James Grahame

Wow! zvex. Never expected to find you here. Welcome to our little world. I'm still lusting after one of your tiny tube amps. You're not thinking of creating a tape delay unit that uses mag film, are you?

Mmm. Lenny Lipton is a one-of-a-kind character. He first gained fame by writing the lyrics to "Puff the Magic Dragon." He dabbled extensively in film before becoming obsessed with 3D. He's currently an executive at RealD, the company behind the digital 3D technology used on "Meet the Robinsons," "Beowolf," "The Nightmare Before Xmas" and many others. I'm sure he has two or three dozen patents to his name by now. :)

Fred's latest transfers have been absolutely stunning. Part of the answer is that technology has advanced to the point where it is feasible to produce excellent images with machine vision cameras. However, Fred also takes the time to apply plug-ins during post production to improve the quality of his footage. That work can easily take hours or days of computing time and is simply not feasible in a professional environment where work is billed by the hour, especially if multiple tries are required to get it right. Another part of the equation is that amateurs are really dedicated to getting the best quality they can out of their footage. They're not afraid to retransfer things several times to get things just right. That said, it's more or less impossible for a DIY system to outdo a high-end commercial transfer performed by someone skilled. James Grahame (reflex)

This is the saddest thing about discontinuing the magazine - 35% of readers don't have an alternate source for up-to-date S8/16mm news.

Clever film. It's actually quite amazing that you were able to shoot a dark and moody nighttime film on E-64T. Why didn't you choose a faster film like Vision2 500T neg? Was it because of the additional costs of transferring negative film or camera limitations?

When a S8 film cart reaches the end, the film stops moving. It can be a bit confusing, because when you pull the trigger the camera will run, although it will sound slightly different. From what you said, it sounds like you removed the film and the camera makes a strange sound running without film. Unfortunately, many Kodak S8 cameras were made with plastic gear wheels that have either disintegrated or become incredibly brittle over the past couple of decades. If that has happened to your camera, you'll hear all sorts of weird noises. That said, some old movie cameras make a squealing noise because the lubricant has dried out completely. It's hard to know without hearing it.

I agree completely that it doesn't make sense for an amateur filmmaker to purchase a RED One because it will depreciate quickly. I think the main argument for digital gear is that most families have a fairly modern video camera kicking around, making it pretty easy for someone to shoot and edit a short video without spending much extra money. Video is easy to edit on computer and there are no issues with sync sound, making it an easy way to start telling stories with moving images. Even though the equipment is cheap, Super 8 gets expensive in a hurry. With a 5:1 shooting ratio, you're looking at over $100 to shoot and develop a single 2 1/2 minute film, assuming you edit it by hand and project it. An inexpensive digital transfer will easily double the cost and requires the same NLE software outlay as video. It's important for people to jump into Super 8 filmmaking with their eyes open. The simple act of using film won't make the final product look like a Hollywood blockbuster, and film is often a challenging medium to work with. That said, film can be absolutely beautiful when done right.

I second this. The trick to successful filmmaking is to do a lot of research and ask a lot of questions to experienced "old hands" when you have the chance. The best classroom in the world is real-world experience, and nothing makes you feel more humble than the first few times that you try to light a scene and block a few scenes - even on a tiny indie production. You'll feel like you're juggling a dozen eggs. I don't agree that analog is the only way to learn photography and cinematography. It happens to be what many of us old codgers grew up with (I'm in my 30s), but learning the nuts and bolts of digital equipment is extremely valuable, too - especially since DSLRs and prosumer camcorders offer excellent manual control these days. Film has an incredible aesthetic, but there's no reason to burn through hundreds of dollars worth of film unless you're somewhat confident that you'll get meaningful results from it.

The Sankyo shoots at 18 + 24 fps, so it already shoots at "pro" speed. I'm not sure it will correctly read the speed of an E-64T cart, though. It looks like it has a manual exposure mode, though, so you could just use an external light meter to set exposure if it can't read certain speed settings. This could be a good deal. It's hard to tell what model the Minolta is (the seller is giving a video camera model number from the box it was stored in.) It looks like it's an XL-42 or XL-64, which means it shoots at only 18 fps and does not read E-64T correctly (although you can manually override the exposure). Honestly, I would hold off until you find a camera that can read modern cartridges correctly and that offers at least 1 + 18 + 24 fps. There are lots of them out there selling in the price range you're looking at (I just picked up a nice Nikon for $16.50).

Video is an excellent way to learn shot composition, timing, lighting and editing as a total beginner. It doesn't make sense to spend a small fortune to learn basic skills. The film camera should come into play once one has developed a certain aesthetic eye and some background knowledge.

Buying a cheap S8 camera doesn't really make sense - each roll of film will cost a minimum of $25. You want the best image possible on that film. That said, it's possible to stumble upon the occasional bargain. When shopping for a camera, you want one that can shoot at the "pro" speed of 24 frames per second (along with the old home movie standard of 18 fps and possibly one or two 'slow motion' speeds such as 36 fps). An intervalometer is a nice feature for shooting time-lapses, too. But - most importantly - many cheaper late-model Super 8 cameras cannot read the speed notch on some modern films correctly. Check this list at the Super8Wiki to find a camera that can correctly meter the new film (it's not complete by any stretch, but it's a good starting point.)

I think I can explain the Washington D.C. traffic. I occasionally post film-related things on retrothing.com. If I learned about them through a thread on filmshooting I mention it in the post. It doesn't usually result in a huge amount of traffic, but several of my film-related writeups in the past few months have been linked to by some extremely large gadget blogs (which get several million readers per day), which resulted in a lot of unintended traffic flowing through to filmshooting. Several of those sites are hosted at the AOL Dulles Data Center, a few short miles down the road from some very secretive and completely unrelated federal agencies. :)

It is very cool - thanks for letting us know they're now available. I suspect we'll see some clever hacks as DIYers get their hands on these (crazy hand-cranked film loop exhibits, or integrated into wacky steampunk projection machines). That said, anyone who uses this to project their old family films will probably inflict a lot of damage on them. I can't see it having a particularly gentle film transport.

Hey, Rick. Glad to see you jumping into Single-8. Kent at single8film.com has some recently expired film on sale at 50% off ($8 for the 25ASA daylight stock, $9.50 for the 200 ASA tungsten-balanced stuff). I just ordered enough to shoot a couple of films this summer. I'd check the price of sending directly film to Japan for processing, because otherwise you'll have to pay to send the film to LA, then pay return postage to Canada from LA.

Nah, thanks for sharing the info with people. I was just trying to say, "Hey, you didn't need to go to the trouble of grabbing a screenshot." :)