Journal of the Society of Motion Picture Engineers (1930-1949)

Record Details:

Something wrong or inaccurate about this page? Let us Know!

Thanks for helping us continually improve the quality of the Lantern search engine for all of our users! We have millions of scanned pages, so user reports are incredibly helpful for us to identify places where we can improve and update the metadata.

Please describe the issue below, and click "Submit" to send your comments to our team! If you'd prefer, you can also send us an email to mhdl@commarts.wisc.edu with your comments.




We use Optical Character Recognition (OCR) during our scanning and processing workflow to make the content of each page searchable. You can view the automatically generated text below as well as copy and paste individual pieces of text to quote in your own work.

Text recognition is never 100% accurate. Many parts of the scanned page may not be reflected in the OCR text output, including: images, page layout, certain fonts or handwriting.

542 ARTHUR S. NEWMAN [j. s. M. P. E. the solid part of the sprocket, and, when long in gauge, it set itself to a greater distance from the center. Long, short, and medium gauge film would run equally well on such a sprocket. Let us now look at the take-up tension. Of all the camera failures which occur in studios, I think I am correct in saying four-fifths are due to the camera refusing to take up. Spring bands are very nice for driving, but spring bands allowed to slip and so produce tension are an anathema to me. A spring band used in this manner probably works well when sent out of the workshop. In a short time, it and the reel on which it slips become polished and the tension drive, in consequence, falls to one-quarter of what it was originally. To remedy this a piece has to be taken from the band, and the tension increased, but the driving movement on the slipping wheel does not bear any definite relation to the tightness of the band, the governing factor being the condition of the slipping surfaces. In my opinion a separate tension device, easily adjustable for strength, should always be provided on any machine which has to take up a roll of film; otherwise when a tension band becomes thoroughly polished, the pressure necessary to give the required drive pulls the spindles of the two wheels so tightly against their bearings that the lubrication is frequently forced out and seizing takes place. When spring bands are used they should be run on the largest possible pulleys and not allowed to slip, and a separate adjustable tension device should be provided. Now, finally, I will predict that the moving picture camera of the future will be one in which the film runs free during its moving period, is held by a fixed pilot pin during its stationary period, and that its intermittent movement, of whatever design, will be characterized by the fact that it contains neither cams nor slides, but is driven solely by pin joints, the bearings of which can be easily made adjustable, to compensate for wear. Gate friction will be extremely light or non-existent, and film will be guided only on its edges during its period of movement. DISCUSSION MR. ROWSON: Mr. Newman has shown us that he has lived through all the stages of the development of motion picture cameras. He has been intimate with all the difficulties to be overcome; he has helped very materially in overcoming them, and he is therefore a very competent person to appreciate and to criticize, and also to prophesy about the future. It is only a matter of great regret that time has prevented him expanding the subject to the lengths of which he is capable, and explaining even further to some of us his ideas about the future of the camera. It is very extraordinary, indeed, but he had discovered