005: The Bolex, Tested
Welcome to The Bolex Test, a weekly newsletter about making a living with a wind-up 16mm movie camera.
I cover archaeology a lot in my day job, and when I was invited to revisit a site it presented an opportunity to test my Bolex.
The site is in a unique location. It’s in the middle of a cornfield and now that the corn is tall and dry it creates a kind of outdoor room.
I did not do a lot to prep the camera before filming. It’s standard practice to tape around the door that covers the film chamber, but I did not do that because I want to see if the door is light-tight. I did put some black tape around the filter slot near the lens. That is a common area for light leaks on a Bolex.
I shot two rolls of film, and the Bolex performed well. It wound smoothly, operated without issue, and did not jam. I’ve sent the film off to the lab to be processed and scanned, and I won’t know the true results of this test until I get them back. I’ll share the footage then, but it might take a couple of weeks.
Overall it was a nice fall day - perfect for being outside with a camera.
Now, on to some unfinished business.
The Tally
Feet of film exposed: 200
Paid gigs: 0