Kinor is the name of a line of film cameras for cinema and television produced in the USSR. All cameras under the Kinor name were intended for professional use and were equipped with a coupled viewfinder with a mirror shutter, but were otherwise unrelated in their technical design as they were created by a variety of different organizations.
Kinor 16 CX series Cine Camera
The Kinor prototype was created in 1965 by the MKBK, or Moskinap, manual narrow-film apparatus 16СХ of the original design.<ref>'V.V. Perepichai, V.F. Gordeev, O. N. Raev. Special equipment for filming processes (rus.) // "World of cinema technology": magazine. - 2008. - No. 10 . - S. 30 . - ISSN 1991-3400</ref> However, large-scale production was established only ten years after the modernization. Two versions were produced: the turret "Kinor" 16СХ-1М with a revolving head for three interchangeable lenses, and 16СХ-2М, designed for one interchangeable lens. The cameras were intended for synchronous filming of television plots, since video cameras for television journalism did not yet exist in the USSR . Unlike the turret model, which was equipped with an shutter with an adjustable opening angle, the shutter of the 16CX-2M model was non-adjustable, which simplified the design and made it more reliable. The last model was equipped with a tenfold professional 16OPF1-2M-01 zoom lens with a focal length range of 12–120 mm and a wide-angle lens of 10 mm. The other configuration included a 16OPF12-1s varifocal lens and a 0.75 × wide-angle attachment . The device made it possible to use the majority of cinematographic lenses in a standard frame, including those from old-style Krasnogorsk cameras with a bayonet mount . On the basis of the 16СХ family, a tripod-shoulder synchronous camera 2СР was developed with a built-in device for recording an audio on the magnetic track of a film.
Technical data
Brief Details
The 16mm Kinor 1M has a turret-type lens mounting and a variable shutter. The 2M and the rare 3M models are supplied with a 10-100 zoom lens, which has front- and rear-mountable filters. The usual kit consists of four magazines, three 100-foot, and one 400-foot. Synchronized sound is achieved using a sync-pulse known as a pilot tone, and the motor generates an accurate 25 frames per second to attain this. Variable frame rates require a relatively cheap modification form third-party developers, or the factory-produced variable drive unit. This is very quickly and simply replaced. It is common to see this type of modification coupled with the addition of true crystal-sync.
The cameras’ use in the West is gaining popularity as filmmakers grow accustomed to Russian manufacturing quality. Compared with the Krasnogorsk series of Russian cameras, the build quality is of a higher standard, although these too are well-designed units. Their price compared with the benchmark Arri series film cameras is drastically cheaper; this is partly the reason new filmmakers are finding themselves the owners of these very practical film cameras.
The 35-millimeter Kinors are self-blimped and have been used to make films worldwide.
There is a wide range of LOMO lenses produced for the Kinor 16.
Prime lenses are
16 OKS 1-6-1 f/1.8 6 mm
16 OKS 3-10-1 f/2.1 10 mm
16 OKS 3-15-1 f/2 15 mm
16 OKS 2-20-1 f/1.9 20 mm
16 OKS 1-25-1 f/2.5 25 mm
16 OKS 8-35-1 f/2 35 mm
16 OKS 1-50-6 f/2 50 mm
16 OKS 1-75-1 f/2 75 mm
16 OKS 1-100-1 f/2 100 mm
16 OKS 1-150-1 f/2.8 150 mm
16 OKS 7-200-1 f/2.8 200 mm
16 OKS 6-300-1 f/3.5 300 mm
Zoom lenses are
16 OPF 12-1 f/2.5 10–100 mm
16 OPF 1-2M-01 f/2.4 12-120mm
and a wide angle adapter which attaches to both lenses which lends a 7.5–75 mm range to the 16 OPF 12-1 and a 9–90 mm range to the 16 OPF 1-2M-01.
Technical Details
The 16SX-2M apparatus was equipped with a one-sided single-tooth grab with a single-tooth counter- grab and a lower-mounted mirror shutter with a constant opening angle. The design made it possible to shoot on film with both one-sided and double-sided perforation . Quick-change magazine type cassettes with a capacity of 30 and 120 meters were designed for film rolls wound on standard cores 16 × 50. Daylight 100 ft spools could be placed in the magazine by removing the "platters", as per the image to the right. It seems commonly recommend not to use metal spools as if they rub against the inside of the magazine, audio recording might be difficult.