Questions about magazine loaded film/16mm in general

Ian Heggen · March 26, 2007

I am currently looking at a 16mm camera (Bell & Howell 200 EE to be exact) and I had some questions prior to buying an old movie camera.

For a beginner, would it be wise to get a non-magazine load camera if I do not have a lot of money to spend on pre-loaded magazines, or time to manually load them?

Where can I buy 50ft. reels of double perforated film (I remember reading you had to have this with magazine load somewhere) and a price estimate. (keep in mind I want it to look vintage, so I am not really looking for top quality)

My main reason for buying a analog film reel based camera is to achieve that look that digital cameras don't even come close to.

I have many more questions I could ask, but they can wait until when I actually have a camera...I just wanted to get a sense of what i am getting into

Thanks in advance for any help, I greatly appreciate it.

Michael Collier · March 26, 2007

Getting something in a daylight internal 100ft reel would help ease things. I did my first short on 400ft reels and sometimes loading slowed things down a bit. Those you can find between 15 and 40 bucks (depending on if you get new or recanned, etc) you wont get much of a vintage look, other than what the lens will impart. Though the camera is old, the stock is new, so it will look modern. Also film cameras are not analog, they are photochemical. Analog only refers to electronic systems. The difference is huge.

Ian Heggen · March 27, 2007

you wont get much of a vintage look, other than what the lens will impart. Though the camera is old, the stock is new, so it will look modern.

Ah. I will have to find a few on ebay after i get accustomed to it with modern stock.

Also film cameras are not analog, they are photochemical. Analog only refers to electronic systems.

Ah. Thank you for that peice of info. I have a reel-to-reel tape recorder/player, so i assumed the same terms would be applied .

Much thanks for all the help.

Edited March 27, 2007 by Ian Heggen

Francis Kuhn · March 27, 2007

Hi Ian,

I've found that shooting with a Bell & Howell Filmo Model 70 using old lenses and reversal films gives a very cool vintage look.

Here are a few screen shots I did using Tri-X reversal and a 25mm Cooke Kinic f1.5 lens on a Filmo Model 70-DA. I keep this camera around because the old lenses, even with modern films (even Vision 2 negative stocks), have a strange soft-yet-sharp look (if that makes any sense) and they flare like crazy in a beautiful way. People seem to love the look for certain projects.

If you look around eBay you should be able to find an inexpensive Filmo Model 70. It may give you the look you're after and the 100-foot daylight spools are easy to find and use.

Fran

Patrick Cooper · March 27, 2007

Fran makes a good point about reversal films giving a vintage look, including modern reversal films. Unfortunately, Kodak only produce one colour reversal film for 16mm currently and that is Ektachrome 100D. Kodachrome 40, which has been a classic reversal film for the last 40 odd years with it's saturated vintage colours, has recently been discontinued. Developing is still available, at Dwaynes in the US. You could probably find some second hand Kodachrome 40 but make sure that the expiry date is fairly recent and that it has been stored in a cool environment, preferably a fridge.

Of course, you will also need a projector to view these films. Transferring the films to video is another option for viewing the footage but reversal films can look a little contrasty when transferred to video - then again, this may help with the 'vintage look.'

Francis Kuhn · March 27, 2007

Patrick,

I just shot a camera test with 7285 Ektachrome 100D. It's actually a really nice film, not Kodachrome, but it still looks sort of vintage when shot with an older camera/lens. I used a Bolex Rex 5 with the Switar 17-85 Compact zoom for these. The shots below are taken right from the screen. (Telecine would obviously look a lot cleaner and "modern", but for this project low fidelity is just enough.)

-Fran