MAX 8 Shutter Speed

[Frank DiBugnara]

I am shooting two days this week with Pro8mm's Max 8 Classic camera.

 

I shot a few test rolls last week to get a comfort level with the camera.....I have not shot 8mm since high school. This led me to discover that the camera's shutter system does not mimic a traditional 180 degree shutter. I basically ignored the internal light meter and used my own, set to 24 FPS, etc. The result was about a 1 stop underexposure.

 

I then learned that the shutter in the camera operates at more like 1/87th of a second. This means that I'm gonna set the cine meter to about 44 FPS. While I'm sure this is correct, I'd love some confirmation from some other source before I bank so much on this advice.

 

Any other words of wisdom, besides the obvious, for a DP getting reacquainted with 8mm?

[Francis Kuhn]

Hello Frank,

 

Adding one stop of exposure to compensate for the Beaulieu 4008's (aka Classic 8) 1/87th second shutter is correct. I ususlly just cut the film speed in half on my hand-held meter. I use a meter setting of 50 ASA if I'm shooting 100 ASA film. As you already said, setting your meter to 44fps will give about the same reading.

 

See page 8-12 of the instructions from Pro8mm:

 

http://www.pro8mm.com/pro8_pdfs/Downloads/...nual%202007.pdf

 

The other advice I'd offer is to take the time to focus very carefully, especially if you like to shoot at wide apertures. It's easy to get lazy! The viewfinders on these cameras are not as bright as those on most 16mm and 35mm cameras and it's scary how often shots on my first few S8 rolls were out-of-focus. Also, count on anything other than factory-issued Kodak S8 carts to be on the short side. For some reason I rarely get a full 50-feet out of most of these aftermarket companies' film carts. Plan your shots accordingly.

 

-Fran