Some Super 8 questions

[Hugo Perez]

Hello, I've been reading these forums for a while now, but this is the first time I post here. I've had a super 8 camera, a Canon Autozoom 814, for 10 months, and started experimenting with it for some time. I've read some books on film and this site has been very helpful on occasions, too.

So I have some questions I'd like to ask.

 

1.What should I be careful of when sending film in the mail? X-rays o what?

 

2.How do you recommend I clean my film and how often? Any good cleaners out there?

 

3.My camera can't read vision 500, but can I expose it if I set the camera to manual? I think I read somewhere in here that it is possible, but I'm not sure.

 

4.Can negative film be projected? I know reversal film can be, but I mean, what would happen IF I did project it? Would I see a negative image projected? Or is it literally impossible?

 

5.How expensive is telecine? When I read the information on costs on spectra's website, for instance, it gives a cost per minute. But is it per minute of film or minute of work? Also, do I have to be present during the session?

 

How much do you normally pay for telecine, what services do you choose, and what lab do you use?

 

That's all I can think of for now. Thanks for your time and help.

[Rolando Fernandez]

Hola Hugo, first you have a nice camera take care of it.

 

1-About x-rays ,film emulsions of motion picture are not as sensitive as dental plates, but if you realy care about send your film via fed-ex or ups , but will cost more. Personaly I have never lost any of my films in

USPS.

 

2- Unless films is touch or projected in a dirty equipment or keep it unprotected, no need to clean it except

before a telecine transfer and that is done in the telecine lab. Leave the cleaning to the pro's.

 

3-Learn how to use a manual exposure meter and you can shoot any asa you like.

 

4-You can project a negative ,but you will start to scratch it and your transfer will look bad.

 

5-Always look for the professional, at the end the final work is yours. 8mm transfers are cheap.

 

These are my personal opinions.

 

Take care and keep loving film!

Edited December 18, 2007 by Rolando Fernandez

[Mark Dunn]

Even experts find colour negative difficult to interpret, so there's no real point projecting it and every reason not to. You won't be able to judge exposure, facial expressions, colour or anything useful but you will certainly damage it. Scratches on reversal project black, but neg scratches print (or transfer) white, which is much more noticeable.

[Hugo Perez]

First of all, thanks for the responses.

 

About negative film projection: what if I record the projection with a dv camera and invert it with after effects or something? I know it's not the best way to evaluate the results, but would I notice any differences? I don't want to damage the film either...

 

The thing is, I want to know if there is a way to try negative film without having to pay for telecine to examine the results. I'm a college student (not even a film student), and don't have a job, so I'm still trying to find ways to learn film with very little money to do so.

 

They're probably very rare, but what would a positive print of super 8 cost?

 

Also, does anyone know of any good film labs or resources in or near Houston, TX?

 

Thanks

Edited December 21, 2007 by Hugo Perez