Bolex Intervalometer

ic-racer · Nov 10, 2018

I have always been fascinated with time lapse photography and just recently saw a fantastic movie, ........

I have been putting this project off too long, so today I went ahead and did it.

This is a spring-motor camera, so no need for a drive motor, just needs some way to push the shutter button.

ic-racer · Nov 10, 2018

I used a servo to actuate the shutter. The servo slowly oscillates back and forth.

Neil Grant · Nov 11, 2018

...many years ago the Bolex H16 was a very popular camera (in professional fields) for wild-life and time-lapse filming. There used to a 'proper' time lapse unit - but unlike your device it had an electric motor that drove the camera, as well as a timer unit. The winding crank was removed and the motor also attached to a pair of tapped holes adjacent to the 'GO' button. IIRC it was suitable only for the latter cameras - the so called RX 5 and beyond. 16mm film stock records 40 frames per foot. My current time-lapse camera is a solar powered Nikon dSLR and has the potential for almost unlimited running. If course this is miles away from the world of clockwork cameras, standard and self-blimped Arriflexes, synch pulse tape recorders and all the other 'bits' that using real film entailed. What are you trying to film??

ic-racer · Nov 21, 2018

I have finished the intervalometer. It goes from one frame each 6 seconds to one frame each 1 second. Exposure is either 1/25 sec or up to 3 seconds (T or I). It runs from a 2 Cell LiPo.
For those that don't know, the Bolex has always been great for time lapse and stop-motion, because the shutter is light-tight between the single frames.

Neil Grant · Nov 27, 2018

Nice job. Your camera looks like a 'round base' - so the 'modern' TL unit wouldn't work on it. I love the noise of an H16 clockwork motor running at 24 fps - sounds like victory!

ic-racer · Dec 2, 2018

Just finished my first 25 feet, time to swap the spools.

ic-racer · Dec 2, 2018

Neil Grant said:
Nice job. Your camera looks like a 'round base' - so the 'modern' TL unit wouldn't work on it. I love the noise of an H16 clockwork motor running at 24 fps - sounds like victory!

I also have a Rex4 with the motor mount screws and 1:1 drive (I don't think they ever made a Rex 5 in this format) but for now the old non-Rex spring motor camera is working well.

They never made an Aspheron for this tiny EE zoom, so I made my own from a wide-angle converter and an adapter from sk-grimes.

ic-racer · Dec 4, 2018

After weeks of overcast sky, finally had something to film the other day.

ic-racer · Dec 4, 2018

Here it is in action:

Floris · Jul 24, 2021

Brilliant combination of Bolex and RC car stuff!

Could you go slower than one frame every six seconds?

Did you 3D print some parts?
I'm very curious for those and which throttle you used.

ic-racer · Jul 24, 2021

No 3d printing, all parts are spare RC parts. For example the guide is an anti-rotation bracket from a helicopter swash plate. That servo tester is not able to have a very long interval.

Bolex Intervalometer

Privacy & Transparency

Privacy & Transparency