Pavan Deep

Hi I have filmed a lot of dialogue pieces with Super 8; https://vimeo.com/3175593 . I haven't uploaded any films recently, but I have just finished filming a film about an interrview - a film I made to show [my students] how lip sync dialogue can be recorded with ease when using any Super 8 camera, I will upload the film in a few weeks. As has been pointed out Super 8 sound film is not available, but recording sound is not impossible, nor is it difficult. I record the sound seperately on a mini-disk recorder, the sound recording and the camera are not linked in any way, the sound from the mini disk will always run at the same speed, while the camera's speed will flunctuate [in longer scenes] especially if the camera is not crystal controlled - the sound is being recorded 'wild'. When the film is edited on computer the sound file is merged and synced with the picture, this is quite simple. P www.lightbreeze.co.uk

For information about your camera please look at www.super8.data.com , a most useful website with details on every [i think] Super 8 camera. For UK processing and scanning please visit www.lightbreeze.co.uk Thanks P

Just a quick update; http://www.lightbree...ADVENTURES2.htm I think if you save the picture it's quite large. P

This kit is simple and great everyone should get one. P

It can be done, just get someone to machine a c-mount thread into a metal plate and fix it, I don't know about that model. I met people who did this with much a cheaper and simpler camera, I think it was a Bently, but it had a fixed lens and only manual exposure. The internal claw and drive mechanism were on a plate which was easily taken out, the fixed lens was removed and was fitted into a specially made wooden box. This box was the new camera body, the front of it had a metal plate which had a c-mount thread allowing for additional lenses. I believe the people who did this were into macro filming and wanted to use larger 35mm lenses. P

The Bray E6 is a great machine, it can handle 8mm, but it needs alot of film, my experiences with it weren't great as the machine kept breaking down, we wanted something more portable that could handle small volumes. The Jobo ATL is ideal for small volumes and larger volumes. P

I'm sure If you search the net you'll find them. Why can't people just stop predicting the end of film? A few changes within the US industry not mean that the whole world will change. I have been hearing that film is dead since the early 1980's, and it's still here alive and looking great. Digital is great it's constantly evolving, film is great and changing all the time, filmmakers need all the tools they can in this creative but competitive industry. Economically it's a bad time and Kodak is facing all the problems that almost every other large company is, maybe one of its problems is that it's too big. P

Congratulations on making your film on Super 8, I'd love to see it. Where and how can I see it? I think I've missed something did you say you used 360 cartridiges? Isn't that a lot? Like 15 hours - that's a very high shooting ratio. If this is right why did you have such a high shooting ratio? I am doing the budget of a feature to be shot on Super 8, the finished film will be 65 -70 minutes long and I have worked out that 80 cartridges [which is about 3 hours 30 minutes] would be more than enough. P

Kodak has all sorts of problems, we shouldn't see film's future as just tied with Kodak, though Kodak the major player in traditional film and the world will certainly look different without Kodak. There a lots of companies that make film, most in South East Asia and lots of people use film. In recent years a lot of big American shows have started using digital, this is a cultural change, but a lot of shows still use film and new ones are using film too, and almost all commercials use film. This is an American cultural change only and it's to do with economics, creativity and politics and it affects Kodak USA most of all. I am from India where television uses digital and the film industry uses a lot of film Kodak 35mm, they produce well over 800 features a year and these feature get to parts of the country where there isn't even electricity, the digital revolution that's sweeping the US is not affecting the entire world in the same way. The role of film is changing. P

This is a new initative, it's all about making it easier to use Super 8, I am based in Birmingham. We have developed from a film group that ran Super 8 film workshops until recently. The group originally started in 1996, as one of the founders I have decided to continue with the groups work with Super 8. I have used Super 8 professionally since the early 1990's. I am a lecturer in film technology and have been a producer and script editor working in corporate film for many years as well as working with BBC drama. I use Super 8 regularly in my corporate videos, in addition I have made many shorts on Super 8. At the group we processed films with a Bray E6 machine for sometime, but never offered this as a service, we only processed films from our own workshops. All the material from the current website [which is my personal site and was originally set up for my corporate and my script editing work] will be moved soon to a new site. I have started processing films with my custom made rack which I use in a new Jobo ATL1500 processor. I am not offering a processing service yet, though I intend to, first I need to be satisfied that everything works well and sort out a proper workflow, I also want to get samples of my processed and scanned films online, but I am scanning films. Thanks P

I thought I'd post this here; http://www.lightbree...0adventures.htm P

I know that the UWL's work when the camera is set to macro, but I want to use the UWL on a non macro nizo 561. I know it can be done, I remember reading about it here a while ago. I think I can fit a macro lens and then fit the UWL, but I don't know what kind of macro lens to use and where to get it from. Hope someone can help me. P

I just have to add my point of view; In a 'professional' environment where people are getting paid for their skills and talents shooting digital is not always as cheap cheap as people make out though for many it's easier. Few think about 'real' things like labour and other resources such as transport and insurances, which are the most costly elements of any production, in most cases stock is a very small part of production costs. I know many people who have switched to digital from film believing that digital is cheaper, but in all cases the costs for shooting digital keeps going up. P

Hi Thanks, I have found that manual for free, it's more difficult than other camera repair/service manuals but it's very helpful. P

Hi I have just got a Beaulieu 6008S camera, there is no battery holder, but apparently it works. I want to use it and need to know what kind of plug I need to power the camera via the 9 volt socket. Would any 9 volt transformer/adaptor work? I am also thinking of connecting a six AA batieries to the terminals in the handgrip where the battery holder sits, but looking through the handgrip I can't tell which terminal is positive and which is negative. Can anyone help? Thanks P

I wouldn't cut the film at all, the frame is small and will scratch easiliy and if you're shooting negative you really shouldn't touch the film. In my experience everything depends on what the intended film is for. If this is your first experience with Super 8 I'd shoot, have it 'properly' telecined and then edit it. The biggest cost factor is getting your film to digital. You could have your film scanned on a frame-by-frame-scanner, there' are a few of us in the UK who use this technology to scan films, ity's cheaper and produces very good results comparable to 'high end' machines, the only drawback is they're slower. If you are in the UK an SD 'proper' transfer of your Super 8 will look great. P

My trusted Bauer 715 XL has stopped working, the zoom works but nothing else does. Does anyone know who can repair this for me or does anyone know where I can get a service manual from? Thanks P

I've been looking for solutions to process Super 8 in Jobo Atl, it's as close you can get to a 'plug and play' for home processing of stills. It seems many other people have been thinking of using such a machine too, but the problem seems to be how to get the 15 metres of Super 8 film in a Jobo drum so that it can be processed properly. People have been have been talking about developing some sort of rack / system to load Super 8 in a Jobo drum. I wonder if anyone has been successful with this and has managed to process their Super 8 in a Jobo Atl. It would be nice to find a solution to automate home processing. P

The clip looks great, I think the 100D looks fantastic. I think some simpler cameras are actually quite good, I have just used a Chinon Pocket 8, it has one fixed lens, it's an increadibly small and simple camera, but surprisingly it's produces very sharp images. P

Firstly, I haven’t read all the posts in detail, but in my opinion the original post is somewhat alarmist. At its core there seems to be the usual echoes of the ‘common’ belief that film [celluloid] is expensive to work with and that its days as a serious medium to create stories are numbered. It’s become quite normal to say that film is expensive and to talk favourably about digital. I’ve personally heard a lot of people say that film was working out more expensive so they were forced to shoot digital instead. A lot of these films tend to have no budgets and people are collaborating or working for free. In such cases digital obviously make senses and seems to be cheaper. There seems to be a growing culture and acceptance where people are making films that have no proper budgets and where people work for free or at very low wages. Isn’t this just exploitation? If so shouldn’t it be discouraged? In such cases working with film will be more expensive. I believe everyone who works on a film should get paid, otherwise it’s just a hobby, after all we all have bills, rent/mortgages to pay. Times are tough and this is a difficult industry, people want to work and people do work for free, but working for free shouldn’t be seen as ‘normal’. When working professionally film isn’t always that expensive, it can be bit more difficult, because it’s not instant and has to be telecined, but in my experience working with film is always quicker, which means the whole process is cheaper. In terms of budgeting, raw film costs, processing and telecine are a very small fraction of the whole process. Other things like labour, sets, locations, transport, food, insurances etc are more costly. In regard to post labs and telecine houses; in my experience this has always been the most difficult and most expensive part of working with film, though things are changing. At the moment there seems to more deals with film camera packages film stocks, processing and telecine. P

I know some cameras were very expensive when they were new in the 1960's, 1970's and early 1980's, but by the mid 1990's before the internet the new thing was Hi 8 video by that time Super 8 was considered obsolete and Super 8 cameras and equipment was very cheap. I bought my Bauer A512 for about £50.00 [which I thought was expensive then] and a Nizo 801 for £10.00, even by todays standards that's pretty cheap. At that time most Super 8 cameras weren't new, but most were only about 10 to 15 years old which didn't seem to bother me. In 1996 I did some Super 8 filmmaking workshops that' s when I saw these home made cameras some participants had brought them in, I don't know much about them, the cameras didn't appeal to me, they were far too basic , my A512 was way more advanced. It didn't seem hard to believe that they had made these cameras and machined the parts, after all a film camera is mechanically quite basic. I do remember thinking how odd and thought why would anyone go to such lengths as to build what seemed to me was a very basic camera, a camera that had no lens, had no auto exposure or rewind facility, or any other features. For years I had forgotten about them, but recently I was reminded that my Super 8 cameras are over 30 years old and I became aware of the Mekel SP1 Cine 8 camera which is here; http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Visual_ ... e_8_Camera I am pretty sure that the cameras I had seen at my workshops were not a Mekels, but I am assuming the SP1 was probably what ithese cameras were based on hem. Building such a simple camera with no frills wouldn't be that difficult. P

This is an interesting thread, every now and again this discussion comes up, people talk about this quite passionately. I find it fascinating but disappointed that we don’t have a new Super 8 camera. I think to make a camera with sophisticated optics and electronics would be impractical. In fact to make something like the best Super 8 cameras of the late 1970’s such as the Canon 1014XLS would be almost impossible. I think a new camera needs to be simple and just needs a few things that many Super 8 cameras don’t have, such as interchangeable lenses and pin registration for rock steady images all the time. To make a pin registered camera with a c-mount or similar, maybe like the Mekel SP-1 Cine 8 wouldn’t be that difficult nor would it that expensive. Such a camera wouldn’t have much optics except for a viewfinder and the only electrics would be the drive motor. The most critical and expensive aspect would be the machining of the pin-registered aspect. I personally knew two people who made their own Super 8 cameras back in the 1990’s. Their cameras were quite box shaped, I think they were made of wood, [they were very quiet, quieter than my Nizo 6080] and had c-mounts, they looked very simple yet they were quite complex, they were pin registered and you had to pull out some film from the cartridge and thread it around some sprockets and through the gate. One of the cameras had no viewfinder at all, while the other had a mirror guillotine shutter and a focusing screen, but I don't know what became of people or their cameras. At the time such a simple camera sounded weird as some of the best Nizo, Bauer and Canon Super 8 cameras were so cheap and they had so many features, but now since most Super 8 cameras are over 30 years old and repairing them can be a pain having a new camera doesn’t sound so absurd. P

I have the 'electronic' version which is called the Canon 814 XL Electronic, it' has a black plastic body and it's become my favorite cameras which has a great sharp image. I haven't used the older version though. I think apart from the shutter setting the 'electronic' version doesn't have 24fps which I think the older one has, it just has 18fps, 9fps and slow motion, I don't miss the 24fps. P