Josh Gladstone

Hey Friedemann, I just watched your footage again at full resolution on my 4K TV at a distance of about 7' or 8', and I really was blown away all over again! It really is as sharp and clear and detailed as The Walking Dead (super16) or really anything on TV these days. (At least in the center of the frame, you can definitely feel it get soft around the edges, but that's obviously because the lenses weren't designed to shoot that wide). But also, the grain! I'd love to see something in ProRes, but it looks great from across the room! Really pleasant textures in the sky and grass especially. I'm really even more impressed than the first time I saw the footage. Too cool.

Al, also to your question about the Bauer Royal 10e, I've got one and it's an amazing camera. IF IT'S IN WORKING CONDITION. I should say I actually have a few models of Bauer Royal because it took me a few to find one that actually ran. For some reason, it seems Bauer Royals are extremely susceptible to battery leakage. But if you can find a working one, they have an absolutely incredible long exposure feature that I love. There is an entire second low-light light meter that flips out and keeps the shutter open until the light meter senses that enough light has reached the camera to make an exposure. Then it moves on. I made this with one: Anyway it's super cool as it is. But I've also always had a plan to use an Arduino and an LED to control that time lapse function and turn it into a truly customizable intervalometer. Should be pretty easy. One day! So in conclusion: great camera, if it works.

Wow, duh. Obviously you're totally right on the math. Although I did go back and look at some of my footage and I usually get 3:25-3:30 per roll. But yes 3:20 at 18fps would be the "advertised length." Thanks Mark!

Yes that film will work, but jeez is it expensive! That roll cost $20.42 from Kodak even after all the recent price hikes. B&H has it for $22 (http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/304351-USA/Kodak_1889575_7266_TXR464_Tri_X_Super.html). My local shop, Freestyle, has it for $24. (Kodak used to be very local for me. Sigh...)) One roll holds about 3600 frames (usually a little bit more), so that's about 200 seconds at 18fps, or 3 minutes and 33 seconds. Side note: Kodak has a film calculator if you ever need to figure out the length / running time of any amount of footage of any type. There's even an iPhone/Android app http://www.motion.kodak.com/motion/Templates/OpenFlash.aspx?path=/motion/uploadedFiles/US_plugins_flash_en_motion_filmCalculator.swf

Too cool

It's lucky that you have two, because you can compare and contrast. So when you put pressure on the drive, the gear it's connected to still spins. What about in the camera with the properly working drive? If it works differently, then that's probably the culprit. See how the gear is supposed to be attached in the good camera and then try to deduce the issue in the bad one. If it's plastic, maybe part of it has cracked? In which case you'll need to glue it back together (maybe) or get a new gear (from a parts camera or 3d print). Also, Andries said "the torque of the pick-up drive is no indicator of the motor condition. Its adjustment can be off so it can be strong or poor pull." and he knows what he's talking about, so if it's able to spin enough to move the film, this might not even be the issue at all. As for the focus ring, that one's sort of above my pay grade. I've only recently begun taking lenses apart, but never something like that. So I can't help you with that one, I'm afraid. Let us know what you figure out about the motor though!

I doubt it's burned out if it's spinning at all. But yeah it could be dying. Or it could be bad wiring causing the motor to not get enough voltage. Could be a gear slipping. Could just need to be lubricated. Hard to say, really. You're sure the batteries are good? Has the battery compartment always been clean, or was there corrosion at some point?

On the one that tears perfs, does the internal take-up drive spin inside the camera without any film?? What about if you put a little pressure on it with your finger? I think if that isn't spinning, the only thing advancing the film would be the pulldown claw, which will tear right through the film if it isn't continuously fed through the system.

I'm pretty sure Pro8 does not do Nikons. Just Canons and Beaulieus, I think. There was a thread on here recently of someone asking about R10 repairs, but I don't think anyone could come up with a name for anybody who does it. Which sucks. I'm not sure what I'll do when mine stops working. I can't even find a repair manual anywhere! I do seem to recall that all the screws are located under the leatherette covering, which I think is next to impossible not to destroy when peeling it up. But of course I've never tried. Hopefully someone else will have some more information for you. Sorry I couldn't help more. The Nikon's one of the few cameras I've never had to open up.

I've got a Spectra IV for cine, which is very trustworthy if a bit bulky, but I can certainly recommend it. For photography, I usually carry around an old GE PR-1 which is great because it's small, fits in my pocket, and uses a selenium cell, so no batteries required. The downside is that it's not very sensitive and has very few settings (definitely not to be used for cinematography). So I've been messing around with Arduinos for the past year or two, and one day I was out taking photos and I got curious about the possibility of making a small, accurate, and cheap light meter. So I gave it a shot, and now I'm basically done! I just got a small 3d printer and I'm working on the case, but that's pretty much the last step. Here's a video I made a few weeks ago: It's got some more functions now, but as you can see it does a range of shutter speeds, from 1/3000 second to minutes and does include many cine speeds. And of course I can add any speeds I want to the firmware. I've still got to put it all in a case and then calibrate it / test it for accuracy, but all the components and everything cost probably around $15-20. So if you're a tinkerer, it can be done for really cheap!

From what you describe, it certainly sounds like a problem with the eyepiece adjustment. It sounds like the diopter lens is loose and rattling around freely in there, when it should remain in place and only moved when the diopter adjustment is used. It is absolutely a critical component of focusing and would explain your issues. Now, I've never opened an R10, myself. Mine is working fine for now (knock on wood), but I would imagine that repairing the diopter would be one of the easier repairs to make. I've done it on other cameras. It just depends how the mechanism works and what, if any, parts are broken. It's up to you whether you want to return or repair it.But if you want to test the camera functionality, you can still shoot with it! Just set the focus based on distance measurements for now and shoot a roll. When you get it back, you can see if everything else is functional and then decide whether or not you want to return or repair it.

Neat! I dig it. So how exactly did you rip the shutter out?

Are they doing film prints for anything domestic anymore?

It is film and you CAN put in a projector. But if you do and project light through it, you'll be looking at inverted images (in terms of levels and colors, not upside down). Super 8 film used to be reversal film, which after processing came out as a positive. Color reversal film is hard to come by these days, although b/w is still readily available. The downside of reversal film is that your original camera negative -- the film that came out of the camera -- is the film you look at, and by doing so, you're going to introduce dust and scratches. This is why negative film is used, so that duplicates can be made and the original doesn't get damaged. (Negative film also has more dynamic range and is sharper, which is why it's better for scanning.) Unfortunately, prints for super 8 negative film is pretty much unheard of. Although there is one place in Germany that does it if you're interested: http://www.andecfilm.de/en/e_s8_neg_pos.htm

I wasn't really sure where to post this, but this has been a new little project of mine, so I'm just going to post it here in case there's any interest in it. I've been building a small Arduino-based light meter, and I'm close to being done. Here's a video:

Just want to add, semi-unrelatedly, that Soy Cuba is one of the most incredible films ever made.

Exactly.

From what I've heard, they work pretty well. They were announced at a time when there seemed to be a glut of cine cameras aside from the Red, but it took a long time to get into production, and now it feels like there's a new camera out every week.

Basically, you can't. Not for long periods of time without a crystal sync camera. The best you can do with a non-sync camera is to have a sync marker at the head and tail of the take, be it a clapper slate or just someone clapping their hands. Then in post, you sync the two markers and hope that everything in between lays in properly. This will work okay for takes of a few seconds, but after that the sync will noticeably drift. If you're looking to shoot 45 minutes of dialogue-heavy interview footage, you're probably not using the right camera.

Right, this. It very well could be a timing issue, but I'm not sure about how the sr3 works, so I'm not sure it's possible for mags to cause movement timing issues. But that said, it's a safe bet that the mag needs servicing. I definitely wouldn't use that one again without having it looked at. This is why you name your mags and record that info on the camera report. If it were me, curiosity would get me so the first thing I'd do is get some dummy stock, load that mag up, and run it open. See if anything is weird. You can also check the timing by making a mark on the film with a sharpie as it's in the gate, then advance one frame and see if the mark is still there. It should be gone since that frame should be advanced while the shutter is covering it. And again, since the other mags performed properly, it might not be the timing as I'm not sure that's possible on an sr3.

How many different mags were you using? Have you used the mag that this roll was in before? Did you notice if the camera was any noisier while you shot that roll?

Ah, I misread. That makes more sense. Good!

Wow, nobody prints 16mm in europe anymore? That sucks. But I guess it shouldn't be surprising.

You could also try a watch repair shop or possibly a jeweler. They'd probably have a screw of the same size.

http://nofilmschool.com/2013/12/nolab-digital-super-8-cartridge-make-film-cameras-go-digital I don't think it ever went beyond concept because, honestly, what's the point?