Hawkeye-DSLR

[Stan Jelavic]

The resolution of the image is very impressive David. The image size is huge. Do you need to go that high with resolution? 1/2 of that should still be ok and that is 1/4 of the file size. Perhaps you could turn the compression on and that will cut it down to 1/2. In this video the reviewer says that for most of the shots you will not see the difference. For some extreme HDR shots the banding becomes present with the compression on.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=euVGDd3S9U8
With compression turned on and lower resolution, the file size becomes more manageable. If you can not maintain 2 FPS I can send you one of my V12 Hawkeye boards and you can return it when done experimenting. This way you can set the FPS as slow as needed.

[Brian Fretwell]

Sounds like what used to be called "Lossless compression" in bitmaps they used "run length encoding" i.e if the RGB value didn't change down one line of pixels they set that level and for how long it ran without changing. That was a lot less data than recording the value of each pixel.

[David Brown]

Stan, you're right. I need to remember these are not live events!

The film has already limited resolution and dynamic range. I can go back and capture repeatedly. Anyway, until I decide on the method of stills or video I can start small.

The first challenge is the mounting hardware.

[Stan Jelavic]

Yes, the mounting has to be solid because any minute shake will blur the image.
Brian, the popular lossless compression with tiff images is LZW and yes it is based on run length encoding + lots more. I actually looked at the algorithm a while back and would have to refresh my mind. But anyways, it seems that Sony use a lossy compression based on the video which should work ok for most shots.

[Stan Jelavic]

Very intersting. Didn't you tried 24fps mode? On some Canon (T3i/ T5i, 5D) you can try magic lantern which will allow RAW video capture and FPS adjustment (up to 2fps), maybe using 6fps would allow to use middle clean frame and lower shutter speeds if needed. I have a 70D but unfortunately FPS adjustment it's not possible with ML. Is it possible to use an extension tube for macro?

This is very interesting. I forgot about it. In another video.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hthVoeRgbos
Scott also mentioned it.

Not only that you can change the frame rate and video formats, you can also shoot in fully silent mode i.e. no camera wear. Will definitely try that.

[David Brown]

Welcome to the silent minority Stan! If it works.

I'm making a hard right turn on this DSLR-Hawkeye rig. The motor has been temporarily held in place with magnets. I drilled the metal mounting plate to fasten the motor. It failed. I was not able to be as precise as it needs. The hole spacing was measured and drilled. The shaft opening has plenty of clearance, but if it's off center at all, the gears bind slightly. It runs, but no longer sounds like a clock!

I could make an intermediate mount plate. The macro lens I'm using is wonderfully compact, but the working distance is just too close. Opening the gate is cumbersome.

So, when I saw Scott's telecine project, using the Venus lens, I ordered one. Even if this project goes south, it is a better extreme macro lens with good working distances for other applications.

[Stan Jelavic]

Getting the alignment right can get tricky. Going with the Venus lens seems to be a good solution. I mentioned that lens in one of the earlier messages but was not sure about its performance at 3 - 5x but Scott's test videos look pretty good. The right hand side of the videos is a bit soft and that could be his camera alignment. Your setup should not have that issue since the camera is affixed to the rig.
I did try the silent mode and it does work but the resolution is around 2000x1000 which is similar to the video mode. It is a bit disappointing. There is a high res mode but it is a bit complicated. They shoot multiple images at 5x zoom and splice them together into a single image. Have not tried it yet. It may be slow.

[David Brown]

Yes, be sure that Scott's alignment was easily bumped! I also read this review and it made me feel good about the Venus lens.

https://petapixel.com/2020/02/21/lon...ra-macro-lens/

It's certainly well worth trying the hi res mode. I ran the last film I captured at the fastest speed, but all it takes is the slightest resistance to cause a framing error. I had about 5 on a 3 minute reel. A couple I caused myself trying to place a dust cloth in the supply side. Easy to fix (just 4 frames) if there is enough margin captured, a couple of them I had to re-run. I think I will just run in slow mode going forward, and listen for the alarm!

[Stan Jelavic]

Pretty cool review of the Venus.

[Stan Jelavic]

Got the Magic Lantern full rez image capture in silent mode. There is no mirror or shutter movement at all. The shutter is fully electronic. The disadvantage is that it is slow, It takes around 3 seconds per image. I also tried the hi rez video. The best I could get was 2700x1100. Getting a new CF card tomorrow. Hopefully that will give higher resolution since the new card is 3x faster.

[Stan Jelavic]

Testing the ML video at 4 FPS. With the new card I get 2700x1250 rez. The white balance seems to be off i.e. the video does not take the WB from the settings. Found some references to the issue and seems to be a sw bug. Not a big deal because this is a raw video and can be fixed in post.
Also, played with DesignSpark a bit just for fun. Used Kamel's toothed pulley and tried to expand it to 20 teeth. The approach I took was to use the existing design as a template, then start with a new component, then traced one of the teeth using the line and arc tool. Then added a larger circle and tried to use the pattern to create the the rest of the teeth at the larger circumference
Probably not the best approach but would like to get the input from Kamel, Bruce and David.
The 20 tooth pulley can be attached to a stepper and with 20 teeth is should work well for the film with missing perforations.
Ah, yes, also plan to add the notches to the pulley for synchronization.
This is the part I plan to use for synchronization:
https://www.digikey.com/en/products/...RPI-352/638549

[David Brown]

Get the fastest card you can!

I've not used my printer for some time. Tomorrow I need to make a bench dog. My brother does wood working and they are not in home centers.
or this 2nd one looks easier.


I have spent the last few days recovering from a FULL hard drive. Nothing lost, just backing up is so slow even on usb 3. Those capture tiffs add up!

Meanwhile ..The Venus macro arrived and I really like it. It is sharper and has good working range.

So I replaced the stepper motor in it's original mount. Also remembered my camera has a video option for variable frame rates; 1,2,4,8,15,30.60,& 120.

I selected 2fps, started capturing and was amazed. The image was stable in the viewfinder and the recording, until it wasn't.

These framerates are multiples of (1/29.97) and I assume the stepper motor is running 2 exact fps. The amazing part is that they always begin in sync. One time sync held for 15 minutes before I had to stop it. I don't know how that is possible when there is no common start switch.

15 minutes in sync, but that was restarting every 2.5 minutes. This Winait has a peculiar "feature". It only records for exactly 2.5 minutes and then stops! I can unplug the claw sensor and it will run until power is cut.

Although they always begin in sync, they will go in and out at random times. Sometimes it runs for 20-25 seconds and goes out of sync for 6 to 7 seconds then returns. It was a fast and good way to capture when it worked, but unpredictable so I'm not going to use it.

I will try a long capture at 30fps using the standard video. That's a lot of frames to delete! I wonder if captures done at 30fps can drift out of sync as well?

I was about to say just divide the circle and project the lines onto the larger circle. No, the tooth spacing has to remain same distance so the angles change.

I'm rusty to, but how hard can it be to sculpt a dog?

[Bruce Davis]

Hi Stan, David and Kamel, it has been a while, I have been involving myself in other things and have not done anything regarding film transfer. Kamel that is a very impressive cover for the Hawkeye.
Seems like a lot of work by both Stan and David is going into the transfer of S8 film using digital cameras and lenses, is the result going to be that much better than we have at the moment with the Hawkeye?

Stan, copying Kamel's tooth profiles (there are several, I used his earlier one) would work, a 20mm dia sprocket would need to be 20.196779mm dia for 15 teeth. Sprocket hole spacing on S8 film is 4.23mm, I used to deduct the film thickness from the calculated sprocket diameter.
Standard 8 film sprocket hole spacing/pitch is 3.81mm (you know all this anyway).

For S8
15 teeth @ 4.23mm = 63.45mm
Dia = Circ divided by Pi (63.45/3.14159 = 20.196779)
360 degrees / 15 teeth = 24 degrees tooth spacing.
You can adjust the diameter until you reach a point where it works for you, but without a 3D printer that is going to be difficult/expensive.

Regards - Bruce

[Stan Jelavic]

Glad to hear that the Venus lens worked out for you. I was considering that lens for my camera just for macro shooting but could use it for this project as well. I tried the video capture at 20FPS and did not run out of sync for the whole clip. Will try it at lower FPS as well. The FW in these machines checks for the image change and detect the stuck film that way. I have a switch in the frame sync line. With the line disconnected the stepper will run continuously. Essentially the machine is in a waiting mode for sync. When done I flip the switch and the stepper stops. The dog project is a great idea.
Welcome back Bruce. Have not heard from you in a while and wonder if your machine is doing ok.
The DSLR project is for people who already have DSLR cams with macro lenses and want to use an inexpensive scanner. Instead of using the Wolverine components there may be a way of printing your own transport. That is why I am trying to redesign the capstan.
The MSP will run the stepper until it gets the signal from the optical detector (notches aligned with the teeth). Then it stops and sends the camera sync and pauses for a preprogrammed time and then continues on.
The scan quality is close to what we are getting with Hawkeye.
For capstan, I used your design Bruce because that one worked well with my machine and created the larger circle. Then detached one of the teeth and moved it up to the circle and then traced the outline and then used the pattern feature for the rest of the teeth.

[David Brown]

Stan, Bruce hello

Bruce I'm capturing all my films with the Hawkeye. That's why I ran out of drive space. The DSLR project just has my attention and has for years. No I don't need it.

Stan, I took a little different approach than Bruce. 360/20=18 deg. The perforation spacing is 0.1677" = the arc length.



The radius should probably be mid tooth and not the cylinder diameter. That's a guess. Fusion has a gear designer, but it can't be used here.



You did pretty good for being rusty. I had to reinstall and watch an equal amount of youtube tutorials. This took way too long and is a bit sloppy. I had thought of making the teeth as large as possible to have better traction in torn perforations.

Can't print this for a while, these dogs take 5 hours, and I'm printing 4.

I am interested in the motor sync with video. Do you think stepper motors can hold a constant speed? This is only a problem for wild video sync.