John Salim

Re: 16mm Ektachrome 100D ( 7294 ) 100ft & 400ft rolls. Is there a manufacturing shortage of this stock ? Nobody seems to have any in the UK. John S 😲

35mm looks so much nicer and natural ( especially for human skin ) compared to what's shot on digital nowadays. Nice job Uli ! John S 👍

Hi All, Does anybody know how to get inside a Eumig Mini 3 Servofocus camera ? The shutter release button is stuck on and needs freeing up. There's no obvious way to open it up ( no screws visible ). Any help is most welcome Thank you, John S

Thank you for that Alexandre, very interesting to see actual frames with data included. Best wishes, John S

I know many H16's were modified for all sorts of scientific use, but has anyone ever seen one like this one ? ... and can anyone tell me anything about it ? The pictures were taken from a documentary about Donald Campbell ( land & sea speed record breaker ) during his land speed record attempt in the USA. The camera has a small 'magazine' attached to the rear which was seen to be removed after each run shot. John S

I wonder if the pressure plate isn't quite seated in properly ? John S

Dennis, why didn't the lab just ship everything back in their 400ft cans ?

The answer is no. Although a Bolex H8 uses 16mm wide film, 'normal' 16mm film is not quadruple perforated which a Standard 8mm camera requires. 16mm film is single perforated ( one edge ) or more commonly in the past, double perforated ( both edges ). Standard 8 ( 16mm film ) will have another set of perforations in between double perforated film. The space between each perforation is the equivalent to one frame height ( approximately ). The Standard 8mm format ( for cameras ) starts off as 16mm wide film which is exposed down one side to the end of the roll, turned over and exposed down the other side of the roll. After processing the film is slit down the middle and the ends ( which would be the middle of the roll ) is spliced together and spooled up as 8mm. John S ☺️

Hi James, See list below of all of our surplus Derek Jarman 16mm prints available for sale. ( there are multiple copies of some titles ). I've no idea which ( if any ) were shot on Super 8mm. 'The Last of England' 'The Garden' 'There We Are John' 'Pirate Tape' 'Sloane Square' 'In the Shadow of the Sun' 'Wittgenstein' 'Caravaggio' 'Edward II' 'Sebastiane' 'Jubilee' 'The Tempest' Many thanks, John S

No worries, but allow me a couple of weeks if that's ok. Cheers, John S

James, would it help if I got the film's titles for you ? John S

Hi James, Are there any particular Derek Jarman titles you're after ? We have some spare 16mm prints in our archive for disposal. Although I can't do anything urgently right now ( because of the imminent start of the Southend Film Festival ), I can check later on. Get in touch if interested. Cheers, John S

Eric, all labs running continuous film processors will replenish their tanks as film is being developed. As well as that, they'll run control strips ( sensitometrically exposed film ) to monitor the process and make adjustments if needed. It's a very precisely controlled action - and fine tuned as they go. This technique ensures the process is far more in tolerance ( in control ) than you'll ever see by eye yourself. It may surprise you to know most labs are using the 'same' chemicals they started with years ago ( but replenished and filtered all the time of course ). Some smaller operators ( usually those without professional laboratory experience ) may work by using 'single shot' chemicals. Those operators by definition cannot properly control their processing lines. John S 😊

This is a classic example of the shutter being out of phase ! ( the film has started to be pulled down before the shutter closed ) John S 🤕

Hi Fabio, I've just sent you an email. Cheers, John S

I for one love ALL aspect ratios. As long as you're composing for the frame, what's the problem ? Movies like 'The Deer Hunter' ( 2.39:1 ) and 'Singin' in the Rain' ( 1.375:1 ) look beautiful and are perfection in composition. John S 😉

Generally speaking 1.85:1 is a cinema format, whereas 16:9 is a television format. John S 😊

Sadly these would have deteriorated over the decades, but for the best results contact this specialist lab... Film Rescue International in Canada .... https://www.filmrescue.com/ The Ektachromes can still be processed but the Kodachromes can only be processed as B&W negatives. John S 😎

Slightly offtopic but related. Due to mishap, some archived early generation videotape British TV shows in colour were lost. Some time back, old B/W filmed distribution copies were discovered in an African TV broadcast station, in Nigeria I think. In playing them via modern telecine, it was discovered that traces of colour were appearing. Apparently the resolution of the film was just sufficient to have also captured the unique moire pattern of a PAL colour TV image which carries the colour information. With some R and D effort and the power of modern digital technology, it was apparently possible to recover in colour, the original coloured versions of the shows. Here's a wiki page on it .... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colour_recovery John S 😎

Aren, Search this forum for 'Elaine' ... there's plenty to read 😉 John S

Hi Andries, Just a small lab providing E-6 ( cine and stills ) and B&W ( stills only ) processing. No scanning though ! Best wishes, John S

Hi Volker, Thank you very much for getting in touch and othering your spare ST-1. Happily we found the ST-1 and it just needs fixing up. The box has a crack in it and one of the battery terminals needs gluing down, but it does work ! It's the main battery box that would be useful to have ( as a head-rest ). Thanks again, and best wishes, John S 😉

Thank you both for your advice. I'll pass them on 😉 Best wishes, John S

Does anyone have any recommendations for alternative ways of powering this camera ? A friend has just inherited one without the battery box. I assume it's nearly impossible to find a battery box nowadays. 😩 Cheers, John S

Thanks very much for that Charlie. The link is particularly useful ☺️ Cheers again, and all the best wishes, John S