[Konvas] Ebayer advice please

Fri Feb 20 00:42:09 CST 2009

Rita, you won't have any problems with Illia. He will deal if you are serious about buying. That camera's been on there for a while so try emailing him and bargaining. I bought a Kinor 35 PII package from him at a terrific price. Bruce has it now and is doing some work on it. (I had Illia ship it directly to him). Bruce could convert the camera to B&H perf in his sleep and I also have a 35C with his Rotovision 5000 electronics package installed and it is a thing of beauty. He can also install that on the Kinor 35H. That was the main weak point of these Soviet cameras, those damn Soviet Block mid 80s computer boards. The Soviets did one thing exceptionally well, build things to last and work under harsh conditions. 

The Commiecams didn't have all the bells and whistles of their Western counterparts but they were very well made. The Kinors require maintenance is all. (a cmaera technician was assigned to every shoot under the Soviet system) You need to have them serviced before a shoot by someone who is familliar with them. The Lomo lenses are comperable to (some people say better than) the Ziess and Cookes of the era and far less expensive. The Soviets put a priority on propoganda so they took film making very seriously as a national issue. These cameras have fixed 180 deg shutters, but with a well serviced Kinor and Lomo lenses, they make beautiful pictures and operate at 32 dbs which is quiet enough for almost any circumstanses (mag noise does make a significant difference so mags should be well serviced and adjusted as well). They can also be fitted with a barney to make them untra quiet in small interior situations. I guarantee you, you won't find a better price for a professional sound sync camera than what you can get a Kinor for. I know, I looked long and hard before buying my first Kinor. The Kinors need 18 vt batteries WHICH at first seems like it could be a problem until you realize that many battery power tools run on 18 volts and that an 18 volt fliashlight can be converted to a battery holder with a cord and plug where the light head used to be. 

I STILL have my first 35mm camera, a BEAUTIFUL little Konvas-1 with every accessory including the ultra rare spring motor, the animation crank, the hand crank, the original straps (which are soft, suple and in absolutely MINT condition like the camera BTW), the metal hand grip. I'm still missing the little tool kit though, AHHH one day!! :D I also have the 35C and the ultra rare PII. Lets just say I'm a Commiecam fan!! I honestly don't see any incentive to go with an Arri BL or BL2 which operate at 28 dbs and are the only western cameras distantly close to the Kinor price tag except for MAYBE a Mitchell BNCR IF you could find one (though they are heavier, operate on I believe 96 volts and the Baltar lenses tend to be softer than the Lomos). I honestly thonk the Kinors are the best bang for the buck out there, though, they are becoming rarer as time goes on and to Russian stock pile dwindles down. Red guys have also driven the price up on the OCT-19 mount Lomos as well though they still are a good deal even at the inflated prices when compared to Ziess and Cookes from the same era. Just my 2 cents worth. B)  

> Date: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 20:35:16 -0500
> From: vonat8 at verizon.net
> To: cinema at konvas.org
> Subject: Re: [Konvas] Ebayer advice please
> 
> I have a dim recollection of a word we used to use to describe just 
> this.  It's been so long since I had a reason to use it.....was it 
> "craftsmanship"?
> 
> H. W. Stone wrote:
> 
> > And as I remember it, Arri boasted that every part was hand fitted, 
> > not some off the shelf thing stuck in there.
> >
> > /*Every part.*/
> >
> > I strongly suspect that every "pro" 35mm camera maker has about the 
> > same standards, takes the same care.  That's why you can pick up an 
> > eighty year old camera, do a CLA, and it just purrs along--  and that 
> > the guys making Kinors or putting together a Konvas was not under any 
> > greater presssure than the Mitchell maker, the artifactor of Arri, or 
> > the Eclair enabler.
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Peter Haas <peterhaas at cruzio.com>
> > To: Konvas Discussion List <cinema at konvas.org>
> > Sent: Thu, 19 Feb 2009 5:18 pm
> > Subject: Re: [Konvas] Ebayer advice please
> >
> > On Feb 19, 2009, at 1:22 PM, Speedbirdmgh at aol.com 
> > <mailto:Speedbirdmgh at aol.com> wrote: 
> >  
> > > Take a gate for example, it is machined from one solid lump to pre-> 
> > determined specs and when finished is inserted into a "dummy" > camera 
> > body and if it fits is passed as ok. If it does'nt fit it is > not 
> > scrapped but hand finished until it fits which means it is a > "one 
> > off" and will not fit anything else. 
> >  
> > Gates are always made to a specification, and then hand-fitted to the 
> > specific camera movement. 
> >  
> > Once so fitted, the gate is only for that movement. 
> >  
> > There are more than a few movement parts which are "serialized" to 
> > that one movement. Actuating cams, registration pins, registration pin 
> > housings, etcetera. 
> >  
> > Fortunately, competent technicians can make after-market adjustments, 
> > but the must, essentially, duplicate the factory's process when making 
> > such adjustments. 
> >  
> >  
> > _______________________________________________ 
> >
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> >
> >
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> >  
> >
> 
> 
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> 
> Be sure to Check out the online Forums:
> http://konvas.org/forum/index.php
> 
> Visit the discussion archives:
> http://konvas.org/list-archives.html
> 
> Join the Konvas Discussion List:
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> 
> Please be kind when replying and crop the replied message!!!

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