English 400′ Magazines

The ACL magazine design evolved over several years and there are notable design differences particularly between the French and English 400′ magazines.  The English magazines design uses a capstan to help pull the film onto the take-up spindle.   This design tends to be more finicky than the French magazines and therefore some special considerations are necessary when using them.  Many people simply will not use English magazines, however they will work perfectly if loaded and maintained correctly.

In addition to loading correctly, it may be necessary to replace the O-Ring on the take-up arm if it is old and worn.

Loading English 400′ Magazines:

The key to loading the English 400′ mag is that the film path between the loop and the spindle should not have any slack.  Otherwise the film tend to not wind tightly on the take-up spool.  Instead of a nice, tightly wound spool of film, there will be a very loose, slack roll that will be nearly impossible to physically remove the film and get it back into the can.  Also because of the slack there won’t be enough room for the entire 400′ of film and it will tend to jam at some point.

Be sure to test these mag with used film, keeping the take-up side off and ensuring that everything is functioning properly.

Threading English Magazines

It is possible when threading an English Magazine to accidentally insert the film between the plastic case and one of the rollers — rather than between the two rollers — this will scratch your film and possibly affect registration. The French mag has a tiny metal plate added in the factory to prevent this from accidentally occurring:

Unmodified English Threading

French mag, with metal plate circled in red. The second roller is set back on the right.

For safety, a similar protective plate should be added to both sides of the English mag’s rollers. It may need to be curved a bit:

It is possible to accidentally thread the film between a roller and the plastic housing on an English mag (on either side). While in theory a wrong threading is supposed to kick the film around in a circle and back out as an indication that it has been threaded incorrectly, sometimes the film may succeed in threading to the other chamber through the wrong path. The resultant scratches aren’t a pretty sight. This is not the mag’s fault — a pro should know how to load it properly. Still, adding protective black plates will prevent errors.

ALSO, keep the following difference between the feed side of the 400 foot English and French mags in mind.

Modification to prevent winding film around the silver wheel

Silver Circular Wheel (Do not wind film around it!)

The English mag has a silver circular part on the left side. This holds the capstan arm in the take-up side. The net result is less torque placed on the motor by the English mag.

It is easily possible for someone unfamiliar with the magazine to mis-thread the film all the way around this circular wheel, which will produce a major scratch and render the footage unusable. A pro is supposed to know how to load it correctly; however in the rush of indie filmmaking, accidents do happen.

A possible fail-safe answer would be to cement in a wooden popsicle stick, or perhaps an orangewood stick, to the same height as the circular part, and then paint it flat black. This will effectively block the possibility of a fatal mis-thread.