My DIY Lego & cigar box telecine machine for 9.5mm film

[Iain Petrie]

Here's a video of my DIY telecine machine in action. It's made from an old cigar box and Lego, stuck together with superglue and duct tape. The camera is the Nikon D3100, which is much outdated and it's very difficult to find software to control it remotely. In the end I've settled on the program TetherMonkey for Android tablets, (free with adverts, small fee for advert free).The lens is an old Sigma 1:1 macro.

The advance movement is top of the range: hand-operated pin. The tablet is tethered to the camera with a standard cable plus a cable adaptor I bought for about £1.25, so the total cost of the build including the software is about £5. I use this for all my telecine work, as I don't have a working 9.5mm projector at the moment.

Marvel at the speed:an average of 1 frame every 2 second. No video trickery here, I promise!

Below the video is an example of the result, posted before, here on the 9.5 forum:

[Leonard Goss]

A truly ingenious device Iain, producing great results. Well done.

[Iain Petrie]

Thanks Leonard . I'm determined to beat the 1 frame per second barrier one day.

[Janice Glesser]

I love it lain! I shows the power of ingenuity. I also find it amazing that with all the passion you seem to have for 9.5 film that you don't have a projector. I'm sure you will some day....but until then keep having fun with your DIY telecine machine. Love the results!

[Paul Adsett]

Iain's results with his primitive set up are truly amazing, the superiority of 9,5mm over super 8mm is clearly demonstrated here, with incredible sharpness and contrast. Far superior to any of the Wolverine S8 scans that I have seen.

[Iain Petrie]

Thanks Janice. I bought a Pathe Baby projector recently and bought a replacement shutter/flywheel and got my far more technically minded neighbour to help me fit it, but we just couldn't get it to fit in the space. I have a very nice Pathescope H projector which is missing a belt, so I really should get on with getting either or both working again...but I have to admit, yes, the DIY methods are fun, and produce better results I'm assuming!
Iain

[Andrew Long]

Hi Iain

What settings did you use on your camera?

Thanks

Andy

[Iain Petrie]

Hi Andy, sorry for late reply, I haven't popped in here for some time. I vary the settings depending on how over or under-exposed the film is but normally I choose f11 or smaller to give a good depth of field, as the film is not always flat, and DOF is very narrow with macro shooting of course. 400ASA is ok most of the time and sometimes 800 ASA is necessary, then shutter speeds are normally slow: maybe 1/30th sec or even down to 1/10 th if the film is very dark. On occasions I've had to go down to a second or more to get a result!