Anyone ever shot Print Stock?

Jonathan Bowerbank · October 31, 2007

My friend was at FilmTools a few weeks ago, and for some reason they had some old print stock that they were gonna toss out. So he took it and gave it to me.

It's 2 x 1000' rolls of 2244 and 2242

I was wondering if anyone had ever shot on print stock before. Some kid in a past class I took was going to shoot a test once, and he said it might have an ASA of 2 or something. But I'm going to have a clip test, just to make sure it's even worth testing out.

Any info would be greatly appreciated :)

Edited October 31, 2007 by Jonathan Bowerbank

Jonathan Bowerbank · October 31, 2007

Sorry, nevermind. I was too quick to post that and did a search and got my answer from the beloved John Pytlak.

Anybody know of a camera that could handle the extra long perf pitch of this intermediate stock?

Cheers :)

Edited October 31, 2007 by Jonathan Bowerbank

Richardson Leao · October 31, 2007

Sorry, nevermind. I was too quick to post that and did a search and got my answer from the beloved John Pytlak.

Anybody know of a camera that could handle the extra long perf pitch of this intermediate stock?

Cheers :)

I use still film stock in my Konvas 1. I believe that it's the same perf as print film (KS, i think).

John Brawley · October 31, 2007

Sorry, nevermind. I was too quick to post that and did a search and got my answer from the beloved John Pytlak.

Anybody know of a camera that could handle the extra long perf pitch of this intermediate stock?

Cheers :)

I have no direct experience, but something of an alarm bell rings for some of the Russian cameras having the right or close enough perf setup ? Might be worth investigating on some of their forums ?

Henri Titchen · November 1, 2007

One important point when shooting motion picture (ECP) printstock is to check if it is acetate or polyester.

2244 and 2242 is Estar not acetate. Also see http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/products.../tech5242.shtml

for more information. It looks like 2242 and 2242 are ECN-2 film NOT ECP!!

The strength of polyester is incredible and a mishap in the camera can easily cause stripped gears. Saying that I know of polyester motion picture print film being used very succesfully for filming (albeit still life).

As far as I know using motion picture print film is possible in an Arri 2 or an Eyemo. I have shot C-41 "still" print film in an Arri 2 with no problems. YMMV.

Henry.

Dan Salzmann · November 1, 2007

When you shot with still stock that was C-41 processed what was the longest length that the still film lab was able to develop without cutting it?

Jonathan Bowerbank · November 1, 2007

Just for fun, I was thinking of tearing off a few feet, loading it into a still cartridge, shooting it and sending it to Walgreens...just to see what happens ;)

Adam Frisch FSF · November 1, 2007

Jonathan!

I've shot with the print pitch in a 435 and it works fine. Just pitch adjust it until it makes the least amount of noise. It will be a lot noisier than normal film anyway, but I had no stability problems with the stuff I shot. As Henry mentioned - if it's polyester base, then don't run it in a camera you care about! If it jams, it will tear everything apart. Polyester never breaks.

Leo Anthony Vale · November 1, 2007

As far as I know using motion picture print film is possible in an Arri 2 or an Eyemo. I have shot C-41 "still" print film in an Arri 2 with no problems. YMMV.

Since these are lab stocks rather than print stocks, they probably have BH perfs.

There is a possibility that they have KS perfs. It will say on the can label.

Since these are intermediate stocks, they have masking. Pink in this case.

The gamma is around one, so prints will be contrasty.

It is balanced for tunngsten in the 2800-3000K range.

No REM jet backing.

& '42 replaced '44 in 2001.

Dominic Case · November 1, 2007

Your 2244 and 2242 are most likely to be standard pitch (.1866") BH perfs, which is the same as camera negative. You will find those codes on the can label to confirm that. If that is the case you should have no trouble running the stock in your camera - but of cours with the caution that it is polyester stock (the leading "2" indicates that: a leading "5" indicates acetate base).

It is balanced for tunngsten in the 2800-3000K range.

But note that it is balanced for tungsten illumination, and for a masked image (such as a camera neg) which has an orange-pink balance. So you will get something close to a neutral colour balance if you use a double 85 filter - or a single 85 even in tungsten light.

Jonathan Bowerbank · November 2, 2007

Thanks Adam! I'll see if I can get my hands on a 435 and try it out sometime soon.

There's another thread about this where Pytlak commented quite a bit, mentioning the double 85 filtration and everything. And I already knew about the polyester base, so it's definitely gonna be tested on an insured rental ;)

Jon Kukla · November 4, 2007

Just wondering on this sorta thing, you'd need to tell the rental house and/or insurance company that you're using polyester ahead of time, no? Otherwise, the insurance claim could conceivably be rejected on the basis of negligent or reckless usage. Something worth thinking about... Personally, I'd use a crashcam-type camera, just to minimize the cost of potential damages. (Plus some of those cameras have less pins and claws to potentially damage.)