Aaron Martin @ OH

Bill, Quick question before you close this thread: Is the lab you're using conforming your 16mm negative, or are you (or the lab) sending it out of house? Either way, would you mind sharing who is conforming the negative for you? Thanks, Aaron

Hi, I've been away from shooting super 8 film for five years, and this summer I'm jumping back in. None of the projects that I previously used super 8 on have required sync sound, but one of my upcoming projects might and, even if it doesn't, I'd like to try shooting some sync sound tests. Can anyone on the forum recommend some best practices for shooting sync sound with super 8? For the project I have in mind I'll need to shoot an interview for about 45 minutes and maintain sync across multiple cartridges of film. I'd also like to be able to shoot handheld footage following a subject who is wearing a microphone. Can anyone on the forum recommend some best practices for shooting sync sound with non-sync super 8 camera? Thanks! Aaron

The thickness of the film stock is definitely an issue. Black and white film (which is thinner than color stock) shows less jitter than color, but the vertical movement is still present. I'll investigate the spring in the pressure pad and see what that leads to.

I don't know what's causing that jitter/vertical movement, but it's driving me nuts. I've done everything to this camera and the problem just will not go away. I have discovered the the jitter is much worse with color film than with black and white, leading me to believe that the problem is has something to do with the strength or operation of the spindle turning the take up spool. Any thoughts? Thanks, Aaron

Hi - I ran a 100' roll of Ultrafine's Xtreme 100 still camera film through my old DeVry camera. You can see the results by following the link below: https://vimeo.com/104152613 Thanks, Aaron

Hello, I'm considering shooting Orwo's 16mm UN 54 stock for a short film. I'll be using a Normal 16 Bolex and I was wondering if anyone had any examples of scanning this stock at 2K and then doing a 1.78 extraction. If you've got some examples could you please share them with me? Thanks, Aaron

Hello - Today I found seven super 8 cartridges of Kodak 200t in the darkest recesses of my freezer. These cartridges were purchased in 2009 and have been refrigerated and then frozen ever since. I want to shoot a short project with this film, but I'm wondering how much fogging/graininess I can expect with film of this age. Any ideas? I also seem to remember that cartridges manufactured around this time had a defect where the film was improperly wound causing it to stick during shooting. Does anyone else remember that and do you think my cartridges will more likely to stick because they were frozen? Thanks for your help, Aaron

Kevith, Thanks for the recommendation. I will contact him. Aaron

Steve, I've been following that thread and it prompted me to start this one. Aaron

Bill - I'm in Detroit. Aaron

Hello - Does anyone know who is still conforming negative in the US? I have a 35mm project coming up this fall that I would like to take straight through a photochemical post and I'd like to talk to a few conformers before I get started. Better yet, if you're a negative cutter in the US and you're looking for new business could you please contact me using the link below? Thanks! Aaron http://www.sn2708.com/contact/

Hello - My beloved Bolex RX-1 is having some motor issues, and so I am writing to ask for some advice in diagnosing the problem before (or if) I send it off for repair. When shooting tests today I noticed that my camera sounded like it was struggling to move film through the gate, almost like it was jammed. I opened the camera and found that the film was not jammed, and there did not appear to be any damage to the film itself. I continued shooting and the problem persisted, and seemed to get worse as more film was wound onto the take-up reel. At the end of the reel the camera was really struggling and even stopping. I ran the camera dry and it is definitely slowing (currently running around 33 seconds per wind at 24fps) but will run through an entire wind of the spring. The slowing seems to start when the spring is about 2/3 unwound, or when it has run about 10 feet of film. The camera obviously needs fixed, but before I send my camera off can anyone give me some advice on what should ask the tech to look at. The camera is due for a full CLA but I'm thinking the problem goes a little deeper than what that will solve. I thought maybe the spring has a flat spot on it, but that doesn't account for the motor completely stopping. Thanks for your help. I'm happy to answer any questions you may have if it will help diagnose the problem. Aaron

I highly recommend sending the film to Tommy. I do this with all of my factory new stock and ends. He'll not only spool the film down but do a snip test of each reel as well. Aaron

Yep -- R100. Here's the original post: http://www.apug.org/forums/archive/index.php/t-119664.html Foma's Czech site lists 35mm stock as being available in "long roll lengths." http://www.foma.cz/en/catalogue-fomapan-r-100-detail-273 I have a DeVry camera, which has a simple claw mechanism, so this stock would be very useful to me. I've looked all over and just can't find anyone who stocks bulk loads of R100.

John - You could easily purchase a DeVry camera for less than the cost of a rental. There are several for sale on eBay right now. Aaron

Does anyone know if there are Foma R100 in available in 100' 35mm rolls in the US? I've seen reports on other forums of folks buying this stock in bulk rolls but I cannot find anyone who sells it. Any ideas? Thanks, Aaron

Hello - I'm in the process of finishing up a documentary that I shot last year. I'm almost at picture lock and it's time for me to start thinking about color correcting and grading my project. My film was shot on two different film stocks, Kodak's 50D 7203 and 500T 7219. Both films were processed normal and were given a flat pass telecine on a Baselight system to HD ProRes422HQ files. I've tried some correction tests with this footage and I am having a devil of a time getting everything to balance out. The transfer is obviously lacking in contrast, and when I try to correct that it knocks the color and saturation all out of whack. According to the scopes I am using (inside color and FCP) I have to drop the blacks way down and stretch the whites and the midtones way up in order for the spread to register correctly. In fact, it seems to take too much correction to add contrast to my footage. Is this the case? Am I doing to do much? I'm turning to you guys for some help and advice. Right now I'm not worried about grading the footage - just correcting it so it doesn't look flat. Below are some screen grabs from my project which should give you a good idea of what I'm dealing with. If you have any suggestions or comments please feel free to share them with me. I'm also happy to provide more screen grabs or answer any questions if you think it will help. Here's some shots from the 50D footage, all take in full sun around f16. http://www.flickr.com/photos/25291579@N00/9007383279/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/25291579@N00/9007384281/ Here's some shots for the 500T footage. Two were shot under fluorescent light at around f2, the last was shot using a practical tungsten fixture at around f4. http://www.flickr.com/photos/25291579@N00/9007385761/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/25291579@N00/9008568480/ http://www.flickr.com/photos/25291579@N00/9007388485/ I should mention that these screen grabs appear much darker than my actual footage. The blacks are not as strong in the 7219 footage as shown here, but they are very strong in the 7203 footage and these stills make them look even darker. I should also mention that this project will most likely be corrected using Apple's Color. Thanks in advance for your help, Aaron Martin

Dom, Thanks for your reply. Based on your suggestions I reexamined my camera and I'm now fairly certain that there is something that is keeping the spring from moving, perhaps the gears you mention. How can I fix this? I do value my wind-up camera but I value my eyeballs and fingers more. Can I safely remove parts of this camera without having the spring fly out at me? Thanks again, Aaron

Hi. After many years of faithful service my beloved B&H 240ee up and croaked. I wound the spring, released the trigger, it whirred a little and then nothing. I had originally though the camera had jammed, but when I opened the door all was well. Here's the thing: everything on the camera will still move properly, except the spring. When I release the trigger I can turn the sprocket wheel by hand (not freely, there is some resistance) and this will in turn move the spindle for the take-up reel. My question is, what happened? My guess is that there is something between the trigger and spring that won't release the spring. Does anyone have any thoughts on this? I'm especially interested to know if my camera can be repaired or if I an now the proud owner of a paperweight. Thanks for your help. I'm happy to answer any questions if it will help find an answer to my problem. Aaron