Home Movies (1943)

HOME MOVIES FOR NOVEMBER back and other professional-like gadgets. In design, it should preferably be box-shaped with a substantial flat base surface that will insure rigidity when camera is mounted upon tripod or titler. The base should feature, in addition to hole for tripod screw, another hole to take a corresponding guide pin I hope all titler manufacturers will incorporate into the base of their titlers hereafter. Here is the one answer to the universal problem of centering camera with the title card. If the camera manufacturers will give us this one little, but very important innovation, I'm sure makers of titlers will follow suit with the guide pins. And if they don't, its an easy matter for us to mount a pin in the titler ourselves. The camera case, of course, should be of aluminum alloy unless some suitable plastic is discovered of comparable toughness with the ability to withstand hard knocks and varying temperatures. Chrome plating, if the process has not been improved, should be eliminated as a finish for the bright trim, and good old sturdy nickle plating again made the choice as the trim finish. Chrome has a bad record for not standing up in the salty air of seacoast areas ; and as I plan at least one lengthy ocean cruise with my camera after the war, I want it to still look reasonably new after I get back. So that no matter where I roam, I may never have to forego filming because a dealer didn't have film to fit my camera, I want mine to take either spools or magazines of film. It should be possible to design a film magazine that can be re-loaded with an ordinary 25 or 50 foot spool of film. There are times when the film magazine is a decided advantage; but at other times, when I want to shoot titles with positive film, for instance, I want to be able to do so with my camera and with the same ease as when filming with a magazine load of film. The viewfinder should be given the designer's special attention. It should be tubular with a simple adjustment for correcting for parallax up to reasonable close distances. It should be augmented by a reflex viewfinder for waist level shooting or for making odd angle shots with the camera set low or upon the ground. And if at all feasible, the viewfinder should make possible the accurate alignment of camera on objects at close range as in ultra-closeup or title photography. Not outside the realm of possibility is an auxiliary attachment that could be slipped in front of the viewfinder and extend out and over the camera lens to enable centering lens on titles and ultra closeups with the same accuracy as when focusing directly through the lens. The great dependency upon an exposure meter could be practically eliminated by providing a simple frame upon the camera door that would accommodate a series of exposure charts — one for each of the most popular Weston film ratings. These could be embossed or printed upon thin plates of metal, tough fibre or celluloid cut to fit the frame. Each chart also should include a quick conversion table showing the comparable f/ stops when camera is used at other than the regular 16 F.P.S. speed — and in single frame exposure. This brings up the question of camera speeds. There should be at least four: 8, 16, 24, and 32 frames per second olus single frame; and the single frame shutter action must be consistent — allowing each frame the same amount of exposure. Control of speeds should be by means of a simple • It must have interchangeable exposure guides, built-in demountable cable • Turret front, windback and dissolving shutter that can be added later. dial on side of camera that is easy to turn, yet not liable to slip from set position through handling of the camera. The starting button can remain about the same — a simple, easy to push button, near the lower right hand corner of the front of camera, and it must be possible to lock it in either running or stop position. But most important, the starting button must be augmented by a built-in but demountable cable release, operating independently of the starting button. The cable release control has proven too popular to be overlooked by any camera manufacturer. Too limited running time on a single winding of the motor spring has been a great fault with many cine cameras. The post-war camera should have a larger spring that will increase running time at least half again as much as at present. Some consideration might be given to the idea of replacing the spring motor with an electric motor powered by small flashlight batteries, similar to the European Eumig camera, popular for its ability to expose a complete roll of film without a single interruption. Footage meters in the past have not been too accurate. I want in my camera not only an accurate footage meter but a frame meter. These should be close together on the winding-key side of the camera where they will be easy to read. The footage recording should not be guess work but accurate measurement by means of a geared drive from the central sprocket. The frame meter should be equally accurate and should provide for turning dial back to zero at any time. Augmenting this, should be an audible footage register inside the camera that produces a mild audible "click" each time one foot of film passes the frame aperture in the gate. As for the interchangeable accessories suggested earlier, these must be a product of the original planning and design. I don't want to have to pay again as much as the original price of the camera to have a turret front fitted to it, nor do I want to be without my camera for weeks while the factory makes the installation. When I'm ready for my turret front, I want to be able to take my camera to a dealer, lay my money on the counter, and • Continual on Page 377 release, guide-pin hole for centering titles, and audible footage register. 355