Before Installing the HD-144

Before purchasing the HD-144 kit it is important to note that conversion kit is not intended for installation by the camera owner.  The conversion requires specialized tools and skills and should only be attempted by a qualified ACL camera technician. A list of known technicians can be found on the Eclair16.com resources page.

The mechanics of the ACL were designed very much like electronic devices are today — a great deal was packed into a tiny place. Each camera that came off the assembly line required a little custom “factory-fudging” to make sure that all the parts were interacting together properly. The ACL is a very quiet camera.  A probably reason for finding so many noisy ACLs today is that over the years parts from different cameras have been reassembled to create a new ACL, but without the necessary “fudging” that would have taken place in the factory, or else worn-out parts have been used. (The Shutter Drive Shaft and Magazine Drive Shaft are the parts most likely to be worn out, and could need new bearings).

For example, although the aperture plate was stamped from a die that guaranteed that each was a clone, the depth of a recess in the aperture plate was custom ground in the factory for each camera so that the spring-powered film guide would have just enough room to move without locking up, but without too much space which would cause the spring to pop out. The depth of this recess varies from about .20mm to .25mm from camera to camera. The depth in the HD-144 plate is made on the slightly conservative side to be safe, so that your camera tech may need to grind this recess in the new Super-16 aperture plate a fraction of a millimeter for your camera. And although the design of the mechanics of the ACL did not change over the years, the fact is that from batch to batch, (and factory to factory in two countries), there were infinitesimally small variations that may require that the tiniest fraction of a millimeter of metal be removed from a part in order for it to fit perfectly. This is easily accomplished in the hands of a pro.

Before performing the ACL conversion, your ACL should be running perfectly. It should not be making any rhythmic clicking noise, a sure sign that the parts inside are not “fudged” quite right, or may possibly be worn out. The shutter may be scraping the base plate, or the underside of the ground glass holder; the mirror may be scraping the spring that guides the claw, or even part of the rear of the lens flange. Or the gears in the movement may not be adjusted perfectly. A well tuned ACL purrs.  And of course the registration should be rock steady. Shoot a test and look at the frameline. Does it breathe? A well-running ACL will produce a frameline that is virtually unchanging in thickness (breathing should be within 1/1000th the height of the frame, practically impossible to detect with the naked eye without going right up to the screen and staring for a while). If one approaches the conversion by planning to correct problems while the camera is open for the conversion itself, it will only compound matters and make it nearly impossible to isolate the source of the problem. So I repeat — only convert the camera once it is running perfectly in Regular 16!

Also, the Super-16 conversion requires several very simple modifications to the Camera Body, Base Plate and the Drive Shaft Sleeve. These modifications are fast and easy to make, but should only be done by an experienced ACL pro. One slip by an amateur in a garage shop and your camera could be damaged. The HD-144 parts were created on a multi-million dollar, state-of-the-art computerized machine — make sure that equally state-of-the-art work is done in the conversion itself.