instead of following the usual practice of adapting a large car or truck. Apart from the frame and body, which was specially built, extensive use was made of stock parts and assemblies. The main constructional features are dual rear axles each equipped with dual wheels. Dual power plant consisting of two Lincoln Zephyr 12 cylinder engines, each driving one of the rear axles. The steering is also dual, so that when necessary, as in the case of keeping pace with a horseman or another vehicle, the driver can concentrate on speed control and leave the steering to an assistant. There are low camera platforms at the front and rear, an intermediate level platform over the rear wheels and a high level position over the cab. Auxiliary mounts are fitted for microphone booms and booster lights.