Nicholas Kovats

You sir are a damn fine technical "poet". "It is the depth in film that we appreciate. Not the graininess. The graininess is the cost. The depth is the benefit." C

Brilliant and simple comparison. Well done.

No, Matt. I was responding to Satsuki.

Agreed. My upgrade to the 13x Bolex viewfinder was worth regarding clarity, brightness and magnification. Come to think of it my optical viewfinder has a yellowish cast and is dim on my high speed 16mm Photo-Sonics Actionmaster 500. I believe it has Angenieux optics. I am surprised about the Moviecam. viewfinder. I thought the later German manufactured 35mm format optical viewfinders were coveted? i.e. Moviecam, Arri,P&S Technik, etc. The Arriflex 35 III has a gorgeous large bright viewfinder. Super easy to pull focus. Hmmmm. Perhaps we should instigate an optical viewfinder database. In fact we should formulate a serious wiki based small format camera database. Yes. I am aware of the Super 8 wiki but I am thinking along the lines of actual usage reports and experience. Not just a simple regurgitation of camera specs. Satsuki Murashige, on 14 Jan 2016 - 12:53 PM, said: Well, I still own a Canon 1014 XL-S and find the viewfinder abysmal. I guess I've just gotten used to 16mm, 35mm, and medium format optical viewfinders over the years. After using a Hasselblad PME45 prism for awhile, even the 35mm Moviecam SL mirror reflex finder pales in comparison. Had to go back to an Arri SR1 viewfinder about a year ago for one project and was amazed how dim and cramped it felt. When I first started shooting 16mm in film school, the SR finder was the best we had. And I never want to deal with a Bolex that's not a 13x again. There's just no substitute for bigger optics and more light!

Contact Brent Finely in the US. He is Mr. Photo-Sonics and he can help you, i.e. http://www.brentfinley.com/cinesvc.htm

Based on what? Actual experience? What specific cameras? I own the following cameras, have used them extensively and they have excellent optical viewfinders, i.e. Beaulieu 6008 pro (One of the brightest. Superb), Bauer 715XL, and Nizo 156XL. I would also include the Leicina Special albeit it is not as bright but has actual ground glass focusing with three selectable focusing screens. German minimalism at it's finest. My Fujica ZC1000 also utilizes ground glass focusing and is quite accurate. I did once use a NIzo 6080 and the viewfinder was nice and bright. Not as optically accurate as the Leicina and the Fujica but a pleasure to use. My Logmar and the new Logmar Mini Me (Kodak) are interesting beasts in that they incorporate fold out LCD screens. Heresy! But it works beautifully as a run and gun camera without having to maintain eye contact with the "missing" optical viewfinder. Literally. I find it quite liberating. Actual Logmar owners do obsess the pin registration aspects , the "optical" flatness of the main film channel and their collimated C Mounts whereby the Logmar transport guarantees the accuracy lacking in the SD LCD monitor. The LCD screen is used as a framing device and for menu selection. It sounds painful but some Logmar users resort to tape measures. Old school and hardcore. I don't as my preferences are collimated wide angle lenses (5.5mm/6mm) at mid T stop and literally "run" with the camera. I emulate my ultrawide efforts with my UltraPan Bolex/Angenieux 5.9mm setup. My educated guess is that it is only a matter of time before the Logmar/Kodak LCD framing system is upgraded to an acceptable "focusing" tool. But first things first. Build a prototype (done) to test the market's interest (done). Get the major media and the public talking (done). Flood social media (done). Announce new services and inclusive process-scan-print packages (done). More public chatter (done). The current excitement is palatable. There is something about this tiny format that could. Super 8 just seems to make people a little "crazy". It seems to ignite dreams of greater cinema glory. It is also a matter of time that a subset of Kodak/Logmar Mini Me camera owners will want to upgrade. If the the very aggressive release cycles of the Digital Illuminati are any indication. The current public focus on Super 8 is somewhat bewildering. But great!

Apples and Oranges. One cannot compare 1 micron three dimensional randomly dispersed film particles to a flat matrix of rigid 7 micron 2 dimensional pixels. There over a trillion film particles per frame. Sometimes people confuse film grain with particles. Grain is actually clusters of fundamental particles. Digital sensors are at best a binary approximation of analog phenomenon. Check out Nyqvist Theorem and MFT.

The three Logmar Musketeers! Well, the Kodak "exclusivity" agreement with Logmar has officially deleted any references but I am committed to publicizing the fact for time immemorial.

I suspect the prototypes were built by Logmar in Denmark.

Exactly, Carl! Our investments in the original Logmar S8 was worth every cent towards supporting future analog film goodness!

That would be amazing, Robert. Good luck on that. Impressive that you are utilizing PhotoMec machines as does the huge Gatineau Preservation Center in Ottawa, Canada.

Bloomberg reporter hints at 4K scan as part of the new Kodak one-stop-shop channel relative to the new Kodak/Logmar Super 8 camera. Calls this the flagship ($1000 US) with more models planned. I suspect that Logmar actual built the prototypes for CES2016. Which will eventually be farmed out overseas for mass production, i.e. http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2016-01-07/new-kodak-super-8-concept-camera-first-look-video

Jay, My Logmar Super 8 camera is a modular analog/digital hybrid camera with pin registered transport, C-Mount (back-focus adjustable), digital LCD viewfinder, USB, 3/5 pin XLR connector, firmware upgradable, wi-fi access point to control basic functions, crystal servo digital motor with 0.001 fps precision (repeatable) and more. The 35/65mm camera projects will build on this and be backwards compatible electronically albeit with larger transport systems.

Plus they hired a new software engineer regarding their forthcoming 35/65mm camera projects. That is not a typo.

Breaking F**King news! Wow! Logmar is building the new Kodak Super 8 camera! From Tommy Madsen himself! I can no longer concentrate on my workday. http://www.kodak.com/ek/us/en/Consumer/Products/Super8/Super8_Design/default.htm

Excellent investment in rejuvenating your 60+ year old camera!

This will drive interest towards the best Super 8 camera, i.e. Logmar. My head is reeling. "Plans for the effort includes cameras, film development services and postproduction tools." Kodak got some gumption!

A second warm welcome to the forum, Noah. And welcome to the wonderful precious world of photo-chemical film! I also reside in Toronto and there is only one recommendation and it is simply the best. Jean-Louis Seguin in Montreal services, re-manufactures and offers the best Bolex Clean-Lubricate-Adjustment (CLA) bar none. He services all my Bolex's and many, many others. Not expensive and worth every penny. He is a treasured global resource and will respond to your queries promptly. Please feel free to utilize me as a reference. Check out my Facebook page for lots of photos of his serviced and re-manufactured Bolex. All the best, Nicholas Kovats https://www.facebook.com/UltraPan8WidescreenFilm

One of the last places on earth. I am surprised a general Google search on your part did not come up with Bruce at Aranda in Australia, ie http://www.arandafilm.com.au The Konvas is the hardest and most finiky to convert. Therefore top dollar conversion in the range of $5000 US and up. Arriflex 2C is the easiest apparently. Aranda periodically sells their 2 perf conversions on eBay. Three perf appears to be rarer. The eBay prices appear to be cheaper than the actual conversion costs.

Hi Lasse, I suspect that soliciting just this forum is not necessarily indicative of a lack of interest. What other outreach methods have you attempted? Social media sites? Logmar user group on Facebook? Nicholas

Agreed. Another thread should be started regarding 2-perf 35mm camera development. Horizontal loading Vistavision S8 is a fascinating proposal from a 50ft cartridge slot loading perspective. Would Logmar potentially design the new camera based on the current firmware board? Stepper motor? Any interoperability with the current Logmar S-8 camera regarding machining or parts? Or completely new from the ground up? C-Mount?

Interesting proposal, Andries, regarding the 180 degree flip to accommodate the 8mm transport. Similar to the Sekonic Dualmatic 8mm Movie Camera, e.g. http://www.ebay.com/itm/Sekonic-Dualmatic-8mm-Movie-Camera-/350237716674?hash=item518bcb70c2:m:mYeAPKZQ5HdznvpFFvTfqSg. But I am not a big fan of the lower resolution 8mm frame. A Logmar version of a UP8 (AR = 2.8) or CinemaScope (AR = 2.4) format would be very a attractive proposition if implemented using the full 16mm width of R8 or DS8 film stocks with the associated R8/S8 single perf pulldown and with pin registration. Double the run time compared to 16mm pulldown transports

Andries, No. The UP8 3.1 DS8 Bolex camera has not been widely advertised and it remains a test project. I have one and the other is in the hands of a European client. His camera lens mount was properly re-centered to accommodate the 13mm width of the UP8 3.1 DS8 frame. . There are more UP8 2.8 R8 Bolex cameras out there. It is an attractive format as it shares the same perf dimensions as Standard 16mm 2 or single perf film stock. And there is more Regular 8mm film stock in general.

By the way, Tyler, I love your celluloiddreaming.com project. Fantastic.

Thanks, Tyler, for the details regarding your vision of a new 2/3 Super 35mm cam/projector system. And just to bring everyone up to speed regarding Logmar's long-term intentions. They previously posted and hired a new embedded Linux developer for their forthcoming 35mm AND 65mm camera projects. That's right, 65mm, i.e. http://www.logmar.dk/career/ Enthusiastic founder reports on the new hire, i.e. http://www.logmar.dk/new-team-member/ A new smaller scale 65mm film transport with small magazines would be a natural evolution of Super 8/ small scale 2-perf 35mm camera design. It is feasible. I happen to own a Photo-Sonics 14-perf 70mm horizontal transport handheld camera (magnesium bod) that does not weigh more than10 lbs with a standard Bronica medium format lens mount. Top speed of 20 fps and maximum film loads of 100 ft (acetate) or 150 ft (polyester).