Canon 814 problems

David Desio · February 26, 2009

I hope some of you can offer some insight here. I have shot through about 10 carts of film with this camera, had them processed and they all turned out looking great. No wobbling or scratches. So naturally I'm stoked over the camera performance.

I break it out to shoot a music video, convince the producers that it will give them a look that they cannot just "fake in post". Then hand it over to my operator.

Well I get a call from the lab telling me that about 30ft out of 200ft is usable and that the rest didn't look exposed. Yeah I know that the carts have that handy little print that tells you when they have been shot through, but the operator watched the counter and changed carts after it told him that he'd shot 50ft of each.

Anyway, whats happening is that the film is not being advanced when I pull the trigger. Everything sounds and looks like its working, gears turning, teeth moving, counter winding down. But the film never moves. Tried different carts and get more of the same with them. I am planning on sending this out for repair but hope to get some kind of idea of what could be causing this and a possible fix without costly repair fees.

Thanks

Jim Carlile · February 27, 2009

Have you tried the 'X' test?-- mark an X on the frame at the gate, run the camera, then see if the X has disappeared into the cartridge? Is the claw moving back and forth?

David Desio · February 27, 2009

Have you tried the 'X' test?-- mark an X on the frame at the gate, run the camera, then see if the X has disappeared into the cartridge? Is the claw moving back and forth?

Thanks for the response. Yeas I have tried that and the claw seems to be moving but the film does not.

Scott Super · March 25, 2009

Thanks for the response. Yeas I have tried that and the claw seems to be moving but the film does not.

It sounds like either your take up tension is low or the claw is not catching the film properly and driving it through the gate. Check out Pro8mm at www.pro8mm.com. We specialize in that camera and can have it fixed for you in a timely matter.

Oliver Christoph Kochs · March 26, 2009

What stock was it? And was the stock you tried sucessfully the same as the one you used to shoot the music clip?

Problem with the cartridge is now that every film stock has a different thickness and friction. As i stated earlier Kodak and other third party manufacturers (like i.e. Wittner Cinetec) are now "lubing" their film with a silicone liquid to make the material glide better through the cartridge. It seems that Ektachrome is somewhat thicker than K40 and so this seems necessary.

Negative also must be thicker than K40. It always got stuck in my Beaulieu 4008 never exposed a single foot of neg stock correctly.

All this is why I've given up on Super8 and will shoot only DoubleS8 that uses reels and a real pressure plate. The cartridges SUCK.

David Desio · April 22, 2009

What stock was it? And was the stock you tried sucessfully the same as the one you used to shoot the music clip?
Problem with the cartridge is now that every film stock has a different thickness and friction. As i stated earlier Kodak and other third party manufacturers (like i.e. Wittner Cinetec) are now "lubing" their film with a silicone liquid to make the material glide better through the cartridge. It seems that Ektachrome is somewhat thicker than K40 and so this seems necessary.

Negative also must be thicker than K40. It always got stuck in my Beaulieu 4008 never exposed a single foot of neg stock correctly.

All this is why I've given up on Super8 and will shoot only DoubleS8 that uses reels and a real pressure plate. The cartridges SUCK.

Been out working, late response back, sorry. The stock was Vision3, some ektachome, plusx and tri-x. I ran all of these through the camera, played with it a bit and got it to go through about 2 feet of film at a time, maybe a little more before you can hear the gears sound like they are winding down, then come to a complete stop. Yes, I replaced the batteries and yes I used a wire brush to clean off any corrosion. What's weird is that when it jams, the spindle on the cart can be turned counter clockwise, freely for a bit before tightening again.