BOLEX PAILLARD B8L MOVIE CAMERA 8mm

[BAC1967]

Recently I got very nice Super 8 Bolex camera without mechanical link to iris, only thru TTL meter. What on earth those engineers were thinking? Sooooo stupid solution!

When you do find a super 8 camera that has a mechanical link to the iris it's often inconvenient to use. I have the Bolex 155 and 160 Macrozoom, great cameras if the meter works.

 

[gorbas]

I have the Bolex 155 and 160 Macrozoom, great cameras if the meter works.

Yes, I have 155 too, it's nice shelf queen now

 

[btaylor]

Recently I got very nice Super 8 Bolex camera without mechanical link to iris, only thru TTL meter. What on earth those engineers were thinking? Sooooo stupid solution!

What model of Bolex S8 didn’t have automatic exposure? The first one I was aware of was the 150- which had auto exposure. I had a 2 lens turret double 8 Bolex when I was a kid- it was so well made. Later in film school I was shooting the 16mm Rex. I always loved the precision solid feel of their equipment and Switar lenses.

 

[BAC1967]

What model of Bolex S8 didn’t have automatic exposure? The first one I was aware of was the 150- which had auto exposure. I had a 2 lens turret double 8 Bolex when I was a kid- it was so well made. Later in film school I was shooting the 16mm Rex. I always loved the precision solid feel of their equipment and Switar lenses.

I’m pretty sure they all had automatic exposure, the question is which ones allowed for manual exposures well. The 150, 155 and 160 didn’t allow for it.

 

[AgX]

Yes, I have 155 too, it's nice shelf queen now

You should take it out instead.
From experience I can tell you, people love it !

(Except for people from the photo and art world, who all just ignore it...)

 

[btaylor]

I’m pretty sure they all had automatic exposure, the question is which ones allowed for manual exposures well. The 150, 155 and 160 didn’t allow for it.

Right, I think they had an aperture lock though. Adjusting exposure manually with most S8 cameras usually involved “tricking” the autoexposure function in some way.

 

[btaylor]

I always thought the 150-160 series S8 Bolexes were some of the coolest looking cameras ever. I used a 155 on a school project decades ago, loved the way it handled, my only complaint was the limited wide angle- 8mm I think. I ended up with a Canon 1014xls, not as cool looking as the Bolex but amazingly versatile.

 

[ic-racer]

In this one the galvometer is directly connected to a two-blade aperture that swings on needle bearings. There is a special cable that connects to the pistol grip that opens the aperture for focusing and closes it to the EE mode when the button is pressed. Designed for mercury cell but runs fine on zinc cells.

 

[btaylor]

Sweet! Is that an H8 S8 or D8 or H16? I see it is a reflex. Such beautiful machines. Would love to have one, but I would never shoot with it. My Canon hasn’t been out in years. It’s just stupid all the gear I have out in the garage. Time to cull the herd.

 

[Dan Fromm]

Hmm. My former 4008ZM, 4008ZM2 and 5008S-MS all have full manual control.

 

[ic-racer]

Sweet! Is that an H8 S8 or D8 or H16? I see it is a reflex. Such beautiful machines. Would love to have one, but I would never shoot with it. My Canon hasn’t been out in years. It’s just stupid all the gear I have out in the garage. Time to cull the herd.

That was the most recently produced H8 Reflex. I call it a REX-4, they never made a REX-5 in the 8mm (REX-5 is the latest model of the 16mm spring camera). It has the hard-to-find Vario-Switar EE zoom designed for 8mm format.
Yes it is the same physical size as the 16mm, but with a 100ft dual-8 roll of film, it runs for as long as the 16mm camera with the huge 400ft magazine on top as the frames on this are exactly 1/4 the size or the 16mm frames.

 

[Kino]

I have a Double Regular 8mm Bolex that remains in the closet. Shame.

 

[btaylor]

Hmm. My former 4008ZM, 4008ZM2 and 5008S-MS all have full manual control.

How could I forget those gorgeous, sexy French Beaulieu cameras. Of course, full manual. I could never afford one when they current.
Yea, a 400ft mag on an H8 would be kinda ridiculous ic-racer. Very nice Vario-Switar, I don’t think I ever saw one in the flesh.
Kino, that’s a nice looking set of primes on the H8.
Couple years ago I had someone offer me an H8 and a set of primes but I had to decline- couldn’t stand to have it just sitting on a shelf and I really don’t want to shoot any regular 8 film. Back in the day I could get a really nice image shooting K40 in the Canon. But scanning costs are such that one might as well shoot 16mm if you’re going to shoot film at all. I had a set up with FSU 35mm mopic gear years ago, if I shot short ends I could shoot and scan for less than Super 8!

 

[Kino]

I had a Konvas 35mm I shot with for a few years; short ends, lab stock, b&h or KS perf, it didn't care!

I actually started the Konvas Users Group many moons ago with Pat Steele, who had the Commiecam site. He had a Kinor as well...

Miss that camera...

 

[Dan Fromm]

I had a set up with FSU 35mm mopic gear years ago, if I shot short ends I could shoot and scan for less than Super 8!

That's very close to the reason I bought the 5008. At the time I could get short dated S8 K40 sound cartridges at camera shows for around $1 each and processing mailers for as little as $0.50. Gear (several cameras, editor, Elmo 1200 projector, Ikelite housing), film and processing for my first epic (66 minutes!) cost less than a reasonable grade of camcorder. 16 was another matter entirely.

 

[btaylor]

Hmm. My former 4008ZM, 4008ZM2 and 5008S-MS all have full manual control.

How could I forget those gorgeous, sexy French Beaulieu cameras. Of course, full manual. I could never afford one when they current.
Yea, a 400ft mag on an H8 would be kinda ridiculous ic-racer. Very nice Vario-Switar, I don’t think I ever saw one in the flesh.
Kino, that’s a nice looking set of primes on the H8.

 

[btaylor]

That's very close to the reason I bought the 5008. At the time I could get short dated S8 K40 sound cartridges at camera shows for around $1 each and processing mailers for as little as $0.50. Gear (several cameras, editor, Elmo 1200 projector, Ikelite housing), film and processing for my first epic (66 minutes!) cost less than a reasonable grade of camcorder. 16 was another matter entirely.

I sure missed the boat on the cheap k40 and $.50 processing. Back in 1980 I think I was paying $30 per cartridge with the processing.

 

[btaylor]

I had a Konvas 35mm I shot with for a few years; short ends, lab stock, b&h or KS perf, it didn't care!

I actually started the Konvas Users Group many moons ago with Pat Steele, who had the Commiecam site. He had a Kinor as well...

Miss that camera...

I’m still a member of the Konvas group! Not much activity. I would gladly sell you another Konvas! I had them set up with video taps and crystal motors. They ran well. Still have a couple of upgraded Kinor 35S, including a 2 perf version. I need to get all of it out to eBay, but the nice aluminum cases may be worth more than the cameras.

 

[Dan Fromm]

How could I forget those gorgeous, sexy French Beaulieu cameras. Of course, full manual. I could never afford one when they current.

Lovely things, but evil. My first, a 4008ZM was extremely flaky. The autoexposure failed in the field and I was cooked. Well, not really, just used the backup camera. Not as capable, but it did well enough. The worst of it was that I didn't know how the 4008zm's 8-64/1.9 Angenieux t-stopped, hadn't thought to test. t/3.3, approximately, I found out later. So there I was with a hand-held meter and still no way to use the 4008.

I traded it to a dealer, with full disclosure, for the 5008. It was very flaky too. Eventually, with the help of a friend in Paris, I sent it to a Beaulieu for overhaul. $$$. Lucked into a very inexpensive ZC-1000, bought it for the lens with the idea of eventually getting another 4008 body. Lovely optic even though not wide enough at the short end. Lucked into a 4008ZM2 with a 6-66 Schneider, sold off the ZC, lens and all (Single 8 film was scarce and expensive). Another flaky camera that had to go to France to be fixed. $$$ again.

Beaulieu told my friend that no one in the US, including S8Sound, was qualified to work on their older S8 cameras.

 

[BAC1967]

I

In this one the galvometer is directly connected to a two-blade aperture that swings on needle bearings. There is a special cable that connects to the pistol grip that opens the aperture for focusing and closes it to the EE mode when the button is pressed. Designed for mercury cell but runs fine on zinc cells.

have the same setup, great camera, I need to get it out more often. I had the lens serviced several years ago so it takes a modern battery now.

Bolex Paillard H8 Rex 4 by Bryan Chernick, on Flickr

 

[AgX]

I didn't know how the 4008zm's 8-64/1.9 Angenieux t-stopped, hadn't thought to test. t/3.3, approximately, I found out later.

That is more than 1.5 stops difference.

 

[Kino]

I’m still a member of the Konvas group! Not much activity. I would gladly sell you another Konvas! I had them set up with video taps and crystal motors. They ran well. Still have a couple of upgraded Kinor 35S, including a 2 perf version. I need to get all of it out to eBay, but the nice aluminum cases may be worth more than the cameras.

Cool! Haven't been a part of that group since I sold my Konvas.

Kinor 35S 2 perf? PL mount? Tempting but it would probably just join the Bolex DR8 on the shelf.

Wish I would win the lotto...

 

[guangong]

I love my Beaulieu 4000zm and Zm2, but for compact, high quality ergonomic design, nothing beats Nizo.
By the way, the East German STASI was very partial to Beaulieu S8 cameras, as reported
several years ago in the magazine SCHMALFILM.