John Hyde

Ferrania should have put more into releasing their film much sooner to help establish it. Now they have almost no chance to successfully introduce a vastly inferior product going head to head against Kodak Ektachrome. Ferrania film will probably be more expensive with too few resources to help them improve it. Hopefully, Ferrania will have options to repurpose their equipment. Perhaps they can help Kodak introduce their Ektachrome in other formats that Kodak can no longer address (assuming Ferrania has the perforators and slitters on hand). Or, they might cut a deal with Fuji to reformat and load Provia that can better compete with Kodak quality.

Spectra does a great job on Foma and ORWO. Regular Kodak Tri-X looks amazing and very clean. They have their own chemical formulation which combines a bit of new and old ideas for excellent results on all fronts.

An example of professional level processing at one of the better film labs: http://www.vimeo.com//78943505 You can see the equipment used is very high end. The film is pulled through temperature controlled chemistry tanks on a series of drive rollers. Chemical turbulation with a series of corrosion resistant pumps keeps the color and exposure even over the entire film surface. Specially filtered RO and DI water must be used to keep the end product clean. At only .21 cents per foot for 16mm and 17.00 per roll for super 8, having someone like Spectra do all the developing work with expensive chemistry and machines seems like a real bargain. Clearly, trying to do this at home is much more expensive to set-up while obtaining only subpar results. Motion picture home developing is only attempted by those who have a passion for it and do not care if it will cost much more. Their processing flaws may actually be part of the art that they are trying to achieve. While motion picture film is very difficult and expensive to deal with, developing still film has better potential. This is because the film strands are much smaller and there is no REM backing to remove.

The enhancements to the Logmar footage are very impressive. Some impressions: 1. Left side of picture is soft with some lens vignette. 2. Light path appears unusually dusty around the edges. 3. Odd gyration of image (possibly due to camera or transfer). 4. Image appears electronically enhanced. Sharpening, grain reduction and dust removal enhancements likely applied (Neat Video?). Overall, due to the well done enhancements, it is some of the cleanest looking super 8 I have ever seen. Probably as close as we will ever get to making super 8 look like digital video. However, I have seen raw footage from other cameras like Beaulieu, Nikon or Canon look as good or better. Corner to corner sharpness could use some improvement. That being said, building a camera from scratch is no easy task and I respect Logmar for their efforts.

Marvin at Photocenter in Los Angeles will fix Nikon cameras along with just about anything else. 323-653-6688

Nearly 6K for a super 8 camera and lens?? Ridiculous! I would rather get one of the many Aaton or Arri super 16 cameras people are dumping for half the price! This is not the 90's anymore when film equipment and services could fetch sky-high prices! Logmar should either sell direct or find additional "film-maker friendly" distributors for a more competitive market.

Hey Perry, You can almost certainly improve upon the cheap nicads that Pro8mm provides in their packs. If you are out in cold weather, you should keep the batteries stuffed in your jacket to keep them as warm as possible. Nicad performance will suffer greatly in cold weather! Also be sure to have the camera looked at to see how much power it draws under load. It may need fresh lubrication.

I've done commercial 16 and super 8 done at Spectra on their Spirit with great results. Beautiful, crisp pictures from their custom Spirit super 8 gate. The 16mm - every bit as good as much more expensive places I have tried. You should check out the samples on their website.

I actually found these images to be quite dreamy and beautiful. That includes the dirt, grain and scratches! This is the kind of stuff that digital can never emulate.

To clarify, Alex, the jobs on Spectra's site are not my own. But, I understood that they were captured with very mild compression (Apple Pro Res HQ) for improved workflow. This is excellent for broadcast HD or internet. You will not see any difference in these situations. And, a bit of compression actually helps smooth things out in some cases. I myself usually take the 10-bit uncompressed route for maximum flexibility (in case material is used for a blow-up or other purpose). I'm usually a bit on the overkill side. I can also say that negative film is like a whole new world on the Spirit. It is nothing like what you have seen on a Rank/Millennium/C-Reality. Spirits produce much less noise and the highs are smooth and beautiful. This is party of the reason why all the post houses phased out Ranks years ago in favor of Spirits. As seen from the Spectra samples, you can still get a reversal look from negative when desired.

Just had a Spirit HD transfer done at Spectra (mostly 200T neg) and I can say it was worth the wait. Their new 8mm HD transfer work is clearly superior to any Spirit, Shadow or Millennium HD facility I have used thus far. Obviously they take their time with the color. Pictures are crisp (as 8mm can be), standing up much better to compression. My material holds up quite well when viewed on a large HD screen. I now plan to shoot more 8 and 16 on future jobs. They recently put some of their jobs up for viewing: http://spectrafilmandvideo.com/Telecine.html

I would not worry too much about what Kodak charges for super 8. I understand they maintain a 60 - 80% margin on all their motion picture products. As they continue to cut labor costs and become a more efficient company, they should consider lowering their prices to try to help maintain or grow their customer base. I try to use film as much as possible because I love the look and want to continue to offer Kodak and the labs who process film the support. Admittedly, the cost of Kodak's film and their chemicals used for development make film too expensive for many projects. If Kodak were to lower the cost of these key components by thinning out their margins, film could be viable for film lovers who have a bit of wiggle room in the budget. Film will not ever regain its original status, but it still has a chance to dig in and hold on to a reasonable chunk of market share if Kodak plays their cards right.

Actually, Cinelicous provides less than 1/2 the resolution of the dedicated gate Spectra is building. Since a Spirit 16 gate at Cinelicous is used to focus 8mm down to a much smaller size on the capture chip they can only get 860 pixels (a far cry from 1920 pixels in HD). You dont get the true HD resolution if you are not using the entire chip surface. The dedicated Spectra gate focuses super 8 down with proper optics onto the chip to use maximum chip surface area for a full 1920 pixels. Explanation on Spectras site: http://spectrafilmandvideo.com/Telecine.html With Spectra's new Spirit and gate the game will change. The colorist I have worked with at Spectra does excellent work - as good as any hi-end facility that I have tried for super 8 or 16. So they should be on par from that stand point. But, my real hope is that we will see more competition and lower rates as companies like Spectra upgrade to HD.

WOW! Very entertaining! All I can say is you must have a lot of time on your hands.

I agree that experience matters. My point is that Spectra has that experience without the expensive fluff and attitude. You just don't need it to make a transfer better. Nor do clients (the money people) appreciate it in this economy. I have been to Spectra to supervise my session and they know how to work that DaVinci board as good (if not better) than any high-end facility I have been to. Plus, they are pleasant to deal with and able to follow my detailed creative pass instructions without the typical colorist attitude I have seen elsewhere. Although Spectra has a cool looking space, they lack the money for exclusive designer furniture, receptionist babe and other things that just do not matter to me or my clients. Today, the name of the game is about saving money while getting the “look” and the overpriced facilities closing down all over LA reflect that. Fluff is simply passe. If I can save a hundred bucks an hour for the same picture, I’ll bring my own latte. :D

In my experience cushy furniture, big spaces and arrogant colorists never made any of my transfers look better. I’ve been there and know all about transfer house “fluff”. Don’t have the money or time for it. In the end, it always comes down to the picture and cost. For my two cents, Spectra’s transfers tend to outshine the more expensive houses when I work in SD. So, there is no question they have the talent and take more time without charging me extra. I look forward to seeing what they can offer in HD.

Err... yes I would agree. The clip looks as though significant aperture correction (sharpening) was applied to make it look sharper than it really is. As a result picture may have some noise mixed in with the grain. I only hope the unsteady picture is a result of the camera and not the telecine transport. Sorry to say, not as impressed as I should be.

Hi James, The camera you have sells on Ebay in the unopened box for about $40.00. So i imagine you might get $30.00 or a bit less for one in very good condition. These cameras are a bit flimsy and the price reflects it. Pro8mm has bought these in droves only to slap their infamous "Kinoflex" nameplate on and sell em for big bucks.

Pro8 may have a somewhat decent scanner, but the people behind it are cheats and liars who could care less about a struggling film maker and their project. Besides, Pro8 uses old tube technolgy for their HD machine because they are less expensive to buy. Tube machines produce noisier, softer pictures compared to CCD based Spirit Datacine telecines. If someone else in LA were to get a Spirit to run affordable 16 and super 8 transfers leaving Pro8 behind forever would be an absolute no-brainer. They better hope that never happens.

Unfortunately, still missing some of the great classics: "Why I Miss Santo" and "Pro8mm Film Rip-off" Huge readership on these topics and more that did not make the list! Hope we get the chance to re-cap all the good times. Where did Santo and Alex go anyways?

Ha! I Knew it!! They have always been wishy-washy about revealing the truth! I myself asked them numerous times and was unable to get a forthcoming response. Others either writing film articles or from the forums have also gotten misleading or no response. Only now do they admit the truth publicly. I notice the announcement seems to make it a point to mention "3 years". They probably had to wait for some 2 or 3 year statute of limitation law to kick in to avoid getting sued. Pro8 is just the worst when it comes to fair and honest customer relations!

I for one have plenty of experience with Pro8mm. They are crooks - period. Stay away from them if you want to keep your film safe and your money in the bank. They sell a refurb Canon Autozoom for 800 bucks! I know of several more reputable places that will sell the same refurb camera under $400.00. They also sell on Ebay for under $200.00 with shipping. I have processed film with Pro8 and can say without question that it is the worst out there (very dirty). Yet they have the gall to say they are the best with their B.S. Kodak "quality assurance" award. In fact. any lab can easily get this award without a single on-site visit. Pro8mm greed tactics (they think of a fee for EVERYTHING) only serve to sway shooters into using digital instead of film. It is the other companies out there that put in the effort to keep them coming back. I only hope they will prevail to keep shooters into film a while longer. Many other reasons not to use Pro8mm. Too many to list.

Pro8 are nothing but crooks. There are much better alternitives for good super 8.

FINALLY! We have fresh Kodak brand 500T Vision 3 in super 8. I called Spectra to confirm. They have it in stock!: http://spectrafilmandvideo.com/Film.html Kodak rocks! No more buying inferior converted crap from other suppliers! SWEEEEET! ;)

Hey Ryan, Nice work. I like the sepia look with tinted edges. Excellent.