Transporting Super 8 into Single 8 carts. DIY.

Zachariah Shanahan · June 5, 2013

Ok, I'd like to shoot Vision 200T on my ZC1000 and have found that there are different types of cartridges.

The newer ones are one complete piece of plastic and it looks nigh impossible to open them without damaging, but I have 2 unexposed carts from Retro8 that must be the older type that they reuse for future stock, being easier to pry open, glued back together.

I have an already opened Single 8 cart in the post, and some crappy old film that came in another Super8 camera, and will be practicing asap.

I'm wondering has anyone taken the steps to complete such a process and knows the sweet spots to carefully open and load. I know that 40ft will only fit inside and I'll have to trim 10, which I later plan to cement together to use.

Regards!

Jean-Louis Seguin · June 5, 2013

Try contacting Ignacio Benedeti, who is a participant to this forum.

See:

Jean-Louis

Marc Marti · June 5, 2013

The technique is very simple: Starting in the dark, you make a little hole at the beginning of the film (any paper perforator is ok) and engange it on the left side reel. Some people do it just with adhesive tape, but I found the perforator system cleaner...

Then, start rolling the reel till you nearly fill that side of the cartridge. Be careful no to overfill it. The film has to have a certain freedom of movement.

After that, you can take the final leader out of the cartridge, close it, and (if you want) turn the lights on. Now you make another hole at this end of the film. Close the lights again, open the cartridge and engage it at the right reel. Be sure that the film pass outside the cartridge with the emulsion out and the perforations down.You're done!

This is a picture of the way the films goes inside the cartridge:

Practice first with a trashy piece of film with the lights on. Don't worry if it looks complicated at first sight. It's a very easy process as soon as you get it.

If you're recharging from super-8 cartridges, it's best to film first the entire film with the super-8 camera (with the lens cap on, of course) and start recharging the single-8 from the end of it (the part with the "exposed" written on it).

Zachariah Shanahan · June 6, 2013

The technique is very simple: Starting in the dark, you make a little hole at the beginning of the film (any paper perforator is ok) and engange it on the left side reel. Some people do it just with adhesive tape, but I found the perforator system cleaner...

Then, start rolling the reel till you nearly fill that side of the cartridge. Be careful no to overfill it. The film has to have a certain freedom of movement.

After that, you can take the final leader out of the cartridge, close it, and (if you want) turn the lights on. Now you make another hole at this end of the film. Close the lights again, open the cartridge and engage it at the right reel. Be sure that the film pass outside the cartridge with the emulsion out and the perforations down.You're done!

This is a picture of the way the films goes inside the cartridge:

Practice first with a trashy piece of film with the lights on. Don't worry if it looks complicated at first sight. It's a very easy process as soon as you get it.

If you're recharging from super-8 cartridges, it's best to film first the entire film with the super-8 camera (with the lens cap on, of course) and start recharging the single-8 from the end of it (the part with the "exposed" written on it).

Thank you so much!

Also I did ask Ignacio, who I have on FB, but he must be busy, no response yet.

Andries Molenaar · June 6, 2013

Thank you so much!

Also I did ask Ignacio, who I have on FB, but he must be busy, no response yet.

That can take weeks if any response at all. He seems to switch off notifications from here and other fora.

Best find a direct email-address.

There are some instruction video's on Youtube. A number in Spanish. There is an active group in Spain, apparently. Also on man attempted to start a paid service for striping film pre-exposure and refill. It died before it sold anything.

Somebody built a refilling setup using a cheap Fuji camera and some rollers and reels. To fill from split DS8.

Edited June 6, 2013 by Andries Molenaar

Marc Marti · June 6, 2013

Somebody built a refilling setup using a cheap Fuji camera and some rollers and reels. To fill from split DS8.

Yeah, I've got this very same machine and it's a blast! But the same operation is very easy to do by hand. Just slower.

Till last year, there were a very active super-8 scene in Spain, but the economical situation gave us a serious decline, specially considering that color reversal film is now freakingly expensive :unsure:

Edited June 6, 2013 by Marc Marti

Zachariah Shanahan · June 8, 2013

Seeing as Single 8 can rewind and fast forward, I should have no problem with practise, the issue that still remains is prying open the cartridge carefully...Does anyone here know the sweet spots?

Geoff Howell · June 8, 2013

Here you go:

http://vimeo.com/7795956

Skip to about the half way mark.

You should definitely track down some of the mk1 pre 1970's cartridges; they're so easy to open up compared to the later models.

I've managed to collect about 6 of them (mostly through ebay) that I plan on using once my supply of r25n runs out.

Also be aware that single 8s notch system is way more complicated than super 8, there are in fact 3 completely independent notch's on each cartridge; each designed to work with a different type of camera. For instance, a camera like a fujica P2 will read the notch located on the underside of the cartridge but a fujica AX100 will only read the notch on the left hand side of the cartridge.

David Cunningham · June 8, 2013

Yipes, now that is dedication and a whole lot of work. The man even built his own reloading table for this. Really amazing when you consider you have to do it all in total darkness.