Shooting 16mm film in a Bolex h8

[Olaf Trevilla]

Hello I just came across a Bolex h8 and was wondering if I could shoot 16mm with it? Assuming I put on the turret plate from a broken h16 Rex onto the h8 Rex, would I be good to shoot 16mm or would I have to do something with the sprockets, are the perforations different? Thanks!

[John Salim]

The answer is no.

Although a Bolex H8 uses 16mm wide film, 'normal' 16mm film is not quadruple perforated which a Standard 8mm camera requires.

16mm film is single perforated ( one edge ) or more commonly in the past, double perforated ( both edges ).
Standard 8 ( 16mm film ) will have another set of perforations in between double perforated film.
The space between each perforation is the equivalent to one frame height ( approximately ). 

The Standard 8mm format ( for cameras ) starts off as 16mm wide film which is exposed down one side to the end of the roll, turned over and exposed down the other side of the roll.
After processing the film is slit down the middle and the ends ( which would be the middle of the roll ) is spliced together and spooled up as 8mm.

John S ☺️

[Simon Wyss]

The answer is NO and yes, the perforations are different. Double-Eight film has twice as many holes as 16-mm. film has, lengthwise. The 16-mm. film advance is 0.3" or 7,62 mm. The 8-mm. film advance is 0.15" or 3,81 mm. The hole dimensions are identical. Double-Eight film is always perforated on both sides, 16-mm. film is often perforated only along one edge. Beware of lacing 16-mm. film in a Double-Eight camera! For complete confusion, there was once a system called Kemco Homovie consisting of a camera that exposes four images in the space of a frame of 16-mm. film and a projector that performs the same zig-zag and forward movement as the camera does.