New to Super 8

Paul Coate · June 17, 2014

Hello- I am new to the forum but I have been obseving and reading other posts for a while. There is some great information here. After a few years of dreaming of working in real film I finally bit the bullett and ordered a Nizo S561 from Ebay- I should receive it within a week. I have been making videos as an amateur for the last 4 years using various video cameras (Sony Handycam, Panasonic DVX100B, and Canon DSLRs). My YouTube channel (r3v3rs3twilit3) has 135 videos. Prior to making videos I was a serious amateur photogtapher, going back about 25 years. I still do the photography- at times it is more of a passion than video. I have a pretty strong interest and experience in both photo and video editing. The reason for getting into this S8 format is that I feel there are things I would like to do that I just can't get with video. I have always loved the look of well shot film but I don't think I appreciated that onlu film could deliver these looks. I guess I wanted to believe that video could do this for me if I just got good enough or if I got different lenses, etc. I am over that flawed thinking but now I need to learn the nuances of this medium which is fascinating and a bit quirky. I have some definate ideas about what I want to do and how to do it, but I am hoping this forum will be an aid so that I may avoid costly (literally) mistakes, Along with my camera I ordered a roll of Vision3 50D which I am excited to use. My plan is use it on a sunny day at the local and historic amusement park. I want to get normal shots of the various rides such as the carousell and ferris wheel, etc pretty much because they have lots of color and motion. I also want to get more 'artsy' types of shots with some exagerated motion blur- really going for a psychedlic effect. I was wondering if this can be accomplished by means of a ND fader so that I can use slow shutter speed with camera tripod mounted? Or will I need to use the intervalometer function? I specifically chose the Nizo 561 due to it's abilities in this regard. As I understand it, it has also a AutomB setting wich lets one do both time lapse and long exposure shots so maybe this is what I need to use for the creative shots? I have done these kind of shots using my Canon DSLR and they can be viewd here if that helps to show what I am after:

The relevant part begins a 1min12sec.

Also this video:

especially the slower parts. I was never really satisfied with this effect as it wasn't really the effect I was after. I am hoping film will let me get closer to what I invision. Any tips and advice would be greatly appreciated.

Edited June 17, 2014 by Paul Coate

Alessandro Machi · June 17, 2014

Why not use either a digital still camera or 35mm still camera and experiment with different time-exposure lengths, than recreate it with your super-8 camera using the time-exposure option?

Paul Coate · June 17, 2014

That's a good idea- I could use my Canon DSLR with a zoom lens set to a similar focal length. The slowest ISO on my DSLR is 100 so I would need to compensate for that.

Nicholas Kovats · June 17, 2014

Paul,

I like the flow and rhythm of your "Living the Dayream" video. Your on to something. Super 8 film would add another level of dreaminess and potentially invoke a more nostalgic feeling. Or era. It's hard to remove the dirt and scratches completely but it's worth your efforts. Almost every flavour of color and b/w negative/reversal film is available in a 50 ft Super 8 cartridge. It is an excellent stepping stone to the larger film formats.

I shot this recently in the ultrawide UltraPan8 film format with Kodak color negative. Slight dreamy slow motion effect at 48 fps. The film has a different interpretation of reality than a digital sensor. I don't regret any of my investments in this beautiful organic medium, i.e.

Good luck on your film adventures.

Anthony Schilling · June 18, 2014

The Nizo 561 is probably the best camera for creative experimenting. I'm using my 481 for a music video next week. Beyond using the autoB, you can keep the shutter open, set your interval time and f-stop manually. From there you're in control and can make up content as you wish. I've shot 50 and 100 speed films outside in the daytime with 2 sec exposures, had to use 5 stops of ND and f8 or11.

Paul Coate · June 18, 2014

The Nizo 561 is probably the best camera for creative experimenting. I'm using my 481 for a music video next week. Beyond using the autoB, you can keep the shutter open, set your interval time and f-stop manually. From there you're in control and can make up content as you wish. I've shot 50 and 100 speed films outside in the daytime with 2 sec exposures, had to use 5 stops of ND and f8 or11.

Thanks! ISounds like just what I was hoping for. Do you have any links to exaples of your work using this method?