How do I lube the Konvas Magazines?
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- Created on Monday, 10 September 2007 04:32
- Last Updated on Friday, 14 December 2012 20:15
- Written by Administrator
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The original Konvas recommended oil/grease is most likely no longer being made, so you'll have to make do. Olex Kalynychenko had this to say on cinematography.com: "I use Russian modern oil and grease from natural oil stock."
You may also try using gun oil or sewing machine oil if you can't find camera oil that works for you, but you may need to clean the gears and inspect the magazine more often. Note that the proper camera oil is preferred!
Konvas magazines also have ball bearings in the take-up reel and film rollers and they must be greased as well. Since 35mm film rolls through at 16 frames per foot (and at 24 frames per second, that can get pretty fast), they need to be properly lubricated or else the friction could damage them.
A few more thoughts:
- Don't over oil your magazine! Too much oil can be extremely bad, so be careful!
- Don't oil your magazine right before using it (you may accidentally get some oil on your negative!).
- You'll probably want to clean and oil your magazine if it hasn't been used in over a year.
- Be sure to (lightly) oil the magazine after you've run about 15,000+/- feet of film through it.
- Make sure not to go overboard with the oil, and clean up any accidental excess drips immediately.
For a more detailed step-by-step guide, Steve Larson has a great page on his site with pictures on lubing the Konvas magazines.