International photographer (Jan-Dec 1935)

November, 1935 The INTERNATIONAL PHOTOGRAPHER Fifteen THE NEW SILENT MOVIE CAMERA Perfection of a completely silent motion picture camera — the objective of research by the entire film industry since the introduction of sound — was announced recently by Darryl F. Zanuck, vice-president in charge of production for 20th Century-Fox Film Corporation. Revolutionary in design and principle, the new camera was planned, constructed and patented by technicians at 20th CenturyFox Studio -who have spent three and a half years on the task. Exhaustive tests have demonstrated the feasibility of the instrument and it has been assigned to its first use in photographing "Show Them No Mercy," a Zanuck anti-crime production for 20th Century-Fox featuring Rochelle Hudson, Cesar Romero and Bruce Cabot. Small, compact and with features which provide for pictures of greater distinctness, the new camera completely eliminates the bulky "blimp" which weighed down the old-style sound camera. The new camera, weighing only 82 pounds, can be used on an ordinary wooden tripod, which gives it an extreme advantage in mobility and portability over the 390 pounds of the blimp which required a heavy steel "dolly" or carriage to support it. As radical in appearance as it is ' in internal design, the new camera is barrel-shaped. With the motor mounted in the rear, a direct driveshaft running through the horizontal axis of the camera eliminates more than fifty per cent of the gearing in the old-style instrument. This in itself accounts for a great reduction in noise of operation, according to Grover Laube, head of the studio's cinetechnical department and chief designer of the camera. At only two points are gears necessary, and they are alter nated, one of steel and one of fibroid, to further cut down noise. What little noise remains in the mechanism is completely silenced by the aluminum body, which was constructed along new insulation principles. Laube declared the insulation experience gained from construction of the camera may be applied to other mechanical fields where engineers wish to prevent the transfer of frequency motion from one mass to another. In addition to the advantage of silence, the new camera provides for "smoother" pictures because the shutter, operated at an angle of 200 degrees, is open for a greater length of time than the 160 degree shutter of the old camera. This, with the fact the film is in complete repose during the exposure, eliminates more of the "jerk" or lapse between pictures, and provides images of distinct clarity. The monitoring, or view-finding, feature of the new camera also represents an improvement in that it permits the operator to check on the focus of his instrument while the camera is in operation. It furthermore provides accurate focusing for distances from two feet to infinity. Chief credit for the new camera was given by Zanuck to Laube. The latter's cinetechnical staff included C. M. Miller, R. C. Stevens and E. A. Kaufman, all of whom contributed to design and construction, along with G. L. Fisher, head of the 20th Century-Fox camera department. The honor of first using the noiseless camera was given to Bert Glennon, cameraman on "Show Them No Mercy," because Glennon, as a member of the committee on silent cameras of the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences, had done pioneering work in this line. DUTO AUXILIARY LENS There are soft pictures and there are SOFT pictures! Softness due to incorrect focusing is distinctly unpleasant. In the properly softened photograph detail is not obliterated but merely artistically and delicately diffused. There is a certain quality of softness, akin to the effect seen by the eye when viewing an object against the light when it is fringed by a transparent halo, which seems to make the picture more alive somehow, and certainly more beautiful. All of us have seen and been fascinated by this effect, when rays of dancing light seemed to emanate from the glittering surface of the object. While marvelous to behold, the reproduction of this effect photographically, without undue harshness, has been attended to date by no small amount of difficulty. Many and various have been the methods and devices by which photographers have attempted, successfully only at rare intervals, to re-create this intriguing phenomenon in a photograph. Diffusing screens of cloth and grooved glass discs of all sorts have been tried and generally discarded, mainly because of the lack of control over the amount of diffusion introduced. It has been found that the amount of diffusion required was inversely proportional to the brilliance and contrast of the lighting; the stronger the lighting, the more delicate must be the diffusion. Up to now the only way to control the amount of diffusion has been to use a comparatively expensive and definitely soft-focus lens. In this modern day, when in the interests of simplicity most amateur cameras are not provided with means for easy interchangeability of lenses, the use of such a lens is not easily feasible. However, with the advent of the Duto-Auxiliary Lenses, already extremely popular in Europe, the photographic amateur has no further cause for worry. These are supplementary lenses, made in two powers, No. 0 and No. 1, each especially ground to give the most pleasing effect with stronger and weaker lightings. An amazing fact, noticed by European workers, is that, as in the case of the true soft-focus lens, the depth of field is wonderfully increased. Finally, and of no less importance, is the fact that negatives obtained through the use of these lenses have the same enlarging possibilities as those taken through the undisturbed camera lens. Already available for the Rolleiflex, the Duto Auxiliary Lenses will shortly be procurable for all the most popular cameras. They are distributed by Burleigh Brooks, 127 West 42nd Street, New York City, and their introduction scores another beat for this enterprising concern. Please mention The International Photographer when corresponding with advertisers.