Heikki Repo

Wittner Cine Tech (http://www.wittner-kinotechnik.de) sells Ektachrome 100D (they have rather large quantity of it left) and they also are soon going to introduce Velvia 100 and Agfa Aviphot 200D to super-8, both reversal stocks.

Here's one frame http://www.peaceman.de/temp/Schmalfilmtitel-01-13.jpg from test footage by Friedemann Wachsmut, also featured on the latest issue of Schmalfilm. Looks quite nice I think :)

Steve, have you seen this http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=58995 ?

Matt, if you have the chance to buy film now, you could save a lot by buying Fuji stock. Have you seen http://www.filmstockclearance.com/ ? 400ft rolls for only 42 dollars per piece (excl. VAT). For about 500 dollars you could buy the film needed (4:1) if you act now and if it's possible for you to shoot either in daylight or light using HMIs. It won't really get cheaper than this, taking in to account that the film sold is in date and only overstocked.

How long is the act? How much footage are you going to have? If it's a feature, I'd say the cheapest option is to have cheap SD onelight telecine done for all of the 16mm footage. Have it transferred with exact timecode. Cut the portion shot on film using this material and then do HD telecine or 2K scan according to the timecode. This way the transfer costs will stay low as you won't be needing the high end machinery and colorist all the time, only for the portions you really need. Forget negative cutting. If you are going to have 35mm print you'll be doing it from digital master files and not optically. And it's also cheaper.

One lab more might come (to Finland). Depends on how large the minimum order for the print film with super-8 perforations is at Kodak. But we'll see -- my friend has on the to-do list before that starting the processing business and building the 2K scanner. After that print making services should follow, at least 16mm contact prints and blowups from s8 but hopefully s8 contact prints as well!

If I'm correct, this is the same emulsion that is offered by Maco as Rollei CR200 -- so yes, it is available as still film stock: http://www.macodirect.de/35mm-c-416_417_419_400_454.html

We finished one year ago a documentary of 30' length. It cost us about 7000 EUR (incl. music and very nominal payments to our crew) and we shot it using EX3. We had a crew of four, of which there was usually only three or two people present (dop, me=director, ad). Some parts I as the director shot myself. Considering that the subject wasn't the best setup for a documentary (four different people and their lives) I think we managed it quite well. And if that was manageable, what you are doing is even more so. :) The trailer is here: https://vimeo.com/35472811 PM me if you want to see the whole thing.

Ah yes, sorry, originally I did notice the 55 GBP but somewhere along this thread it had become 55 Euros ;) Anyway, I wasn't aware of the customs relationship between EU and Turkey. I googled a bit about it, and this is what I found: That means there won't be the 4% customs duty of small gauge film, but the VAT has to be paid. However, even then it is quite much cheaper than buying from within EU. Nice. On the other hand, if one owns 16mm cine camera, one might be tempted to buy some Fuji film even for shooting home films: http://www.filmstockclearance.com ;)

It certainly isn't surprising that many hobbyists have been afraid that they won't be able to shoot color at all due to the price hikes. If shooting super-8 wasn't cheap before, it's much worse now. When buying inside EU, the cost of one cartridge of any color S8 VAT included is about 25 EUR. That's 10 EUR / minute of unprocessed film. And only one year ago I paid 15 EUR / cartridge of Vision3... I hope that the Agfa stock Wittner is about to offer will be cheaper because it would be a shame to lose the hobbyists who want to document the growth of their children....

And that's 55 Euros before VAT and customs and postage. I have been wondering about ordering directly from Kodak as well. While they might not sell to individuals, maybe they might sell smaller amounts to companies? Does anyone else know what's the Kodak policy here in Europe?

I watched Hobbit on Monday -- in plain good ol' 2D. I was surprised how good it looked, originating from Epics and being shot for 3D and 48 fps. Got to say, when it comes to telling a story, Jackson really knows what he is doing. Great experience. I guess I'll try to watch it in 48 fps if I get the chance but I wouldn't be too surprised if it becomes at the same time the first and the last 48 fps film I go watch. I like motion blur and 24 fps ;)

Just for the record, Wittner is at the moment testing another color reversal film for use in super-8 and 16mm. Should the tests be successful, Wittner will be bring Agfa Aviphot 200D (polyester base) to 16mm 1R, 2R and super-8. There's a still from this new filmstock on the cover of the next issue of Schmalfilm http://www.schmalfilm-online.de/news/Neue+Super_8_Filme+kommen/1346 and for the news go to Wittner's news (in German): http://wittner-kinotechnik.de/neu/news2013.php#20130205-1 While polyester certainly isn't the base to choose for shooting with high speed 16mm cameras, I wonder if it's more suitable for 8mm work. After all, single-8 material was to my knowledge on polyester base as well...

A Finnish example: from Star Wreck (amateur stuff, 8 years in production, budget of about 15 000 Euros) http://www.imdb.com/...2566/?ref_=sr_1 to Iron Sky (multinational production, budget of about 7.5 million Euros) http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1034314/ Most of the features produced here in Finland have budgets between one and three million Euros.

Thanks Gregg and Jean-Louis, I think I'll take the Switar route, that way the look will be more consistent I hope -- and Switars are at least a little closer to my shoebox budget and more available here in Europe than other cine lenses, it seems. While being ill suited for follow focusing, their lightness is something that I do like. Now I just have to find new enough non-reflex Switars... :)

Thanks Jean-Louis, In fact I do own Switar 25mm but it doesn't fit because part of it protrudes from the back of the lens, from behind the threading. Do you know, is there a version of this lens which doesn't have this problem? Thanks, Heikki

Hello everyone, for some time now I have been trying to find answer to this question of mine. Unfortunately despite all googling around and searching this forum and other forums with a dedicated base of filmshooters, I haven't been able to find answers that'd help me forward. Now then, to describe the setting: I own an Eclair ACL (R16). In my possession are also following lenses (all C-mount lenses non-reflex): Kern Switar 10mm, Kern Yvar 75mm, Som Berthiot Cinor 20mm, Som Berthiot Cinor 25mm and Angenieux 9.5-57mm (non-HEC) zoom. I own two adapters for mounting Arri S lenses to this camera. The question I have been wondering is what options do I have concerning the lenses. I'd like to have a set of good primes, but ultimately my question is, are there cheap primes that would be sharper than the Angenieux zoom I already own but at the same time still cheap? I have no idea of the quality of the Cinors I own (but I suspect not too good since I got them for free with the Bolex I own..). I also own a good set of Olympus OM Zuikos and an adapter could be bought, but then again -- can 35mm still lenses compete with the Angenieux I own? I also wonder about the look different lenses have. The 10mm Switar seems to be quite good lens and from some examples I have seen I do like the way it draws. Should I want to build a set of lenses around that look, what options do I have? So to sum it up: 1) Are there cheap primes for Eclair ACL? 2) If there are, are they any better than Angenieux 9.5-57mm? 3) Should I want to have (cheap) primes that make image that can be cut with Switar 10mm images, what lenses should I look for? Many thanks in advance and sorry for the frustration this topic might cause -- I know the space between the two (cheap and better than) is quite narrow but that's exactly why I'm turning to you who have more experience than I do! ;)

Greg, I'm aware of Les Bosher. The services he offers (and at what prices!) seem wonderful. If I had the funds I'd certainly convert my ACL to S16 and buy PL adapter. Regarding the lubing -- I wasn't given detailed explanation, but the tech told that lubing could be done to Eclair, but that he doesn't suggest it, because then there would be the risk that the lube would become stiff in cold (this is Finland, so we have had our share of -20 C, even one day -26 C during this winter. Mostly though just -8 to -16 C).

I contacted our local rental house and their tech for details concerning servicing my Eclair ACL. They serviced the camera I now own some decade or one and a half ago for the owner before me. Their answer? Not worth the cost. Estimated that if the camera was serviced some ten years ago (and removed from use in a working state) it'd run just fine the next two decades. Didn't think that lubing was a good idea either even if possible, because that might increase problems when shooting in cold. What I could gather from the answer was that at least Eclair ain't so fragile as a LTR. Sure, I have to run some tests to test the stability of the mags, but that's not bad. And if I ever have some really important footage to capture, I think I'm just better off renting a camera with PL mount and some lenses to fit it (vs. shooting with an old Eclair and C-mount lenses!).

I'd vote for renting as well. The thing is, unless you have lots of commercial projects, there is no point in owning an expensive video equipment. The only cameras I own are either film cameras or really old video cameras for some specific look -- I have gotten them for quite little money and they don't lose value the same way video cameras do. Video cameras are best rented: you get the newest thing and it won't be sitting on your shelf waiting to become obsolete and lose value. If you must buy some video equipment for occasionally taking video around the town, buy Canon 550D. It's cheap, the memory for it is cheap and you get to buy cheaper lenses for it. Here's some work I shot for a client last May with a rented 550D+Zacuto finder+50mm+shoulder set (I also had follow focus, but the 50mm lens didn't work with it so I didn't use it): https://vimeo.com/41726339

According to some sources the decision to cut E-6 film was made by people not in Kodak but by people steering the process of Kodak emerging from chapter 11 -- that is, a control group. Apparently the price changes were also driven by them. Sad for E-6, but if this helps the company to return and keep manufacturing film, it's far better option than Kodak stopping all film business.

For something dead, I surely enjoyed loading my Eclair ACL yesterday. In the other news, a friend of mine has almost finished building his 16mm film processing unit (some video footage http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wLM9-F370bU http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SfV_p-mijwM 2K scanner with Kodak CCD under construction by the same guy. So, as long as somebody is manufacturing 16mm film, this process certainly ain't dead for us. ;)

"Fuji says the discontinuation date has not been determined. Products to be eliminated include Color Positive Film, Color Negative Film, B&W Positive/Negative Film, Intermediate Film, Sound Recording Film, and High Contrast Panchromatic Film. But the company says it isn’t closing the entire motion picture department. It will continue to provide archive film stock (ETERNA-RDS, which won the Academy Scientific Engineering Award in 2012), lenses for shooting cameras and screening devices, media for data storage, digital data archive services and its on-set color management system (Image Processing System IS-100)." http://www.deadline.com/2012/09/fuji-discontinue-motion-picture-products/

They'll be continuing the production, but they are looking for a buyer. And to be honest, I think this might be the best thing to happen to Kodak still film -- this way there is at least the possibility that some smaller company dedicated to film business will buy it and take good care of it. Under current Kodak CEO there are no great things promised for film: it's printers and commercial printing he sees as the future of Kodak. So I for one hope for the best -- something that happened to Ilford bw films (was bought by Harman and is now thriving). And yes: commercial film doesn't include any still film. Only such things as medical films, aerial photography, and industrial imaging.

I can assure you there are such people involved in Lumiera process. The reason for the website to look like it was made for engineers instead of artists is to make sure no useless hype is generated. There really isn't point in having large quantities of people rushing in asking "is this ready yet" and have them disappointed when the project is proceeding the pace it can with people doing it on their own time. But I certainly like it that way. There are way too many websites made by artists who have no idea about coding. They give grandiose promises and never deliver them. In comparison to that engineer-oriented developer page is exactly what is needed until it is finished.