shooting movie film in a 35mm slr

zrszach · December 2, 2004

This may be stupid but it just came to me and I thought I would ask about it.

I know you can buy bulk 35mm film to load yourself into cartridges for your still camera.

My question is could I do this with movie film to do test?s that more accurately tell me how the actual film stock would react to different lighting?

So pretty much this: can I load movie film into cartridges for my 35mm SLR to do tests?

Or will normal film of the same ASA yield the same results?

Matt Wells · December 2, 2004

This may be stupid but it just came to me and I thought I would ask about it.

I know you can buy bulk 35mm film to load yourself into cartridges for your still camera.

My question is could I do this with movie film to do test?s that more accurately tell me how the actual film stock would react to different lighting?

So pretty much this: can I load movie film into cartridges for my 35mm SLR to do tests?

Or will normal film of the same ASA yield the same results?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Fuji have told me that they offer to load MP into 35mm still cartridges for DP's to test the stocks.

Simply haveing the same ASA will not yield the same results, apart from the emulsion's sensitivity to light.

Perfs are the same

Matt

Nate Downes · December 2, 2004

I do this, actually. It is very handy for testing out a shoot beforehand.

David Mullen ASC · December 2, 2004

Shooting movie film in an SLR will be accurate if you print it onto movie print stock (get it back as slides) or scan the negative (if you are shooting for telecine.) Just make sure you are matching the shutter speed of a movie camera more or less (1/30th or 1/60th) so you won't get a wrong idea of the light levels needed.

John Sprung · December 2, 2004

This has been done for decades. There might still be a company around called RGB that was in this business. They'd load the film, then splice the exposed film together to develop and run a one light print, which they'd mount as slides and return to you.

The only question is where and how they develop and print. IIRC, they started using a regular lab like CFI, but later got their own equipment.

It would be ideal to do this using the same lab you'd use for your motion film, but labs generally aren't all thrilled and delighted about getting in rolls of a few hundred feet with a splice every three feet. If a splice breaks in the machine, it ruins everything between the break and the feed elevator. If that's somebody else's film, the consequences you can well imagine. Even if they put it thru last, a break still means having to re-thread the processing leader, which is no fun at all. A lab might be talked into doing such tests, but you'd have to offer to pay extra for the splicing of the small rolls, agree to go thru last, and to pay a bunch extra if your stuff breaks in the soup.

Going the other way around, I've actually used RGB for short motion picture camera tests. They'd return the print uncut instead of mounting it as slides. Cheaper than using a regular lab if all you need is three feet.

-- J.S.

zrszach · December 2, 2004

Shooting movie film in an SLR will be accurate if you print it onto movie print stock (get it back as slides) or scan the negative (if you are shooting for telecine.) Just make sure you are matching the shutter speed of a movie camera more or less (1/30th or 1/60th) so you won't get a wrong idea of the light levels needed.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks for the help :)

Ok I got one more. <_<

How should I go about getting this small amount of film processed?

Seeing as how it has to be processed and printed like movie film.

K Borowski · December 2, 2004

RGB Color Lab is indeed still in business. I am actually planning some of my still film there to see how their prints from negatives look. They are supposedly a high-quality professional lab that really cares about the quality of its work, unlike your run-of-the-mill one hour photo. The URL for RGB is: www.rgbcolorlab.com

David Mullen ASC · December 3, 2004

RGB Labs does the ECN2 negative development in-house, but they print onto Fuji DI print stock and have a movie film lab to the FCP processing for it.

If you shoot movie film, you have to send to a ECN2 lab like RGB because you will make a mess of some poor still photo lab's C41 machine...

zrszach · December 3, 2004

RGB didn?t have a very good web site. <_<

Any idea of how I could contact them?

K Borowski · December 3, 2004

If you shoot movie film, you have to send to a ECN2 lab like RGB because you will make a mess of some poor still photo lab's C41 machine...

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I'm sorry if I came across as trying to get ECN-2 processed in a gretag at a one-hour photo. I'm just saying that those machines have enough trouble handling C-41 without fu**ing it up. Any film with rem-jet backing (ECN-2, Kodachrome) must be put through a special bath to remove this backing which C-41 machines don't have. As for RGB's website, you have to watch for a tiny little phone number that floats across the screen. That's the only real way to get in touch with them.

Regards.

~Karl Borowski

Rolfe Klement · December 3, 2004

In the UK - you can call kodak- who will send you about 10 rolls of 35mm motion picture film free (the stock you want) - in normal slr packaging - with stickers all over it - saying don't go anywhere near C41 processing

Once again in the UK you can take it to Soho Images and get it devloped - sometimes they will want to charge extra since they don't have the machine to get the film out of the roll - 2 options : either manualy roll back and leave a short strip - or go into Snappy Snaps and they have a machine that will open it for you and takes about 1 sec (basically it pulls out about 7 cm of neg)

I saw the RGB lab sign in Hollywood recently - RGB Labs (816 North Highland Avenue, Hollywood, CA 90038, 323-469-1959)

hope that helps - I couldn't find their website - call Dr Rawstock they might know

thanks

Rolfe Klement

www.creativesunshine.com

Edited December 3, 2004 by Rolfe Klement

zrszach · December 3, 2004

thanks for the help :)

Rolfe Klement · December 3, 2004

Also check out

http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...?showtopic=1878

thanks

Rolfe Klement

www.creativesunshine.com

Thomas Worth · December 4, 2004

I have shot many rolls of motion picture film through my Canon SLR, with great results. I get my film at RGB. If you call, talk to Randy. He's a nice guy. I think they sell MP rolls for $5 a piece, and processing is $6 which includes mounted slides.

A word of caution: don't bother getting prints made from motion picture stock. I've done this, and the prints look absolutely terrible. It's not RGB's fault, either -- as it was explained to me, since the MP negative is low contrast and designed to be printed to a high contrast stock, the prints come out looking muddy with muted colors. In fact, the first time I did all this, when I got my prints and slides back I looked at the prints first and was like, "Oh god, this sucks." But then I looked at the slides and they looked gorgeous.

Here are a couple stills shot on 5245 and 5218, respectively:

Edited December 8, 2004 by Thomas Worth

Rolfe Klement · December 4, 2004

It is a head trp to see 45 - in a vertical frame - wonder if anyone ever turned a projector sideways and shot 1.85 : 1

thanks

Rolfe Klement

www.creativesunshine.com

Jonathan Spear · December 4, 2004

""Here are a couple stills shot on 5245 and 5218, respectively:""

Great shots.

I love the one on the bottom.

Looks just like a movie still.

Rob Belics · December 4, 2004

RGB didn?t have a very good web site.
Any idea of how I could contact them?

Yeah, their site sucketh. Their phone number is listed. I've called them several times. Nice people. Easy to deal with. They can set up an account for you which is convenient if you want to use a credit card.

Brad Grimmett · December 4, 2004

Nice shots Thomas. I dig the composition in both of them. You've convinced me that I really need to get down to RGB. I've been meaning to do it forever, but seeing the results and the price how could I wait any longer?

Thomas Worth · December 4, 2004

Nice shots Thomas. I dig the composition in both of them. You've convinced me that I really need to get down to RGB. I've been meaning to do it forever, but seeing the results and the price how could I wait any longer?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Thanks! :) I think that shooting stills on MP film is underrated. It's cheaper to shoot MP stock if you're going to have the images scanned, which is typically the case when shooting color film with an SLR. And the images really are amazing -- especially the '45 with its tight grain.

By the way, if you decide to go the RGB route, make sure you have a way to look at your slides so you're not frustrated. I just use a cheap $20 light box and a 10x loupe. If you want to get the negatives scanned, go to Image Experts on the corner of Hollywood and La Brea (323-874-0624). They have a Fuji Frontier minilab which will scan your negatives at a 3602x2421 resolution (8.72 megapixels). Each scan is $1.50. They normally charge for CD-ROM media, but if you get 10 or more scans, they throw it in free. So, for $15, you can get 10 high quality scans on CD. And these guys know what they're doing. They're not just some run-of-the-mill photo lab like at the drugstore.

One last thing. If you go to Image Experts or somewhere else to scan your film, tell them to set up the machine not to do any auto color correction. Example: you shoot 5218 uncorrected on purpose, you get it back and it looks normal. :( This drove me crazy the first time I went there. I had shot some stuff downtown on the '18 and the slides showed these beautiful lavender hues in the sky. However, when I had the stuff scanned, it looked normal and boring. So, just make sure you tell them not to do that.