You're very welcome. It came out of necessity. I bought my first bolex d8l turret camera off eBay. Guy said it ran great and it barely ran so I figured I had nothing to lose. It ran so well afterwards I made the video. I then got a P1 that ran poorly for $15 and did the same thing and it runs great.
I have a Bolex P1, and it has the same exact issue...sluggish running at 12 fps and nothing at all on frame speeds above that. I don't trust myself to repair the camera. so I am sending it to a certified Bolex repair facility. The P1 is basically the D-8L, but it is a reflex camera with a nice zoom lens. Thanks for sharing your video! I wish I were as skilled as you are.
Thanks for posting this! It's extremely helpful. I recently got a Bolex P4 with similar problems. Although a much later and different looking 8mm camera the mechanism seems very similar. I hope the reflex zoom lens built in does not get out of alignment. Thanks for your time making this.
Great! I liked the part about the Bolex paperweight! Hopefully I will have my own Bolex one day. Thanks for the video, mechanical camera is an amazing device.
Wanted to say a very big thank you for making this video,. I've just followed it to the letter on my own B8L and what a difference! I did the easy bit first and just oiled the little red gear and put it back together, but I wasn't happy so I decided to go the whole hog and I'm glad I did. Bit nerve racking but I did it all carefully, tiny drops of clock oil on each gear, all went back together fine. Tightening the film claw is tricky as it wants to turn, but I jammed it gently with a screwdrive
Ah, very good. I had opened my Bolex (a more basic model - no turret, no speed knob. but it does do single frames) before, but it's been years, and I'm glad you showed me how to do it better than I would've. Oh, that little spring and roller assembly above the gate is a killer. How's a guy with fat fingers supposed to manage - with infinite patience I suppose. My camera was making awful intermittent grinding noises, lubricating everything I could get at made them go away - until I got it back together! Oh well, it's better than it was. Maybe in ten years I'll give it another shot; right now I'm shootin' movies.
Gee, my apologies for not providing this free service to your absolute liking. I also had a problem with the spring but I figured it out myself. Maybe you're in over your head. If you'd been remotely pleasant and asked me I would have literally taken mine apart again and helped you. You get more flies with honey buddy.
You're quite welcome. The only other issue might be the take up reel. They are lightly lubed and over the years will either pull the film too hard causing jitters or not pull enough causing the film not to wind onto the spool and thus ruining the film when you open the door to flip the spool. Having a test roll with film on it around is the best thing to make sure it's working well before shooting. Good luck-have fun!
Just wanted to say "Thanks" for making this video. Very helpful! I've shared it on my facebook page and twitter several times. I use Nyoil lubricant when I oil my cameras... it works well and it's inexpensive. Nice D8L, by the way!
They'll do a WAY better job than what I was able to do. You'll be thrilled when you get it back. I also have a P1 I got a few months back. Same problem so I oiled it and it seems fine. I just ran a test roll of Plus X through it the other day. You might want to get a Neutral Density filter for it. The high ASA films 100 and up tend to peg the built in light meter on sunny days. My lens hood is designed for Series 7 filters which I found a set of 5 on Ebay for $4.95. They are amazing cameras!
Interesting; could you explain a bit more as I have noticed some jitters. It looks to me like the take up reel is directly driven by the camera, so I don't fully understand how it could vary its pull? The film reel just turns free, not driven at all I think. One question; the little felt "roller" that doesn't roll- should it roll? Should the film rub against it (it does with mine)? Or should I be forming more of a loop to clear it?
Thanks very much for this. I watched a couple of times and had a go with my old B8. It runs much better now. I was wondering if you had any ideas on cleaning the viewfinder? Also have you found the screws VERY tight and difficult to remove? On the B8 they feel almost seized! Thanks again!
+TheAutoload Thanks for responding, I followed the tutorial and my p1 works like a charm now. When I was putting the pressure plate and spring mechanism back in, a tiny brass pin, its sort of U shaped with a tiny curl at the end, fell out from the underside of the pressure plate, and I haven't the slightest idea where it fell off from.
Thanks, much appreciated! It seems to run fine without it, but I didn't want to take any further risks of damage, so I popped the pressure plate back out. Kodachrome and caffenol-c experiment on hold, at least with this camera.
+Robert Seppälä I've opened mine up and removed the pressure plate as well as the black Bakelite section with the pressure plate lever on it. The only U shaped pin I find isn't brass but it is located under the Bakelite piece and is the spring tension for the silver lever that opens and closes the film gate for loading. I wish we could post pics in the comments.
Hi! My Bolex B8 is too hard wound up and won't work. Is there a way to lose the wind upp spring? I read that one should not open to that spring without loosing it first, which I cant. :(
If you want to service your Bolex, also have a look at: cinetinker.blogspot.de/2013/01/servicing-bolex-d8l.html and bolexrepair.com/faq.html Films are available in Germany for example at "Click & Surr" or at "Fotoimpex" - both in Berlin.
I'm not real impressed, trying to get my p1 back with the tension spring correct is not working. An actual voice would have been nice, that way, the text would not be getting in the way.
You're very welcome. It came out of necessity. I bought my first bolex d8l turret camera off eBay. Guy said it ran great and it barely ran so I figured I had nothing to lose. It ran so well afterwards I made the video. I then got a P1 that ran poorly for $15 and did the same thing and it runs great.
The FPP has 4 types of regular 8 now plus processing and scanning. Thanks for this I got mine back to working with your teardown instructions.
I have a Bolex P1, and it has the same exact issue...sluggish running at 12 fps and nothing at all on frame speeds above that. I don't trust myself to repair the camera. so I am sending it to a certified Bolex repair facility. The P1 is basically the D-8L, but it is a reflex camera with a nice zoom lens. Thanks for sharing your video! I wish I were as skilled as you are.
Thanks for posting this! It's extremely helpful. I recently got a Bolex P4 with similar problems. Although a much later and different looking 8mm camera the mechanism seems very similar. I hope the reflex zoom lens built in does not get out of alignment.
Thanks for your time making this.
Thank you so much, I got mine going, it was seized completely and the other one was with uneven speeds, now they both working fine.
Great! I liked the part about the Bolex paperweight! Hopefully I will have my own Bolex one day. Thanks for the video, mechanical camera is an amazing device.
Wanted to say a very big thank you for making this video,. I've just followed it to the letter on my own B8L and what a difference! I did the easy bit first and just oiled the little red gear and put it back together, but I wasn't happy so I decided to go the whole hog and I'm glad I did. Bit nerve racking but I did it all carefully, tiny drops of clock oil on each gear, all went back together fine. Tightening the film claw is tricky as it wants to turn, but I jammed it gently with a screwdrive
Thank you for posting this! With your video a few other resources I was able to get my Bolex B8 shooting again
Ah, very good. I had opened my Bolex (a more basic model - no turret, no speed knob. but it does do single frames) before, but it's been years, and I'm glad you showed me how to do it better than I would've. Oh, that little spring and roller assembly above the gate is a killer. How's a guy with fat fingers supposed to manage - with infinite patience I suppose. My camera was making awful intermittent grinding noises, lubricating everything I could get at made them go away - until I got it back together! Oh well, it's better than it was. Maybe in ten years I'll give it another shot; right now I'm shootin' movies.
Gee, my apologies for not providing this free service to your absolute liking. I also had a problem with the spring but I figured it out myself. Maybe you're in over your head. If you'd been remotely pleasant and asked me I would have literally taken mine apart again and helped you. You get more flies with honey buddy.
TheAutoload greetings from California..thanks for vid ..will do this to my bolex this weekend
You're quite welcome. The only other issue might be the take up reel. They are lightly lubed and over the years will either pull the film too hard causing jitters or not pull enough causing the film not to wind onto the spool and thus ruining the film when you open the door to flip the spool. Having a test roll with film on it around is the best thing to make sure it's working well before shooting. Good luck-have fun!
Just wanted to say "Thanks" for making this video. Very helpful! I've shared it on my facebook page and twitter several times. I use Nyoil lubricant when I oil my cameras... it works well and it's inexpensive. Nice D8L, by the way!
They'll do a WAY better job than what I was able to do. You'll be thrilled when you get it back. I also have a P1 I got a few months back. Same problem so I oiled it and it seems fine. I just ran a test roll of Plus X through it the other day. You might want to get a Neutral Density filter for it. The high ASA films 100 and up tend to peg the built in light meter on sunny days. My lens hood is designed for Series 7 filters which I found a set of 5 on Ebay for $4.95. They are amazing cameras!
Thanks for sharing! Great video!
Interesting; could you explain a bit more as I have noticed some jitters. It looks to me like the take up reel is directly driven by the camera, so I don't fully understand how it could vary its pull? The film reel just turns free, not driven at all I think. One question; the little felt "roller" that doesn't roll- should it roll? Should the film rub against it (it does with mine)? Or should I be forming more of a loop to clear it?
Thank you very much for your video. It saved my Bolex C8S.
Does anyone know where I can get colour film for my bolex B8?
Great, I did mine as well, thank you
Thanks very much for this. I watched a couple of times and had a go with my old B8. It runs much better now. I was wondering if you had any ideas on cleaning the viewfinder? Also have you found the screws VERY tight and difficult to remove? On the B8 they feel almost seized! Thanks again!
Nice video, is this channel still maintained, I had a question about the bolex p1?
I'll answer it if I can.
+TheAutoload Thanks for responding, I followed the tutorial and my p1 works like a charm now. When I was putting the pressure plate and spring mechanism back in, a tiny brass pin, its sort of U shaped with a tiny curl at the end, fell out from the underside of the pressure plate, and I haven't the slightest idea where it fell off from.
+Robert Seppälä I'll try and have a look at mine in the next day or so.
Thanks, much appreciated! It seems to run fine without it, but I didn't want to take any further risks of damage, so I popped the pressure plate back out. Kodachrome and caffenol-c experiment on hold, at least with this camera.
+Robert Seppälä I've opened mine up and removed the pressure plate as well as the black Bakelite section with the pressure plate lever on it. The only U shaped pin I find isn't brass but it is located under the Bakelite piece and is the spring tension for the silver lever that opens and closes the film gate for loading. I wish we could post pics in the comments.
If anyone knows where to get regular 8mm film still feel free to post. I know it's become tougher if not impossible in the last 4 months or so.
Hi! My Bolex B8 is too hard wound up and won't work. Is there a way to lose the wind upp spring? I read that one should not open to that spring without loosing it first, which I cant. :(
Have you tried modifying it to Super 8mm film, it should be possible?
Welcome to the Film Photography Project Store
If you want to service your Bolex, also have a look at: cinetinker.blogspot.de/2013/01/servicing-bolex-d8l.html and bolexrepair.com/faq.html
Films are available in Germany for example at "Click & Surr" or at "Fotoimpex" - both in Berlin.
I'm not real impressed, trying to get my p1 back with the tension spring correct is not working. An actual voice would have been nice, that way, the text would not be getting in the way.