Zac Fettig

Arri standard and Arri bayonet are slightly different. Arri bayonet mounts will take any Arri standard lenses, but not vise versa. Same bore. Arri bayonet partially replaced the Arri standard (late 60s, early 70s?). They were both replaced completely by Arri PL later on (early-mid 80s?).

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flange_focal_distance The distance from the lens mounting flange to the focal plane (where the film is) is called the flange focal distance. The Arri has a 52.0mm ffd. The M39 is 28.8mm. Because it's smaller than the camera's, you'll lose at least part of (possibly all) your focal range, if the adapter doesn't have optics to compensate for it (I've never used one of the Kilfitt adapters, so I don't know). How much depends on the lens.

Here's a link to the manual: http://www.apecity.com/manuals/pdf/leicina_super_rt-1_manual.pdf Page 25 says the auto exposure control works between 25 and 420 ASA. So it'll read the 500T as 400 speed. Not a huge issue, with modern negative film stocks.

For a while it was about the same. It's a little more these days (since Kodak's been jacking up prices). But it does end up costing about 33% more for 16mm than super 8. Assuming you're shooting enough to make the lab minimum charges for telecine. Assuming Kodak direct pricing, and current commercial rates at Cinelab, I figure super 8 will cost $58.96/50ft ($0.39/sec) and 16mm will cost $87.46/100ft ($0.52/sec). At 24 fps, you'll probably get about the same run time out of both. Your Mileage May Vary.

Most can be used on a stabilizer, if you can find one that can be balanced with such a small camera. Easier now than back in the day. I figure any DSLR stabilizer should be able to handle a Super 8 camera. Most commonly, you use a cable release. It was easily available, and well understood back then. Some cameras can be triggered with a simple electrical switch. I know the Canon 814 AZE and the Leicina Special can.

It's a great camera, but you might want to consider just letting it auto expose. the AZEs have a problem with the manual aperture. There is a rubber wheel inside the camera that controls it, and they tend to get brittle over time. So you set the aperture, and it starts to drift wildly all over the place. The auto aperture works differently, and tends to do a (reasonably) good job. Here's a link to a repair site (Japanese), if you're brave. For mine, I just live with it. Everything else on the camera works great, and I mostly shoot "run-and-gun" stuff on it, outdoors. http://www.nakanocam.com/8mm_page/canon814eeerepai.html

-18fps is standard. Pretty much all cameras can do this. -If you're manually metering, then any camera can take any stock. The cameras have built in light meters and will auto expose, but they have limitations. Most cameras will let you manually meter. -If you look around, and are patient, you can get almost any camera (except the Logmar or the VIC cameras) for that kind of money. -Interchangeable lenses for super 8 cameras are overrated. A few cameras come with C mounts, and the Leicina Special comes with an M mount. There isn't a lot of pro lenses that make a small enough circle to be really usable in super 8. For example, there were only 2 lenses made for the Leicina Special. And even in C mount, most of the lenses are for 16mm cameras, and will heavily crop the lens. This can be good if you have a large selection of 16mm lenses sitting around. The results are often better with interchangeable lens cameras, but mostly because they were the most expensive options out there. The higher end Canons/Nikons/Nizos with built in zooms often have very good performance. -Adjustable shutter angle is common, but highly overrated. Mostly used to do fade ins/fade outs. You can only approximate what the shutter angle will be. If you're trying to recreate the first five minutes of Saving Private Ryan (with the small shutter angle)... you'll need something more accurate. -Servo zooms on super 8 are also overrated, but common. It's not like a servo zoom on an ENG camera. Most of my cameras have them, but I never end up using them. -You don't want autofocus. Almost no cameras have it, and I don't know of any good autofocus systems made for ANY camera (including still cameras) until the 90s. It sounds like you want a Beaulieu 4008. C mount interchangeable lens. Frame rates from 1 to 70 fps. They did make a servo zoom: Schneider Kreuznach Optivaron f1.8 6-66 mm. Mostly go for a little more than your budget. It was a cinematographer's super 8 camera. Mirror reflex, not prism. Not the best if you want to hand-hold it, on sticks it's pretty good. Batteries are the biggest problem with the Beaulieus (weird size, dedicated battery), but there are several options for external power. http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Beaulieu_4008_ZM_2 There are places that sell verified working cameras. Be prepared to pay for it though. Du-all is a place to look. But they're not cheap.: http://www.duallcamera.com/store/Cameras_Super8mm.shtml I've actually had really good luck with buying cheap cameras off ebay. I set a low limit (say $40 not counting shipping) and bid on a few unqualified cameras. About 1/2 work as-is. 1/2 of the other cameras can be fixed with small stuff (like cleaning corroded contacts). Most of the cameras are quite old these days, so I expect them to need some work. I bought a Beaulieu 4008 ZM2 for $35 last year. Worked fine, except the grease got dirty and had gummed up the works; it badly needed to be cleaned. I got a Nikon R10 for $60, where a wire had broken in the handle (should have been an easy fix, but it's not).

It's been done: http://www.jiminger.com/s8/ http://www.truetex.com/telecine.htm I once scanned about 30 frames of Vision3 500T a while back. Took a full day. What a pain! You don't need the mask trays. You'll need a way to break it down into individual frames. Oh, and you're at the mercy of your scanner's resolution. The whole frame is only 0.036 in^2 (0.228" x 0.158"). At 600 dpi, you only get a 137x95 [pixels] image. You'd actually be better off setting a single strip at the top of the scanner to scan at very high resolution so you don't spend a lot of time/disk space scanning empty space

As far as I know, the fastest film available today is the Vision3 500T you're already planning on using. Which is plenty fast for most applications. In my experience, a 220 degree shutter (in my case I used a Sankyo LXL 255) will give better low light performance than a 155 degree shutter (Canon 814 Autozoom Electronic). It will give weaker performance everywhere else. Low light in my case meant I lit for f2.0 with Tri-X, for both cameras. You probably will get better images with a faster film in a 155 degree camera than a slower film with finer grain in a 220 degree camera. The 220 degree lens will let in about 15% more light. But 500T is 233% as sensitive as 200T. So all other things being equal, the shutter angle is not the deciding factor. The film sensitivity is.

Acetate film breaking is a good thing. It breaks before the camera does. Polyester film can destroy a camera mechanism. I'd go with a punch and die approach, instead of a knife. I kind of like the sewing machine idea, but what happens when the motor sparks in the dark room? And I wouldn't be too sure about the tolerances on a Beaulieu. There's a reason why they say "They don't make them like that anymore!" I mean, it's probably not tight compared to an Arri or Aaton... but it certainly is tighter than most anything you'll see these days. In general, the tolerances on perf dimensions are supposed to be +/- 0.01mm [0.0004"]. On a piece of bendy plastic, that needs to be cut in complete darkness.

Have you tried running a load of Fomapan through it? http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/927375-REG/foma_411801_fomapan_r100_2x_standard.html Don't get me wrong, I love the idea. And I would love to be able to run vision3 500T through my Bolex C8. But cutting accurate holes is a tricky proposition for only a few feet. I don't even know what to use for a blade holder or film guide (that wouldn't cost $$$).

It's an excellent article on starting out! It summarizes most of the issues related to buying a camera. Not sure I'd get a 514XL, but that's just me. The advice is sound. So, anyone on the internet who wants to know how to get started with Super 8... read this! It's a great take on getting started.

Telecine is your digitization. ( https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine) A telecine is the process of capturing the film to either tape or digital. These days, it usually means sending in a portable USB hard drive and having the lab transfer to that. Once you telecine the film, you can edit on Final Cut. You don't need it if you plan on editing reversal the old fashioned way (with tape and splices). You will need it if you shoot negative (I don't think the labs can make a color workprint in super 8 anymore, but I never really cared enough to look into it). About frame rates, you'd have to talk to the lab. My guess is you can scan to 18 FPS directly (I know I've done it in the past, but the last time I tried was to miniDV). Film will last longer at 18fps. Even if it's set to 24 FPS, you can always just adjust the timing in Final Cut. That said, I've always preferred the look of stuff shot at 24 FPS. I've never really seen a cost savings in buying a camera than can only do 18 FPS. There is a savings in the film cost (about 25%), but it was never worth the trade-off to me. Typically, the S8 shorts I've worked on tend to have about a 3:1 shooting ratio. So say an 8 minute short will need 24 Minutes of raw stock or 9 carts. Let's for arguments sake say you decide to shoot Tri-X (black and white reversal). That's $20.42/cart stock cost from Kodak or $21.95 from B&H [if you want color, that's gonna push it to $25.96-Kodak/$34.95-B&H for Vision3 200T]. $16.00/cart processing student rates from Cinelab. You'll need to get it telecine'd to edit it in a NLE (such as Final Cut). That's $0.27/foot student rate, best light ($100 minimum charge). So your cost breakdown is as follows: 9X $20.42 = $183.78 - Stock cost 9X $16.00 = $144.00 - Developing 9X50X $0.27 = $121.50 [Meets the minimum charge requirement] - Telecine For a grand total of $449.28. That's a realistic cost for an 8 minute B&W finished film, not including shipping costs ($499.14 for color). It IS affordable, but it isn't chump change, even for a working professional. That said, it isn't necessarily all up front costs. You can buy film as you go and pay the development as you shoot. The only part you'll have to pay all at once is the telecine, because of the minimum charges. I don't want to be discouraging, but this is what you'll run into as soon as you start shooting. When I was in school, that was the cost of 2 books. But it was more than I spent on food in a semester. For some people, it's nothing (its about the cost of a new video game console). For others, it's the difference between going to school and not going to school. When I was in college, I bought a super 8 camera, and was able to shoot 1 roll of film before I crunched the numbers and decided it wasn't practical to do it (it's gotten more expensive since then, Kodak jacked the rates WAY up). I've shot a bunch after I graduated. But you'll have to go over the numbers yourself and decide if it's something you can do. http://motion.kodak.com/motion/products/index.htm http://cinelab.com/ http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/search?atclk=Format_Super+8&ci=341&N=4093113313+4294955497

Keep in mind that a roll of film+processing+telecine will set you back about $60. With lab minimums, it doesn't make sense to do telecine until you have 8 rolls of film or so. It's not a cheap way to do experimental film while you're in college. Super 8 has a lot of awesome things going for it. Cost ain't one. If you want my advice: skip film until you graduate. Get something you can shoot with on the cheap: so you can shoot with it a lot. If you want something that's different... look for old video cameras. Heck, there was a huge interest in the PXL-2000 for a while in the 90s because it looked "different". All the Panasonic DVX-100Bs that were so in demand just a few short years ago are practically being dumped for pennies on the dollar. If you prowl ebay for a while, and are patient, you occasionally get a bargain. I got an Canon 814 AutoZoom Electronic for $23 once (still use it). But the actual costs of shooting are harder to keep down on a budget. Oh, and the AZE doesn't have a problem with the auto aperture. It's the manual aperture that tends to go (it's made of rubber and the cameras are all pushing 40 years old now).

I had to look it up. Wasn't sure if they meant Laszlo Kovacs or Andrew Laszlo. For the record, it's Laszlo Kovacs. It should have been obvious, since they were so close. Looks like an interesting documentary.

Canon PowerShot G series. G10, G11 or G12. Something like that. Probably a G10.

Learn something every day. I just remember watching that movie about a few years ago. I skipped ahead to the credits to find out who the DP was, as soon as I saw that scene. Took my breath away.

A $499 sales price isn't a difficult target to hit for production line manufacturing, even in high cost markets like the US, Germany or Japan. Heck, some children's toys are more complicated than a super 8 camera. Super exciting. Kodak has needed to do this for a long, long time. Although I supposed the Kodachrome court case (bundling film with prepaid mailers) from the 50s probably gave them pause.

Mexico yes, the US no. The bigger difference would be location. In Duluth, you take what Sears carries. In New York, you can get almost anything. Bolex would have been available almost anywhere (although high end). You'd have had to go to a camera shop (not a department store) to get one. They were more common back then then they are now. And most camera shops would have had special order books and could have gotten you whatever you want. A rich guys toy would have been fancier. The Kodak would have been a common choice for a working class family in the early 70s. Not really something a rich guy would have used to show off. Bolex 16mm or Beaulieu Super 8 sound about right.

Does it have to be super 8? I'm not aware of any super 8 film stocks faster than 200ASA in super 8 until '77. Almost all night clubs I've ever seen have terrible lighting. If he's shooting inside a nightclub, a Bell and Howell Filmo 16mm camera and some Kodak 4X film (400ASA) would be more plausable. For reference look up the film Peeping Tom (1960). The camera wouldn't be much larger. The nice thing with the filmo is that they made it from the 1920s into the 1980s (with design changes). They were common news footage cameras in WW2/Korea/Vietnam. A filmo 70DR with an Angenieux 25mm f0.95 lens would be reasonably availble in that time frame. And could probably shoot in a nightclub.

Not one of the best movies ever made, but the shot is among the most beautiful to ever grace the screen.

Did anyone ever make a software syncronizer? Like a plugin for Final Cut/Avid/Premiere? It should be straightforward conform the audio to the sync pulses (or pilotone if you're really lucky) on a second audio track. I mean, the frames are typically discrete. And the rate is constant (1 pulse every 4 frames on the Leicina Special). I'm guessing the waning popularity of Super 8 and rise of better digital cameras makes it too late now.

http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Main_Page Good place to research cameras. Sears catalogs would be a good place to start. That would be where most of America would have turned to buy cameras in that time period. Europe... I'm not as familiar with. But Sears would have been the place to have sold it in the 70s. High end stuff would have gone through specialty shops (camera shops). http://www.searscatalogsonline.com/ http://www.wishbookweb.com/ Sales figures would likely be difficult to find. Ditto production dates. Even the manufacturers aren't likely to have that information available these days. Best bet would be period magazines. Research is goig to have to be the old fashioned kind, slogging through libraries.

Dom, thank you for the instruction guide! Some S8 cameras do have the service manuals floating around. I have the service manual for the Beaulieu. (you can get it here: http://www.apecity.com/manuals/pdf/beaulieu_4008_repair_and_disassembly_service_manual.pdf) I've seen the service manual for the Nikon R10 for sale a few times. I don't even know if one exists for the Canon 814AZE (mine has rubber rot on the manual controls). I gave up on restoring manual aperture to that one, and just go auto most of the time I use it. http://www.apecity.com/manuals/. The big question is, what sort of features do you want to add? Alot of the cheap cameras are relatively easy to pull apart, but you might not be able to do much with them. I had similar ideas about adding a C-mount to an old GAF Ascomatic I had lying around. Wasn't really worth it in the end. As a side note, the GAF was VERY easy to get apart. But it's almost a toy. Or maybe I'm just spoiled by having so many wonderful S8 cameras on hand these days. I'm sure it was someone's treasured posession back in the 70s. But I have a shelf filled with cameras most people could only dream about back then... that probably cost me less all combined than that GAF cost when new!

It's not the disassembly that's difficult. It's putting it all back together! The Beaulieu 4008 is probably the easiest to service of the "real" cameras (it was the easiest of my cameras.. The best dissassembly tip is to get a copy of the service manual. Take your time and never force anything. Keep a camera on your workbench and take pictures.