Old Cameras in Old Movies

[AE35]

Does anyone know what kind of press camera is being used here in Lawrence of Arabia?

 

[AE35]

Here's some very nice gear from Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977). There are a lot of cameras in that movie.

 

[greg zinselmeier]

High art ( 1998) the photographer uses A Leica m2- I think ( I remember) ????

 

[choiliefan]

View attachment 160927 Does anyone know what kind of press camera is being used here in Lawrence of Arabia?

Looks like a Goerz Anshutz.

 

[Diapositivo]

Accadde ad Ankara is an Italian mini-series on the spy story which is more known as Operation Cicero.
In the Italian mini-series, Cicero uses a Minox "spy-camera".
In the US film Five Fingers which is based on the same facts it seems to use a Leica or some sort of 135 RF.
http://www.wikiwand.com/it/Operazione_Cicero

 

[AgX]

Looks like a Goerz Anshutz.

It was my first thought too. But any Goerz strut camera I found a picture of had different details, especially all I found were missing that frame at the front standard, but instead had an optical finder at the back standard.
But the lens-plate fits...

 

[cooltouch]

The auto racing masterpiece, Lemans, starring Steve McQueen was filmed in 1970 and released in 1971. Much of the film's footage was actually taken during the 1970 race. I believe it is fair to say that "the camera" in all its forms is one of the biggest extras, if not the biggest, in the entire film. In just about every scene in which the public is evident, multiple cameras are on display and in use. Even not-so-public scenes, such as when drivers are walking to their rest locations and being followed by press photographers, are filled with camera wielding "pros." As the film progressed, it became increasingly obvious to me that the film's director and editorial staff were selecting key shots just because of the cameras in use or on display. One might argue that they were merely adding to the "realism" of one of the greatest spectacles in motor racing, but I think there was more to it than just that. Those folks were having fun "taking pictures of people taking pictures." Really.

It being 1970, you see lots of Nikon Fs and Nikkormats, a couple of Leicas, and quite a few European cameras that are probably Prakticas or something similar -- I dunno, I'm no expert on them. Hasselblads, a Bolex H16, B&H Filmo, an Angenieux perhaps? and a huge "portable" video camera with backpack that must have required very fit cameramen just to lug it around. You can find the film in its entirety on YouTube. If you like to see the old camera gear in action and, better yet, seeing Porsche 917s and Ferrari 512s at full song, then you gotta watch this film (again).



Here are links to a few screen shots I took:

http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_1.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_2.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_3.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_4.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_5.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_6.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_7.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_8.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_9.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_10.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_11.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_12.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_13.jpg
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_14.jpg

 

[AgX]

That is very interesting, as only a year ago I watched that movie and did not remember any of these cameras! Seemingly a matter of selective-perception or -memory.


In your stills I don't recognize a Praktica though.

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Michael, thank you for the LeMans screenshots.

Bolex H16...must...get.

 

[Diapositivo]

Thanks cooltouch, very nice contribution.
The photographers are probably actors themselves, I suspect. Too many fingers are often dangerously near the lens rim and the photographer in picture 14 seems to be trying to focus on the pilot 30 centimetres from him with a telelens of the time.
Never saw the film, must do one day.

 

[cooltouch]

Thanks guys. First off, there are so many scenes with cameras that most of the ones I chose were because of relative clarity. An object may appear sharp in a motion picture, but when you select an individual frame, often it isn't. I had selected one frame that showed what I think is a Praktica, but I seem to have left it out. I went back and looked and found the camera. The link is below.

Some of the photographers were definitely actors -- the one you mention, Diapositivo, likely was. I was thinking he was way too close to the driver to get that lens in focus. But there were many other grab shots of photographers in the film that I think were taken during the actual 1970 race. I suspect that all the photographers who were acting as pros taking pics of the actors were probably extras who were given prop cameras to shoot the actors. I have one example below.

This is the camera I don't recognize and was thinking might have been a Praktica -- or something:
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_15.jpg

I count six photographers in this frame. Actually there are seven -- the guy standing directly behind McQueen is another, but his camera isn't visible in this frame. I suspect they were all extras with prop cameras:
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_16.jpg

Another shot of the ABC cameraman. I still can't believe how huge that rig was that he was carrying. Next time you complain about how heavy your camera is, think of this poor guy!
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_18.jpg

And finally, an interesting curiousity. See all those blue and tan colored vertical objects? They're periscopes! I don't recall ever seeing those used by crowds anywhere else.
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_17.jpg

 

[AgX]

This is the camera I don't recognize and was thinking might have been a Praktica -- or something:
http://michaelmcbroom.com/images/screen_shots/lemans_15.jpg

my bet: Prakticamat


And indeed I remembered that EN-video kit and those periscopes. Have neither of them seen in real...

 

[Diapositivo]

my bet: Prakticamat

I agree. Unusual camera, without the shutter speed selector in the usual place, it is instead coaxial to the rewinder.
At first sight I thought it had a repleaceable viewfinder (a sport viewfinder, maybe a Prakctica VLC) but the sport viewfinder was not available for that camera, what is seen near the ocular is probably only a very elaborated eyecup.

 

[AgX]

"Baba Yaga" Italy, from 1973

The main character is a female photographer and the main setting is her studio and her Rolleiflex plays a major role in the plot too.
The one and only time I saw a Rollei P11 in a movie.

 

[wiltw]

"Blow Up" of course.

(At the moment the only complete, free version on the net is the Italian one, but there is not much talking anyway...)

Found a photo on the web which clearly shows David Hemming using a Nikon F, in the 1966 movie. Pentaprism finder, not even the Photomic finder.

 

[choiliefan]

It was my first thought too. But any Goerz strut camera I found a picture of had different details, especially all I found were missing that frame at the front standard, but instead had an optical finder at the back standard.
But the lens-plate fits...

You are right AgX!, neither of mine have that frame either. Nor a working shutter but that's for another post...

 

[Helios 1984]

2 more from LeMans

 

[CMoore]

Dig those Le mans Shots.
Look at #2.
The guy had a Nikon with a GIANT Lens hanging from his neck...And he is using a 8mm i guess, tri-lens cinema camera. I know i complain about "weight" sometimes.

 

[AgX]

It is a 16mm B&H Filmo 70C .

 

[CMoore]

Aahhhh...16. OK
I am certainly not a cinema guy, but i did not realize you could get a 16 in that size. Must have been quite the little unit for its day.

 

[ransel]

Most remember the scenes in Hitchcock's "Rear Window" with Jimmy Stewart holding the 35mm camera with the long lens. I had probably seen the movie (or parts of it) half a dozen times before I noticed the remains of the camera he was using when he had the accident that landed him in a leg cast.

Jimmy

His damaged camera

and what I believe that camera was - a Graflex RB, possibly a Series D, because I have one

 

[David Newton]

Seeing Ringo Starr doing street photography in "A Hard Day's Night" is what got me started in photography in 1964.
I used to believe he was shooting an Exacta, though actual photos seem to show a black Pentax slr.
I mail ordered a cheap Practika asap.

 

[Helios 1984]

Seeing Ringo Starr doing street photography in "A Hard Day's Night" is what got me started in photography in 1964.
I used to believe he was shooting an Exacta, though actual photos seem to show a black Pentax slr.
I mail ordered a cheap Practika asap.

It could be a S3 or a S1a.

 

[cooltouch]

Dig those Le mans Shots.
Look at #2.
The guy had a Nikon with a GIANT Lens hanging from his neck...And he is using a 8mm i guess, tri-lens cinema camera. I know i complain about "weight" sometimes.

That "giant" Nikon lens is a 500mm f/8 mirror.

 

[CMoore]

Good Heavens...500.?
Not something your average photographer would own.

Anybody know who he is.?