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And there was one other advantage. Because the original film was shot at 16 f.p.s. and our film
would run at 24 f.p.s. we were able to “stretch print” the copy by shooting every second picture
twice, thus keeping the action at normal speed when screened at 24 f.p.s.

The whole arrangement worked well and the Bolex had “another star in its crown”. We shot
(animated) about two and a half minutes of selected scenes from the original film. The picture
contrast had increased to some degree in the final release prints but was still acceptable.
Mr Harry Lowe, the Commissioner for Main Roads, was delighted with the results and made
special mention of our preservation efforts at the gala premiere of the film. Yes, we all felt good!
Quite mad, but good. And the Bolex Reflex will always remain one of my favourites.
The FranzFilm optical printer for
super-shrunken stock.

I had been using my much modified
Sofil Projector as a 16mm Step
printer, hence the light tight
lamphouse cover. As an optical
printer, it was set up on a solid base
board and accurately aligned to the
optical axis of the Bolex H16.

The old projector worked very well,
with the improvised handle on the
left turning over one frame of the
badly shrunken Kodachrome every
revolution.

The 75mm Yvar camera lens was independently mounted in a reversed position (as recommended for
one to one copying) with a felt-lined telescoping tube forming a light-tight connection to the camera. The
cable release attachment on the Bolex was ideal as a single frame (Animation) release, while the reflex
viewfinder ensured we had accurate optical alignment. The whole Heath Robinson arrangement worked
well.

Left: Introduced in 1959,
the low cost H16M was a
basic camera designed for
use with Zoom lenses like
the 17- 68 mm Angenieux

12 REEL DEALS June 2020