Sean McHenry

Thanks for the quick response Charles. I am anxious to shoot some tests as you can probably tell. Can you suggest a lab or two to contact about re-rolling the film. I would be willing to pay a fee for that. The stock cost me nothing so I can afford to pay someone to do that for me so I can be sure it is done right. Related question, I see places like Film Emporium have Super 16 stock in types I would like to test. Super 16 will work in a regular 16 camera correct? Just not the other way. I know I am not using all the emulsion but it should work fine I would think since the perfs are the same on both. The Bolex I have takes single perf. Thanks again. I'll keep poking around the 16mm forums here. Getting educated can be fun. Any good ref sites or books on how to make the most use of the H16 I have? Sean

Hey folks. Just got the Bolex H16 and it sounds like I am ready to run a test roll to see what shape it's in. I friend dropped seven 400' cans of relatively fresh Kodak neg stocks (different flavors) in my lap and I am looking for empty 100' Daylight reels and cans for them. I'll gladly buy them from someone but I can't google a source for them. I could use a half dozen or so easily. Also, if anyone has suggestions on a easy way to load up the 100' reels in total darkness, I would appreciate it. Wear cotton gloves? How do you measure 100' in total darkness? Do I leave some "Leader" on the 100' rolls? - stuff like that. Just getting started and I can't let this film just sit in the fridge you know. That's 28 loads of film in there just waiting to be sliced and diced. Sean McHenry

Justin, I just sent my Pan Cinor 17.5 - 70 lens for my H16 to Bernie at Super16Inc.com He cleaned and checked out my Canon 814XL-S a while back. That's what we shot with this last weekend. He's a 16mm tech if you need a referral. He's moving to the countryside someplace in NY State right now but is supposed to be back up and running in another week or so. (OT - the Pro8mm/05 film hit the processors today. Should know in a week if we have something for you to TC. When you getting back?) Looking for 16mm supplies for the Bolex now. Sean

Justin, just saw this post. If you need a loaner H16 (non reflex), I just got the one off Ebay a while ago and while I am still learning much about these beasts, it seems to purr nicely. Let me know if you need it. On another note, shot the Super 8 project this weekend, film is on it's way to Pro8mm. More on that when the negatives return. Hope tomorrow works out better for you now that it seems solved for a while. Sean

OK, question on the mirror idea. I have a Bolex H16 that came with a Pan Cinor 17.5 - 70. It's a reflex lens. There is a tiny mirror in the center of the image area that scoops out some light and aims it at a prism that throws the image at about 30 degrees down the viewfinder tube. At least that's how I understand it from looking at it. Now mind you the prism is only to bend the image to the eye, not in the lens to film path. Still, doesn't adding a mirror, half silvered mirror or anything in the path degrade the image somewhat? I don't want to keep tossing all this down a rabbit hole but unless it is a true reflex camera where the mirror flips out of the path during the opening of the shutter, it's all affecting the image in some small way right? S.

What I had thought was a natural idea for setting the diopter would be to zoom all the way in on anything with a sharp vertical line, focus until the images mate, then adjust the diopter for the clearest image as the split imager should give you a single solid line whether your eyepiece is focusing correctly or not. Have I been wrong on that idea? Seemed to work but then I haven't been critical on focus for my Canon 814 XL-S recently. My stuff always seems to be in focus using that method. Sean PS, maybe it's my eye or this PC monitor but it looks like your hue or chroma is off. I don't see anything really white in those images. Everything has a blue/green cast to my eye. Was this film "D" or "T"? Maybe the camera at the TC place was off? S>

I bought a decent Bolex H16 a month or so ago and it came with a beautiful (very clean and tight) black body Som Berthoit Pan Cinor 17.5 - 70 lens on it. It's like new, but, the viewfinder is vignetting on the right side a bit and I think it could be a minor adjustment to the actual finder and not the prism or lens assy itself. If I unscrew the eyepiece from the end of the viewfinder, the frame is full at the mask in the viewfinder, but naturally out of focus without that last lens. Anyone have experience with these lenses before I send it off to Bernie? If it's something I can do with an adjustment from the manual I'll take care of it, otherwise off it goes. Anyone have a manual for this lens? Thanks folks, Sean McHenry

I will be shooting 5 rolls of Pro8/05 which is a 250D film this weekend. First shoot with negative films in 8mm. I'll be sending it to Justin Lovell in Cana-da for transfer to DVCam after it comes back from Pro8 processing. I want to check the density and be sure we have something useful before TC. Just another short film project. I'll post links to the finished piece when we get done with it. We'll be using my Canon 814XL-S I had sent to Bernie at Super16Inc for a tuneup a while back. We may supplement the natural dusky sunlight with a fluorescent fixture from an old Smith Victor photo light and a 100W output twisted tube daylight full spectrum lamp running off an inverter from my car. We're shooting in a remote location without AC power. My chosen DP tested the lamp for flicker in 24fps and he tells me he doesn't see any flicker in his test film. More later. Pro8 has the biggest selection of negative films. It's pricey considering you end up with a negative but it's what's out there. We're shooting it for the latitude vs Ektachrome. I did find an interesting loophole in pricing...if you order from Film Emporium, shipping seems a lot cheaper. I picked up 4 rolls for $130. They charged $10 for shipping and it drop ships directly from Pro8. I have always gotten the film within a week of ordering. Oddly they ship my stuff FedEx Ground but Pro8mm advertises UPS Ground at just over $3 more for the same shipping. Besides, I like Film Emporium. Their prices have always been good for me. Sean

All in all an excellent "article" on loading a Bolex. Reminds me of the Mackie audio mixer manuals with the touches of fun in it. As a first time Ebay Bolex buyer myself of a week ago (bought a 1956 non-reflex in decent shape with Pan-Cinor 70 and the usual suspects of three primes as well.) Seemed like a good deal at the time. While showing off the new beast around the post production facility where I work, one of the guys here had "rescued" some forgotten 16mm stock from a shoot a few years back and offered me a 400' roll to play with. He eventually said I should just take it all. Seven 400' rolls. A mix of 100T, 200T, 320T. That's like 28 100' loads. Jackpot. Caveat being that he can't guarantee it's worth but it had been on ice most of it's life so maybe there's an image or two hiding in there someplace I can squeak out of it. Camera is running nice. The Octameter viewfinder had taken a fall at some time and the levers were hitting the little block that holds the mount on in the front. A careful set of tape covered needle nose pliers and 15 minutes got that right again. The Pan-Cinor 70 is a piece of work too. Sadly the prism seems to be out of position as I am getting the right side of the frame cut off and there is a corner missing on the upper left of the image too. I sent a note to Bernie at Super16Inc to see if he can tackle that issue. The lens is very smooth and tight so it might be worth putting a few dollars into? Anyway, thanks for the fun write-up on loading. I'll be trying this one out soon enough. Sure looks like a real camera. Sean McHenry New 16mm shooter

Thanks Richard. Sounds like I really should shoot a roll of Tri-X and maybe test it with the Pro-8 250D too. Not sure what we'll shoot on but I'm leaning toward the Tri-X still. Flicker at 24fps therefore was the big issue on this question. Oddly, I just finished bookmarking your site to read over in the morning. I have had great success with a worklight and dual 5000K tubes. I think it compares to a 100W output in tungsten. Looked decent on DVCam with the little DSR PDX-10. I knew that light would come in handy. Thanks for the info. I'll be checking the site in the morning. Retention will be better then I hope. Sean

Hey guys, just posted this thread with some additional info. My searching didn't turn this thread up right away so I naturally started another. Moderator, feel free to join them. My question is more about flicker though. Check the info on the newer lamps I just saw tonight and the others I mention. http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...showtopic=23201 Sean

I know this is basically a dead thread but I wanted to mention that for small fills in a sort of horror piece I shot, I used a near daylight R20 25W in a really small clamp light meant for a reading lamp I picked up at the hardware store for about $5. The lamp was maybe another $4? Looked good on HDV and in the dark room competing with similar lamps in a 5 light house fixture over the kitchen table, it really helped kick the actress out of the limbo lit kitchen. You can see some pics here of that shoot: http://natalielloyd.net/Track11.html The table overhead lights were R20 tight spots so it fell off the table pretty hard. I put black wrap on the opposite sides of the overhead fixture to kill most of the spill from the translucent lamp shades and the limbo effect worked out fairly well for such a tight area. The Dinette area is only about 10' x 10'. You can watch the short here: http://www.DeepBlueEdit.com/Track11.htm Sean

Hello everyone. I will be shooting a short on Super 8 soon and am wondering about a new fluorescent lamp I saw tonight at the hardware store. I saw a "Full Spectrum" tube like the type used in Videscense units or the type meant to replace a regular household lamp bulb. The 23 watt power consumption version puts out slightly greater than a 100W equivalent tungsten lamp. It says they are rated at 5000K. I was thinking that since I need something a bit directional but soft at around 650 type levels for the shoot, I could easily mount 6 porcelain fixtures to an aluminum frame and put a separate switch on each tube. That would be a variable 100W to 600W unit at 5000K full spectrum. My question is, I'll be shooting at 24fps on a Canon 814XL-S and my jeep with a large 12v inverter would be supplying the power as we will be out in the middle of nowhere. What sort of flicker am I setting myself up for, if any, and how full spectrum are these lamps really? This sure seems like a great idea for the $7.50 for each 100W tube. I've searched the forums and found mention of these units at a crazy $69 each: http://www.servicelighting.com/catalog_pro...fm?prod=MX35871 I can't find a link to these new GE CFL units yet but they were on the shelf at the local Lowes. Other GE CFL (Compact Fluorescent Lamp) literature is here: http://www.gelighting.com/na/business_ligh..._sheets/cfl.htm I also found these searching for full spectrum lights. Note the price of the 42W (Replaces 200W Incandescent) 5 of these would be a soft 1KW for the cheap price of $90 in lamps at $18 each in 1-5 units. Variable in 200W steps. http://www.fullspectrumsolutions.com/compa...cent_32_ctg.htm Thanks for any advice folks, Sean

Wow. the difference between my 814 Autozoom and my 814 XL-S was night and day on sound. The 814AZ was a lot like a sewing machine and the XL-S is sooo much quieter. I will say that the year or more that I have been watching cameras on Ebay (where I have bought all of mine) I have seen the prices climbing on the typical "good" cameras. Nikons, Minoltas and my favorites, the Canons. I bought my 814XL-S from a very nice gentleman. When I got it it needed a cleaning as it was slipping on higher speeds. I sent mine to Bernie at Super16Inc. It has been great and the registration is really good. I love it. All told, with the Ebay purchase and Bernie's magic, it ran me about $450 total as I recall. But it has been looked at and given a clean bill of health by a trusted independent professional film camera repair guy (Hi Bernie). Another great thing about the Canons is that it seems most of the line accepted nearly ever ASA stock ever conceived. Someone had a chart stating, in easy to follow format, what cameras accepted what stock speeds. I did find out the hard way that not all cameras read all carts correctly. External metering will become a good friend to you if you ignore that part. Good luck. Good ones are out there but it's a crap shoot on Ebay - and it's more money from trusted pros. Take your pick. Sean

Congrats on the new addition. I can't vouch for them quite yet as my first order has been a touch slow in getting processed and sent out but there is a site called International Film Sales run by John Schwind that has film for these. You buy 25' rolls and flip them over (in the dark) and run it the other direction for a 50' run of 8mm. During processing it is split down the center and spliced for a 50' playback. I ordered 4 rolls of the CineX 410 I think, B&W 100 ASA. It's on the way so I'll see hiw the old Sekonic 3-lens turret, multispeed cam does.. Sean

I have several Canons and I can say the 814 AutoZoom does sound like a small sewing machine. I would recommend it as well, if you can cover the noise. For the price and hearty-ness of the 814 AZ, it's a great camera. Mine is a tank. There are articles on making a "Barney" and other sound proofing for louder cameras. Other options are to shoot through a hole in a piece of foamcore and other ideas. If you won't be shooting physically close shots and close mic the actors, you could get away with it but it will take some work. The XL-S series is much quieter. Without turning this into a sales pitch, I just happened to have a 1014 XL-S that has some possibly correctable lens issues I would let go really cheap. If you might be interested e-mail me off the list. I only mention it as it isn't doing me any good right now and I would rather someone put some time/money into it and get it shooting. Mechanically it seems sound. Sean http://www.DeepBlueEdit.com Sean(at)DeepBlueEdit.com

I am looking at finally doing a real piece on film and am wondering how well the latitude of some of the film stocks transfer to tape. The shots will all be night shots and I can control the range but would like to blow out some highlights here and there and drop a lot off into shadow. Actually, sounds like I may want to shoot reversal then? I was thinking about trying 500T. The real question, boiled down is, if I shoot with a wide latitude stock and transfer to DVCam for the edit, am I loosing latitude in that transfer? If so, is it likely to be the top end, bottom end or just compressed? I know it would likely depend on the transfer method. Assume a workprinter or similar. Thanks, Sean

Yeah, what they said. Lap dissolves are the only things really missing from the 814, and the slightly longer zoom. The C8 Wide Angle adapter works on both if you need to go really wide. Standard tripods for shooting at this level for me are things like Bogen 3211 sticks and 501 or 503 heads are nice, simple and light but fairly smooth. Personally, I have an almost perfect 814 and a running 1014 with glass that's going bad. Something wrong with the lens on the 1014. I need to send it off to Bernie or a lens person, or both. Then again I got it at a good price for a camera with a south-bound lens. I think the 814s will be just fine for you. Again, if you don't subscribe, get Super 8 Today. Great info on shooting Super 8 in these more modern video times. Happy shooting. If you need info I can help with feel free to e-mail direct. Sean(at)DeepBlueEdit.com http://www.DeepBlueEdit.com

Quick response to "who carries their camera everywhere?" I love it. I especially like taking the 814 AutoZoom because it has that great handle on top. I took it in to a B&N book store a few months ago and got into an interesting discussion with the young man behind the counter. He mentioned that it was a neat looking video camera. Well, I had to explain it to him. He thought it was pretty cool that film was still around. Everywhere I go I end up telling folks that ask me about it that you have more film choices now than at any time in the history of Super 8. I picked up a Keystone K26 this weekend at a flea market type place here in town. Paid too much but the mechanics seem solid and it has all three lenses. Walking down the aisle an older man asked me if there was anyplace to still get film for those. Off I went again. It's just plain fun to talk about. And shooting with them is great too. Sean McHenry PS, beautiful 4008 up a few notches here. Looks like new. S.

Owning several Canons now I can say that the 814 XLS, 814 Auto Zoom and the 1014 XLS all can use standard tripods. Lots of folks are buying Sony MiniDisc recorders, MP3 Recorders and the new lines of memory card recorders like the Zoom H4 (google that one, it's cool). Others are using DAT and portable DAT recorders while others are actually using other MiniDV camcorders to grab 48KHz clean audio. All are viable. You will hear quite a bit about Crystal Sync and the option to add it to the 814 and 1014 series as well as many others. This device will lock the cameras frame rate to a particular audio recorder like the professional but aging Nagra or the Sony version (often called a SNAGRA) audio recorder. Honestly, anything that can record sound works BUT - when it comes time to sync that separate audio track to a different frame rate video track, that's where the issues of drifting audio and lip sync get tricky. Unless the dialog is more like a monologue, it really isn't all that hard to sync the audio back up for a short piece. If you want to do a 2 hour epic, get a DAT and a Crystal Sync unit. Negative films have a greater latitude but need a positive print made before you can show it directly. If you want to edit it in an NLE (any NLE works) you will need the footage transfered to tape to digitize into your NLE. It needs laid to tape with the correct "pulldown" taking the 24 full frame film footage and making it 30i digital video. You can have it laid to tape as negative and flip it in your NLE, or better, have it flipped when it is initially laid to tape by whoever is putting it on tape for you. OR, you can use films that are reversal films meaning they are positives immediately after processing. They are easier to turn around to a viewable film but they are more picky about exposure. I love my 814 AZ and my 814 XLS. You can do neat stuff with them. Look for Super8 Today magazine. It is inexpensive and chock full of good stuff for Super 8 folks. Happy shooting. Sean McHenry

FYI, I haven't posted it anyplace yet but, I bought a 1014 XLS in ragged shape but it came with 8 rolls of unopened K40 sound film. It was probably not stored correctly but if anyone wants a go at it I am willing to let it go reasonably. I know this is not the right forum for this but it seems appropriate considering the mention of sound film. Just FYI. E-mail me direct if you are interested in it for any reason. Don't want to shift the tack of this thread away from it's original intentions. I think $500 is reasonable for the 814 XLS as I just bought one a while back for about $300 (with the WA adapter) and had to send it off to Bernie to get cleaned up. Total cost for mine, about $500. Sean Sean(at)DeepBlueEdit.com

It seems to have a physical characteristic to it as well. I can't explain it very well and doubt I could capture a picture of it but there seems to be physical "stuff" on the back side of the primary element. Someone I wrote to about it thinks it may be the two physical lenses are de-laminating. I guess there are 2 lenses actually glued together somehow that make the first element? Seems odd to me but I know nothing about how the glass is really made. There is also a tiny chip in one corner. I may shoot with it anyway and do a comparison with the 814 XLS I have. Won't hurt to fully test it but I know it isn't 100% right in it's current state. Bernie said he would take a look at it for me when I break down and send it up to him. I wanted to see if he could just do a transplant but so far, no dead 1014XLS's out there. Thanks, Sean

Personally I am not as detail oriented on my little projects as I could be but I am usually concentrating on other stuff, since I do most everything on my little pieces. One of the best things you can do in digital editing is to be absolutely sure you get at least 60 seconds of "room tone" at every location. On a real set the sound person will tell you he is about to roll for "room tone". Everyone will freeze and shut up for those 60 seconds as he records the sound of one hand clapping. Every combination of locations and recording equipment has it's own dead sound to go along with it. Your dialog will have that slight open air sound under everything that you recorded. When you break up sentences, etc, you will need some of that blank sound to fill in those gaps so the noise floor isn't constantly changing. That's one of the distracting things you hear in bad films and videos. Mine included A lot of that gets covered by effects and music and isn't really an issue. I think you mostly hear what you described when the inexperienced use on camera mics rather than a boom operator with a good mic. The boom person can adjust their mic placement to very near the actors and not way back by the camera. Also using different mics for different scenes can do this as well. The last thing that can hurt you is to do a cut in the audio track but have to pump it up a bit for a weak line delivery. I always try to do a smooth dissolve to ramp up the audio increase to smooth that out a bit. Sean

I don't want to completely double post and moderator(s), pull this if you think it's wrong to double like this but, you guys are the Super 8 folks and not everyone reads the want ads here. I am looking for a DEAD Canon 1014-XLS for a possible lens transplant. See the thread here: http://www.cinematography.com/forum2004/in...showtopic=19193 Thanks, Sean

I recently bought a Canon 1014-XLS Super 8 camera but the glass has gone bad. It has a rainbow hue on the primary lens on both sides. I am looking for any DEAD 1014-XLS cameras out there for a possible lens transplant. The body seems strong and even though it hasn't seen the light of day in about 15 years, it's pulling film just fine it seems. Hate to toss it out because of bad glass. If you have any leads or wish to let go of a 1014-XLS in bad mechanical condition, please let me know. Sean McHenry Sean@DeepBlueEdit.com http://www.DeepBlueEdit.com