Ektachrome 100D - Jumpy Footage, Faulty cartridge?

[Chris Smart]

Hello!

I've been shooting Super8 for about a year now after playing around with regular 8mm since 2019. I recently ran into an issue with one cartridge of Ektachrome 100D. I'm shooting with a serviced Nizo S8T and I'm pretty sure it's not a camera issue but I don't have enough experience with Super8 to say that with full confidence. The reason why i think it was the cartridge is because I shot with another roll of Ektachrome 100D a week later and that footage did not have any issues. The problem I'm seeing is severe image jittering and jumping. Could this be caused by a lack of lubrication inside the cartridge or the film just being wound too tight inside? Anything I should look for before Insert the cartridge?

Looking for any tips or tricks to help prevent this from happening!

Thanks!

[Simon Wyss]

Do you know whether the take-up drive of the camera was well taken care of? The film run with the Super-8 system is a floating affair in which a correct pull from the take-up core is crucial. Kodak uses the same thickness base as ever but a stiffer triacetate. With lame-ish cameras problems occur. I’d advise to go back to Double-Eight.

[Chris Smart]

Thank you for the reply, Simon! I was afraid someone might say that. I will never stop shooting Double-Eight, I love it, I just really appreciate the ease and convenience of shooting Super-8 in a run'n gun situation. This camera had a full CLA and has been delivering pretty good footage prior and after this instance. Was just curious if anyone else has experienced this before. This is my first Super8 camera.

[Tyler Purcell]

I shot a 12 roll doc with Ektachrome Super 8 last year, it was jumpy as all heck, but I attributed that to my camera having an issue. I did fix the camera and the problem went away. The takeup speed was high for some reason. I figured when I re-built it, I somehow damaged a switch. Non sound super 8 cameras, don't have this problem. But Sound cameras, can increase the speed when running sound film. Sometimes those switches get stuck. 

[Chris Smart]

Oh very interesting, thanks for the info! My collection of working Regular 8mm cameras has almost reached its limit so I'm starting to look for more reliable Super 8 cameras. Knowing that sound cameras could potentially increase the jitter/jumpy image problem, this is good to know.

Thanks!