OBSCURITY FOR SURETY

         Hot on the heels of Tuesday’s post, here’s another mid-’60’s camera that until now has been lost to the ages: the Sol-Lux Nomag 400.  Billed as “The Breakthrough You Have Been Waiting For,” I wonder who they were thinking of when they made that statement.  Certainly no one serious about what they were doing.  I’ve scrubbed the web and can’t find any information about it, anywhere.

         So, what does this tell us?  The Nomag 400 wasn’t a device that stood on its own.  It was a conversion available for the Auricon Cine Voice or Pro 200 single-system (sound-on-film) newsreel cameras.  The only dope we may ever get on it is included in the ad, though it would take prior experience with the Auricons to know this was strictly a 16mm proposition.  One would’ve hoped the new design was friendlier to operators compared to its clunky predecessors, but that shoebox with a lens sticking out of it doesn’t look too encouraging.  The basic model, went for about $1000, not a bad number even back then.  If I were on the job however, I don’t know that I would’ve been seen in public with such an ugly machine on my shoulder, price or no price.

         Sol-Lux Cinema Electronics was located at 1600 Cahuenga Boulevard, right in the heart of Hollywood.  The address doesn’t exist anymore, but like the Cine Voice and Pro 200 the building has been repurposed as one of the many clubs that contribute to the area’s thriving nightlife.  I can just imagine some drunken cinematographer staggering out of there at 2AM, still cursing the death of film.  I guarantee they would change their tune if forced to use this very strange artifact.

         Now, what does that tell us?