Jim Carlile

I have for sale a Canon 67mm wide-angle converter (attachment) C-8 in mint condition. This is also excellent for the Nizo series of 67mm lenses, as in the 6080 or the earlier silver-bodied series. Hard to find, I'll let it go for $99, or best offer! Write me here, or at carlileb@aol.com.

Sure it does-- you can always flip 2R around. That's why 2R doesn't have a wind indication. You can use it either way. Of course, you could end up with major orientation problems upon projection-- like inside out and backwards-- but 2R is more adaptable for oddball situations. That's why I said he needs to play around with it. I've always found 2R to be more universal myself. I think the old J-K booklet has a good explanation of the wind problem and what to do about it, especially using camera reversal v. print negative.

Arri, no doubt about it. But it sounds like you need an S more than a BL. Go for the S. Smaller, lighter, easier to use, and cooler looking. Very adaptable.

2R print film would be used in older projectors that have two sets of perforations. It could also be used for bipack or old-fashioned in-camera printing where you need to flip the emulsion to get the right orientation. Contact prints, that kind of thing. You can also shoot with it in older 16 cameras, like pre-1950. Using a J-K for S8 to 16 neg-pos blowups is pretty straightforward, but keep in mind the emulsion/base wind orientation. Experimentation is key to saving your sanity. That's why you might want to buy 2R. It's more adaptable and there's no wind confusion. The J-K is not a contact printer, so the wind problem is harder to figure out. I remember it was especially insanity-inducing with 1R camera-reversal film. So I'd stick with 2R-- it's easier. You can always flip it. And since it'll probably be a one-off print it won't matter to the projector which side of the perfs it's using.

Remember that it's not just the coating, it's also the packaging. If 35mm slide-film sales have declined so much that it's no longer worth the effort, then this would explain the discontinuation. Compare this to MP. Sales have actually increased in this area. And also consider how much more MP color reversal film is sold than slide. There's still a sizeable market for it. Kodak is also quite sensitive about these products and their substitutions, and it goes into their decision. For instance, they know that Fuji still makes 35mm slide reversal but not MP (any more). So it's still available. But the same's not true of S8 and 16 color reversal. 100D is the only game in town. I'm not worried-- if you keep buying it they'll keep making it. But we'll know by early summer. If they're down to their last rolls in storage then they'll announce the end by about July or so. And then they'll estimate a six- to twelve-month timeline.

I'll bet Kodak sells 500 times as much motion picture Ektachrome as slide film. Probably more. Slide film sales had declined so much that it was no longer worth the effort to package it. That's not true of MP. If you buy it, they'll keep coating it. Has anyone asked Photo Engineer over at APUG what the status is in Rochester? He might know. He warned people years ago that they were down to coating Kodachrome like once a year. Kodak is very supportive of their motion picture division. It's what's keeping them alive.

Kodak announcement from today: "Yesterday, Kodak announced the discontinuance of its three Kodak Professional EKTACHROME and ELITE Chrome Films. This news does not affect our ability to supply 5285 and 7285 color reversal motion picture film products to our customers. We continue to provide these films in 35mm, 16mm and S8 stocks with the same great quality and product support you’ve come to expect from the Kodak brand." If you keep buying it they'll keep making it. They sell lots more movie reversal than slide film for sure. Eliminating color reversal from the Eastman catalog would also leave a big hole-- there's nothing to replace it with. All this doom and gloom about 64T forgets one thing: they immediately replaced it with 100D! I'm not sure either that 5285 is the same as 100VS. I'd always heard it was EPP 100D. Kodak can still justify coating one reversal stock for motion picture use, and which also can be ported over for 35mm slides without difficulty. But not three or four.

Before people start to panic about today's announcment on the Ektachrome discontinuations, please note that Kodak has not announced the end of 100D, or 5285. Just the 35mm slide films. There's a difference now. They'd already gotten rid of still 100D a few years ago. http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/products/reversal/5285faq.shtml Until further notice I'm not worried. At least yet.

Their official notice says nothing about 100D. Just the other "slide films," as they call them. Journalists then go on to speculate that this means all E-6. I would suspect that they're keeping 100D around for a while in the MP format. "The films are the Kodak Professional Ektachrome E100G, Kodak Professional Ektachrome E100VS Film and Kodak Professional Elite Chrome Extra Color 100." In fact, Kodak strikes a difference between 100D and the others. 100D is clearly MP only now: http://www.kodak.com/country/US/en/motion/products/reversal/5285faq.shtml So don't worry.

Some good questions about the 'heyday' of S8. Dennis Duggan died about 20 years ago. He had been teaching at San Francisco City College for years-- film of course. He'd also done some local porn in the distant past, too, at about the same time he was writing those S8 articles! BTW, one of the most interesting of the S8 films mentioned back then was this: http://www.retroroadtrips.com/ It's still around. You occasionally find others that pop up the same way. You just have to look around, although there are a number of curators and archivists who are starting to ask these same questions. Amateur filmmaking is the big new field of study-- and it's about time. I think people just lost interest over the years when it came to the technology, like Lipton. A few years back he was said to have donated all of his cameras to some place like SFCC. Most of the British guys are gone as well. Ivan Watson, Tony Rose, Francis Williams; all gone. The grand old Tories. I think Tony Shapps is still around but not active. Time for a renaissance? Seems like it.

You'll have to drive in for it-- but last I heard Fuji had moved to Burbank, over on Magnolia at about Buena Vista. And yes, they have a sales desk-- or did. I'm sure they still do. Easy drive, about 45 minutes: http://www.fujifilm.com/products/motion_picture/contact/ Kodak has one too, over on Santa Monica Blvd near Highland. But harder to get to. (Hey, if you go in there, ask them when they're going to ship in black and white Neopan !! )

Super 8 Arena is a great place; Michael's a good guy. Very much recommended and super fast shipping if you go for the express- we're talking like five days to California. But if you're in NYC definitely check out Duall Camera. They're pricey, but that's because they are a repair shop-- everything's overhauled and guaranteed. For $350 to $400 they might be able to fix you up with something nice and it will WORK ! An older Canon maybe. For a newcomer I'd avoid eBay like the plague-- way too much junk out there now, with no assurance that it will run. Much grief. Stick with Duall-- you're in luck to be there. You might want to visit some of the local film schools too and ask around.

What with Kodak's financial problems looming overhead, I'm wondering how much people would spend for a Super 8 cartridge. Right now Tri-X is about $11 from their distribution centers, which I think is really cheap. It's obvious that the company is basically subsidizing S8 as a gateway product these days, but if the chips were down, how high would you go? $20? This could be a real issue, and soon. Buyer acceptability of a higher price could be a big factor as to whether or not they keep it. BTW, this may sound perverse, but I think filmmaking is starting to get fun again. Let the hacks and the mediocrities play with their digital cameras.

Chulas Fronteras by Les Blank.

Get your film now, boys. This company's not long for the world: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2011-08-17/kodak-worth-five-times-more-in-breakup-with-3-billion-patents-real-m-a.html Wall Street's going to strip off all the goodies and close down the rest. Kodak was the #1 stock today in anticipation; it rose 25% in value.