Meet the Samcine Calculator, an amazing relic of the pre-digital age. Similar in concept to an engineer’s slide rule (which, BTW, I never learned how to use in high school!), it provided quick and accurate answers to a variety of questions filmmakers regularly encountered.
Manufactured by Samuelson Film Services in London, it was an indispensable piece of kit during my time as an assistant cameraman and well into my early years as a cinematographer. Most of us primarily used it to determine depth of field, but the ad lists a host of other valuable practices. Though the device has been rendered obsolete by any number of bargain apps, I still regard it fondly. Having recently rediscovered the very unit I relied on during the old days, it struck me as a quaint reminder of a different time.
Speaking of which, notice the headings suggesting uses of the Samcine Calculator in the ad: For Cameramen and For Script and Continuity Girls. Thankfully, the technology isn’t the only thing that has changed since 1979…
I still use my Samcine calculator in 2024…..along with my 1968 Arriflex 16BL. Workhorse cinematography equipment never dies. Long live the Holy Grails of Cinematography.
In the late 70s I did a 1st assistant job with the lovely Brit DP Walter Lassally, who gave me one of the first of these Samcine calculators as a wrap gift. My next job was Hawaii Five-O with the (infamous) actor Jack Lord. My first shoot day we were on a sailboat out in Honolulu harbor. I proudly pulled out my prized Samcine to calculate how to maintain focus between Jack and Diamond Head behind him. Jack said, “Wow, what’s that thing?” I handed it to him and started to explain how it worked, whereupon he flung it back-handed to skip like a flat rock into the Pacific Ocean.
Lowell – Seriously…? That makes for a great story, but what a dick! It’s probably still sitting on the bottom somewhere out there.
I still have mine, and it’s still faster than an app.
BUT if you wanted to blow your DP’s Mind. Memorize the 50mm DoF tables at f8. EVERYTHING else is a ratio of that.
I could crack off the DoF whenever a DP would ask me if it was in focus. I had many guys sit there with my SamCine and quiz me. I’d always make it a $20 bet and then keep going double or nothing… If the DP were cool, I’d let them slide on the thousand or so dollars they lost in the bet, and if there weren’t. I held their light meters until I got paid. 🙂