Vintage cameras carry the look of the era in which they launched. So when Red Bull cinematographer Khyber Jones got the opportunity to record a 1958 Douglas DC-6B aircraft in midair, the creator reached for a camera from the same decade: a Bolex H16 cinema camera.
The DC-6B, part of the Flying Bulls' vintage fleet of airplanes, was built in Santa Monica in 1958, but the plane hadn’t returned to American soil since. When Red Bull brought the 1958 aircraft for a flight across the US, the team opted to record the flight with vintage camera equipment.
Jones captured in-flight footage of the aircraft from an even older airplane – a World War II-era A26 bomber. These planes had a glass-domed nose, which gave the videographer a wider view than a typical airplane window to work from.
The Bolex H16 series dates all the way back to 1935, but in the 1950s the Swiss-made video camera gained the H16 Reflex – which used a beam-splitter prism to enable the creator to see what the lens sees through the viewfinder.
Despite the camera’s age, the two Bolex H16s on board – both from Jones’ collection – didn’t need any modifications. One was loaded with Kodak Vision3 50D and one with Kodak Vision3 250D.
They weren't the only vintage cameras on board
Along with the 1950s-era video equipment, the aircraft’s journey was also photographed by Colin Kerrigan with a Canon AE-1 Program with Kodak Ektacolor Pro 400. The Canon was the newer of the vintage equipment on board, dating back to 1981.
“The biggest challenge was getting comfortable and overcoming the uneasiness that comes with flying in a plane that is from WWII,” said Kerrigan, a Red Bull photographer.
“Your mind tends to wander, but once we were airborne and the cameras were rolling, all the anxiety went away, and we focused on filming the beautiful plane and setting.”
The resulting work – both video and stills – is a mesmerizing look at not only the plane, but modern New York City through a vintage lens. The film and retro lenses give the modern city an old-school feel – and one that matches well with the aircraft.
The team also shot some footage with an iPhone – offering a sharp contrast between the cameras of the 1950s and modern camera phones.
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