Completly black super-8 film

[Vedran Rupich]

I recently started to film on super-8 and I have come across some difficulties.

The last cartridge of filmed that i used was a kodak k40, it was used just for experimental filming as i plan to make a short film on super-8.

I sent the film for development in Switzerland, but when i got it, it was completly black. You cannot even distinguish where the frames should be.

I used a Bauer C Royal. What could be the reason behind this black film?

[Anthony Schilling]

Sounds like the shutter is frozen shut on your camera.

[John Pytlak RIP]

Or the camera never transported the film through the gate. Was any part of the film clear or have an image or fogging (irregular light or colored areas)?

[Daniel Henriquez Ilic]

Hello

 

Or the camera never transported the film through the gate

 

You can check the camera transport like this : take a film pen (or something that will mark the film) and draw a line or a cross in the film that is in the external part of the super8 cartridge. Then shoot a few second with the camera (with new batteries). Then unload the cartridge from the camera and check the film, if you still see the pen mark, then the camera transport may have a problem, as your film is not moving. If you can't see the pen mark in the external part of the super 8 cartridge, your film transport seems to be ok.

 

May be your camera have an iris control problem, or a internal light meter problem, and as K40 have limited exposure latitude, if the camera have underexposed 4 stop or more it is likely that the film will be almost black. You can avoid that using an external lightmeter and so you will be able to verificate if the automatic exposure reading from your camera is correct. If you do not have an external lightmeter, you can still use a 35mm SLR photographic camera ans use it as external light meter. May be it will not be not 100% precise (due to different lens and the fact that many super8 camera do have a prism for the viewfinder, and so some light is lost at that stage), but it can still help you to check the super8 camera with an external reference.

Regards,

Daniel

[John Hyde]

Also, carefully examine the camera for another spot where exposure batteries (typically disc) might be needed. This is often the case with older cameras.