Demo of Bolex H16 being loaded with film.

 Demo - Loading Bolex H16 with Film. from Gavin Murphy on Vimeo.

Here is the demo video of the Bolex H16 camera being loaded with film as promised during my creative project. I had planned to narrate over it but there isn’t much to tell. Swiss precision engineered, the camera virtually loads itself.
Have a look!

Here’s a link to the original post

For the purposes of the video I used old film stock and manipulated the camera to keep the process visible. In practice when loading unexposed stock I draw off a manageable length of film for the leader and hold the remaining film coil tight to the spool, whilst manipulating the leader into the loading mechanism.
100ft rolls of 16mm film (used in the H16) come on Daylight spools which act to block any light leakage to lower levels of the film roll, the film has an anti-halation backing layer to do the same. Because of this, film can be loaded into and unloaded from the camera in subdued light without the worry of fogging shots.

To load a film set the camera to run at a slow frame rate.

 

Check list to load Bolex H16 with film.

1             Check that the film pressure plate is in the closed position, it should click into place.

2             Turn the small lever to close the film loop-former.

3             Remove the empty daylight spool (if necessary) using the eject lever.

4             Place the loaded film spool on the upper spindle (with drive mechanism to left) feeding off in the direction of the arrow printed on the base plate (clockwise with the film sprocket holes at the bottom, when holding it).

5             Clip the end of the film using the built in guillotine or scissors.

6             Insert the film into the top drive sprocket and and press the trigger, the film feeds through the loading mechanism automatically, 

7             Allow 12” or so to run through the mechanism, attach and wind the film onto an empty daylight spool and place onto the empty pickup reel spindle (winding in the direction of the arrow printed on the camera). Take up any film slack onto the spool.

8             Press the button to reopen the film loop-former.

9             Run the camera again for several seconds paying attention to the sound of the film running and ensuring that the film loop does not scrape or rub against the cameras mechanism.

10           Replace the lid, the film counter will be reset automatically. Run the camera until the counter indicator says zero.

Should you forget to open the loop-former before using the camera, it does open automatically once the lid is replaced. It may be tempting to omit the visual check to maximise on film footage/shots, but this is bad practice (as you don't want all your shots ruined as due consequence).
Remember to adjust the viewfinder diopter to your eye (remove the lens, aim the camera at a light source and focus the eyepiece on the ground glass), and to set the camera to your required frame rate.

Now shoot something fantastic!

Film Run Times