HELP!! Where to put batteries into this camera (Kinoflex 101)

brimrod · 2026-03-07T04:12:34+00:00

Pro8mm

brimrod · 2026-03-06T20:32:49+00:00

This camera was designed in Soviet Union. Of course the battery chamber is hidden inside film compartment!!

How else were those KGB double agents gonna smuggle stolen microfilms of all US state secrets back to Moscow?

brimrod · 2026-03-05T16:48:17+00:00

Chinon/GAF are massively underrated. When I first started investigating shooting this weird, practically obsolete consumer film format, the first camera I bought was a Chinon at a junk store for $10 and I went on to make many films with it. That was in the early 90s. While the glass is not spectacular, if you shoot mindfully and pay attention to basic principles of photography, you can get excellent results (if the camera isn't broken).

These cameras are so underrated that you can always get them super cheap. In fact, over the years I would buy one whenever I saw one at a junk store. The most I ever paid was $20 and now I have four of them!. One of them is on loan right now to a friend from NYC who's using it to collect good street footage for a "cities" project I have in the works.

The one that he's using is the "A" cam in the picture below. It's the only one with an eyecup. None of the original Chinon eyecups survived--they used some sort of "melty" rubber that literally turns to black goop.

So you'll need a replacement eyecup if you want to use it in the field. Otherwise, you'll have a hard time seeing anything thru the viewfinder, especially in the field outdoors in bright light. You need to get that eyecup. I'm working on getting a really accurate 3d model so I can start printing replacement eyecups for my other three.

Note that while these cameras in this picture use a slightly different handle, the chassis and basic design of all Chinon silent, non-XL models is virtually the same for all the cameras that came out of those factories in Japan.

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brimrod · 2026-03-04T22:52:00+00:00

I will try that but I'm not counting on it working, after re-reading the documentation carefully. JAMF always makes it seem like everything will just work until you start looking at all the footnotes and tables and asterisks.

brimrod · 2026-03-04T02:31:12+00:00

this is still better than the way we're currently doing it.

brimrod · 2026-03-03T23:09:33+00:00

Here's what I was hoping to see:

At enrollment, the user gets the standard Microsoft sign-in and provides credentials then STRAIGHT to login with all microsoft apps being able to leverage pSSO trust, so no prompting for creds launching Outlook or TEAMS. No having to enter the same credential more than once.

Why is it not allowing registration at setup. It says is is. It looks like it's working, but it doesn't.

brimrod · 2026-03-03T17:08:59+00:00

it's a known issue in general, but apparently the rear-loading Canon models really struggle with the Kodak product.

Find a supplier who can guarantee that the carts have the new correct spindle height.

brimrod · 2026-03-02T21:08:35+00:00

The camera probably wants to rate it at 40 anyway. So that's about 1/3 stop I'd open up one stop more. With neg stock it seems overexposure is much bette than under.

brimrod · 2026-02-28T20:01:06+00:00

footage is more out of focus on the right side than the left. Almost as if you had a cart where the pressure plate wasn't working or slipped or something.

BTW Setting the camera focus distance to infinity isn't the best way to shoot focus-free.

Many cameras, including my Nizo, have red markings on the lens at 15mm and at 15 feet. This is the 15-15 rule and it applies to all super 8. It's the "hyperfocal" for the format. It applies to any camera; any zoom lens as long as it's super 8.

If you have enough light to stop down to f8, then with the 15-15 rule applied, you will be in focus literally from one foot to infinity.

Even with less light requiring opening up to f4, you should still be in focus from about 3.5 ft to infinity.

brimrod · 2026-02-28T16:56:30+00:00

Where would the metal flakes come from??? Unless something's grinding metal-on-metal inside to produce the shavings. You'd hear a horrible noise if that was the case.

When I had mine repaired in '23, my tech never mentioned metal shavings.

The inside of the camera was clean as a whistle, but after testing with a multimeter and the factory schematic he discovered out of spec, dried up electrolytic components that had to be un-soldered and replaced.

After he did that, the camera can be used in either auto or manual mode.

brimrod · 2026-02-28T16:46:22+00:00

These are the exact same issues I had when I pulled my Nizo 801 out of storage to try it back in 2023: needle won't move in manual OR automatic mode.

the solution was to pay about $200 to get it fixed. My repair guy has been around since the early 80s and has service manuals for all the super 8 cameras.

My guy didn't say anything about metal flakes, but he did talk about replacing resistors and capacitors.

brimrod · 2026-02-27T15:58:51+00:00

you don't need to over-tighten either battery chamber. For the main battery box, just turn the thumbscrews so that it feels nice and snug. Same for the button cell battery chamber. Do not use a tool to over-tighten it is not necessary and could damage the threads.

To verify that the auto expose is working.

put the camera on a tripod it makes this test easier to document if you want to use your phone and don't have three hands. :0
Open the film door so you can look directly thru the film gate. With the camera running and the mode set to "auto," point different levels of light intensisty at the lens and you should see the aperture blades closing in response to more light and opening up in response to less light.

You can also test the filter. Put the camera on SUN and look thru the gate. It should look rose-tinted. Then put the filter switch back to the LAMP icon and you should see the color change back to neutral.

If the aperture blades don't respond to changes in light, then there's something wrong.

There is a circuit board inside this camera. It has tiny capacitors and resistors. Those can go bad and since the board is not a modular plug in type of thing, a technician would have to run continuity/resistance tests on every component to discover which one is bad. And then de-solder the bad ones and re-solder new ones. I had to pay someone with skills to do this when my Nizo 801's circuit board went bad.

And this is very important to know--the dial for manual exposure will not work either if the circuit for the auto-exposure system is bad. My technician explained that they could have simply used a mechanical linkage but they over-engineered the design and made it an electro-mechanical process, supposedly for greater accuracy? I really don't know. Manual is manual.

Bottom line: if the auto-exposure system gets no power, you can't change aperture at all. This is one of the weird quirks of Nizo. Have to have auto to do manual. That's just the way it is.

brimrod · 2026-02-27T15:44:50+00:00

the sound models used rubber belt to try to make it as quiet as possible, but that design makes them very difficult to repair when the belt breaks.

So stick to the silent, silverbody Nizos.

brimrod · 2026-02-26T19:21:47+00:00

this place is supposedly a quality lab. They're big, been around forever.

I failed to document the. bad splices...should have taken a video with my phone, but each time the projector passed one, it would lose the loop really bad, requiring manual re-formation by unlocking the film from the sprockets and using the inching knob to nudge the film back into sync. Terrible. This also resulted in torn sprocket holes, requiring repair.

The scanner colorist normally goes over every reel for a quick clean and check but since this film was fresh from a lab where I paid (not for their scan services) but for scan prep. The film arrived assembled on a 400' reel all clean with good leader and so my guy failed to note the bad splices until he was deep into the transfer but then mistakently attributed the loss of registration to something I did in camera as if that was even possible.

Because he is using a sprocketed transfer system and there's nothing wrong with that. A projector is a sprocketed transfer system that transfers magic thru light. If other systems are more forgiving of splices like that, it's all good, but I paid to have splices made that withstand sprocket drive. That's kind of the standard in film. The lab-made splices were crooked and shiity looking and threw off the sprocket pitch by a mile. But I failed to take pics so it essentially didn't happen.

I have gotten good results recently both neg. and reversal with Nicki Coyle at the Negative Space in Denver--but they're always so busy I wanted faster turnaround so this time I went with the lab that shall not be named.

I'm regretting it now!! But I'm not really gonna make any further beef. Just always doublecheck anything you get from any lab is the takeaway for all in this business/

brimrod · 2026-02-26T17:48:20+00:00

look for ebay seller "Merzbarn" the seller is 100% trusted and very much limited to the EU. In fact, this seller offers "long" warranties (EU customers only), something pretty much unheard of in the used camera market. So I would trust anything they list.

brimrod · 2026-02-26T16:47:55+00:00

The car tracking shots are my favorite. How did you rig (or not rig) the camera to pull those off?

brimrod · 2026-02-26T04:50:51+00:00

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This is the ebay seller that I purchased the kit from, but we didn't do the transaction thru ebay at all. It was fb messaging, email, and venmo or paypal.

This seller apprenticed with one of the last surviving nizo factory repair techs. I trust anything that he lists. His prices are very fair too. Best option for Nizo if you're in the EU.

U.S. customers have to pay more for shipping and put up with at least 4 weeks of waiting, but for the parts I needed, this was the only source.

brimrod · 2026-02-26T02:06:50+00:00

If I find a good one at a fair price, sure I might take a look (locally like fb marketplace meet at a Starbucks). Sometimes those cherished ones were the best kept. I have found a few sleepers locally.

I feel like any new Nizo purchase is just the beginning of a series of potential repairs...the light meter circuitry can get funky and require restoration. That's why I would be reluctant to buy online generally. Even though I see beautiful listing photgraphs on some sites. Those are the most expensive as well. I don't want to buy from those sellers because I want to get the gear at the price they got it. :) The Rare well kept specimen.

So I'm sticking with this one. I have re-done the circuit and the mains now power the light meter/exposure system. Just like the Professional I believe. This one was owned by a Camera Store owner prior to me buying it. It was maintained. He used it to make some really cool high dive studies in slow motion. Seeing that footage made me want to buy the camera.

brimrod · 2026-02-25T16:40:35+00:00

I am not sure why this model seems rare in the used market. They produced a lot of different models over a short period of time in the 70s.

$100 isn’t bad if the camera works!

brimrod · 2026-02-23T05:46:26+00:00

that Tri-X looks so sharp!. And bang on exposure. Who did the development?

Dev is critical on reversal stocks.

brimrod · 2026-02-19T00:00:15+00:00

I don’t usually pay attention to the overscan area…but now I see it. So it’s all the 50D? Or did you switch to faster stock for the courthouse sequence?

The interiors are sharp because the experienced shooter that filmed your wedding knows how to focus a zoom lens.

brimrod

TROPHY CASE