General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

2

Total Parts

2

AKA

camera body compartment cover

Patents

N/A

General Description

All metal cover has smooth black finish and black imitation leather trim on exterior; wrinkle-textured finish on inside.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

19.6 cm

Width

N/A

Height

13.6 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Photography

Category

Cine cameras

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Beaulieu

Country

France

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Quebec

Period

Unknown

Canada

Owned and used by Canadian film maker Bill Mason, who achieved international recognition for his wilderness and canoeing documentaries in the 1960s and 1970s.

Function

To help contain and protect contents of camera's film compartment.

Technical

The Bill Mason collection consists of typical cameras and other equipment in the 16 mm format widely used by documentary film makers in Canada in this period. Due to its relatively light weight (touted by the maker as the world's lightest) and reflex view finding system, the Beaulieu R16 was marketed as a news camera, although company literature also suggested it was ideal for industrial and scientific film making. Called by one authority a "reasonably sturdy, well designed, versatile, beautifully finished and easy-to-use machine," the Beaulieu was less expensive than such competitors as the Arriflex 16BL and Éclair NPR cameras, although also not as quiet or robust (Lipton, 132). The Beaulieu reflex viewfinder system consists of a mirror on the reciprocating shutter that directs light passing through the lens to a ground glass viewing screen during intervals when the shutter is closed. Unlike the more limited reflex viewer on the Ciné Special, this system enables accurate focus and depth of field evaluation while filming, even when zooming or switching from one subject to another. A built-in reflex photocell, meanwhile, displays a light reading in the viewfinder to guide the operator in adjusting the diaphragm setting. Unlike the spring-driven Ciné Special, the Beaulieu R16 is powered by a transistor regulated electric motor that provides stability over a range of speeds (2-64 fps) while a sync pulse socket enables connection and synchronous operation with an audio tape recorder (although Mason appears not to have used the Beaulieu for synchronous sound filming). The drive train offers a variety of standard special effects features: reverse drive for fades and dissolves, single frame filming for animation and time lapse photography and variable speed for slow and fast motion sequences.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

"O", "F", and directional arrow marked on compartment latch. Series of numerals printed by hand in black ink on label.

Missing

None.

Finish

All metal cover has smooth black finish and black imitation leather trim on exterior; wrinkle-textured finish on inside. Adhesive-backed tape label applied to casing cover.

Decoration

N/A