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Mitchell BNC

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:23 am
by lilybettina1
The image here of a Mitchell BNC I took at the recent London Kubrick exhibition. The exhibition featured several cameras and lenses used by Stanley Kubrick. The camera pictured was adapted to use the 'Barry Lyndon' wide aperture lens. f/0.7. The camera itself is identified as a Blimped 'Noiseless' Camera. Not, you will note, 'Newsreel'

Re: Mitchell BNC

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 9:55 am
by marop
Newsreel is the more common acceptable term but I have yet to see any documentation as to what Mitchell intended. I'm not really sure that news organizations purchased NCs for newsgathering, which would be the reason to call it "newsreel".

Anyone have any documentation, early ads???

Mark

Re: Mitchell BNC name

Posted: Wed Jun 12, 2019 1:02 pm
by mediaed
My understanding if this term BNC relates to the base NC camera.

The NC was the outcome of a less noisy camera designed for Westinghouse newsreel operations which became the "news(reel) camera" or NC.

When studios asked for a Mitchell design to replace the add-on blimps made in-house or available from other manufacturers like Raybee and Houeston/Fearless, the camera to modify was the less noisy NC.

Hence, in typical Mitchell company internal descriptive fashion, the result was going to obviously be named the BLIMPED News(reel)Camera.

Would it have been better or more logical to name the NC and the BNC a "new" camera or a "noiseless" camera? Sure. But that is not how the manufacturer thought. A "new" camera would possibly obsolete the Standard still in production. A "Noiseless" camera was not really noiseless would tell the wrong story. Finally, the blimp was considered an added element to an existing design.

When you look at the camera in the blimp, it is very obvious it is an NC modified to use the external controls on the blimp. As this was to be a sound camera, the motors were all sync motors that conformed to the blimp mount dimensions but could be used on the NC's as well.

So, the BNC grew from an actual newscamera design but was never meant for such usage.

Re: Mitchell BNC

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 2:11 am
by lilybettina1
Further details of the 'Barry Lyndon' BNC. It was adapted for using the Zeiss wide aperture lens by Cinema Products (LA). The camera was owned by Osprey Films. It was loaned in 1973 to Hawk Films, (the production company making Barry Lyndon). The camera was fitted with the 50mm Zeiss Planar f/0.7. The BNC was #332

Re: Mitchell BNC

Posted: Thu Jun 13, 2019 5:55 am
by lilybettina1
This is the actual 'Barry Lyndon' Zeiss Planar f/07 lens devised originally (one of three) for NASA. The BNC lens mount and back focus was adjusted to account for the almost nil depth or field. In the event the entire 'Barry Lyndon' footage, including the 'candle light', scenes was force stopped in development by x1