Carl Wiedemann

Allessandro: Yes, that?s possible. But, it seems much more likely that the cartridges I purchased a year ago (which worked well) were manufactured before the cartridges purchased last week (which worked poorly). From looking at the above posts it appears that there are a preponderance of cases of recently purchase stock that is behaving poorly. The code on the smooth running stock (the ebay purchase) that you were using is the shorter type of data code (054 0521) that was being used last year, not the more lengthy designation used in recent months. Seems more likely that you were working with older stock. Can I be 100 percent certain? No. I?m just trying to gather data and see if there?s a trend that can be tracked so that we can all avoid future super-8 conundrums. Mike: Thanks for the lubrication info?. Where did you hear this? Do you have a contact at Kodak?

I own both of these cameras and I decide which one to use based upon the nature of a project, especially the lighting restrictions. The PD170 has amazing low light capabilities and is great for documentary type shoots where I have limited control over the lighting. The DVX100 image has more saturated blacks and can give much deeper colors. If I?m shooting in a film style production where I have time to set up lights and do some basic Art Direction the DVX100 will create what most would consider more beautiful images. In a run-and-gun situation where I need to work with available light the PD170 saves the day. Other minor issues: the DVX100 lens does not have a very long zoom reach. If you?re shooting weddings or lectures or a situation where you?re not permitted to get close to your subject, you may be stuck shooting a wide, or a medium shot, when you may have preferred a close up. I also don?t like the poor proximity of focus and iris controls on the DVX for making fast adjustments on documentary shoots. However, the DVX creates gorgeous, cinematic style images that the PD170 can?t. I also love to do hand held work with the DVX with the point-7 wide adapter. This gives me a very wide and flexible zoom range that I don?t get with the PD170 (even with wide angle adapters). Essentially, you should make your camera decision based on the type of work you plan on doing with it. Neither of these camera is simply better than the other.

The uncooperative cartridges I was using were ordered directly from Kodak on October 15.

Here?s some more batch data: The cartridge of 64T that I couldn?t get to run at all - PE: 01046613 A 7280 309 014.01 Slit-39. The roll of Tri-X that repeatedly jammed, but ultimately made it through to the end - PE: 01043695 A 7266 125 003.03 Slit-80. The older Tri-X roll that worked smoothly - PE: 00930408 A 7266 123 002.01 Slit-14. The older Eckatchrome 7240 that worked smoothly - 298 902815.

My first thought when I was having problems on location was that this was a temperature issue or a problem with a particular camera. However, this jamming situation occurred at 70 degree temps with cartridges that had been at room temp for several days. Three different cameras, which have never had weak drive issues, had trouble with this new stock. The two cameras I was using had no problems shooting with ?older? cartridges. This seems to rule out cold or weak drives as the culprit. My co-worker, did exactly what you described in terms of advancing the film in order to un-jam the cartridges, but she had to to this repeatedly with every cartridge she used. She was shooting in 70 degree temps with a camera that?s been used regularly for the past 3 years with no jamming issues.

I wanted to find out if anyone else is having problems with recently manufactured cartridges of Kodak super-8. This week I attempted to shoot with several rolls of recently ordered Kodak super-8 stock. These were 50 footage cartridges of both Ecktachrome 64T and Tri-X 7266. I tried shooting with various cartridges of the new stock and found that they either would run intermittently, or not at all, when depressing the shutter release . This ?jamming? occurred in 2 different cameras. A co-worker of mine experienced the same problem on a different job with a third camera. Fortunately I had 2 ?older? cartridges of Kodak stock with my gear. These older cartridges worked fine in both cameras. These rolls were ordered about 6 and 12 months ago. Is it possible that there?s a current batch of Kodak super-8 stock being manufactured to different standards than were being used earlier in the year? Anyone else experience this issue?