Stewart McLain

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odyssey https://www.amazon.com/Story-Film-Revised-Mark-Cousins/dp/1911641824 I haven't read the book but I watched the accompanying 15 hour documentary few years back and thought it was fantastic. Covers cinema from around the world. Highly recommend.

You may already know this but there's a viewfinder shutter that can be opened and closed to prevent unwanted light from entering through the eyepiece. Make sure it's opened up all the way. The blurriness could also just be that the diopter needs to be adjusted to suit your vision. (The diopter is typically a dial or lever on the eyepiece itself that you can adjust) Also, have you tried it with batteries in the camera? It's possible that could make a difference. Hopefully it's something simple like that. Not sure about where to send for repairs. Maybe some other folks here have some ideas.

Thanks for the advice! I appreciate it!

Maybe a dumb question but I inherited a small pile of scrims recently, many of which are pretty rusty. Or were. I sprayed them down with WD40 and it largely seemed to do the trick. But then I started to think it was maybe not such a great idea since these would be going on hot lights. A little after-the-fact research shows me that WD40 is still combustible when dry. So I guess my questions are, are these salvageable? Would a water rinse help? How does one clean a rusty scrim? Thanks all.

I think the underexposed look marries really well with the trend toward inaudible dialogue.

Makes sense. Thank you!

Would this be your approach even when not shooting raw? If so, can you please explain the reasons? Thanks!

I shot a 2 minute film for Roger Corman's Quaratine Film Challenge. That was actually about a month ago now but the results aren't in yet and it's probably the most exciting thing I've done. Hacking away at a screenplay. Spending far too much time looking at facebook and playing word games on my phone. Long walks with my wife and the dog. Now that the days are nicer we're doing a fair amount of gardening. Watched "Paper Moon" again two nights ago and "Sanjuro" for the first time last night.

Very nice look and great ending!

Very cool, Jurgen!

Hi Brad. To be honest, I don't really remember because I shot that like six years ago. I will say that it's likely that I did because I tend to get a little wound up trying do things the "right" way. I know I read a number of posts about how Super 8 cameras interpret modern cartridges and things like that. So there's a good chance I read about the current notch system and used the compensation dial but I can't swear to it. I do remember that I used an external daylight filter. I also remember that I had to bribe my nephews with ice cream to do a second day of shooting. Little kids have no work ethic.

Good to know. Thank you, Seth.

So I recently picked up a Bolex 551 that has a broken battery holder. I'm wondering if either someone here has a spare holder from a similar model that I could purchase or if anyone has some suggestions on how to power it. I was able to test it with the holder from another Bolex so I know that it works but I don't have access to that holder anymore. I picked up a 6AA holder from a hobby shop with the thought that I might solder the leads to the contacts inside the camera which are in the handle. Unfortunately the holder is slightly too big to allow the handle latch to close. I was thinking maybe I could stick the holder on the outside of the camera but the handle is made of plastic so I'm reticent to try drilling a hole through it the feed the wires through. Has anyone tried something like this? My other thought is that 6AA batteries produce 9 volts so maybe I could buy a holder for a single 9v battery which might have a better chance of fitting inside the handle. Might that work? Is there any reason not to try that? Sorry for a lengthy post on what is kind of a dull subject but any help would be appreciated. Thanks!

Mark, that was my first thought. And I'm still tempted to do it too although now that Simon has identified the date of manufacture as 1944 it doesn't seem like a horrible idea to have it serviced. It's possible it hasn't been been lubricated since WWII :o (Although it did work pretty darn flawlessly back around 1998 or so which is a testament to the great build quality of these cameras)

That's some good info, Simon. Thanks! I pulled that 1966 date off another website…maybe I misunderstood the table they had. 1944 puts it closer to what I originally thought the date might be.

The serial number is 23081 so I think that makes it a 1966 model. It's hard not to love a Bolex, even the humble H-16. They're just beautiful little machines.

Thank you, Simon.

I have an old Bolex H16 that I haven't used for about 15 years. I've been thinking about shooting something with it so I brought it out of the closet to get reacquainted with the controls etc and I discovered that the edges of the shutter blades have what I think is corrosion due to chipping. I lightly scraped it with an orange stick and white powder came off. I don't think the blades are bent. The shutter seems to spin smoothly when run. I kind of think that the blades have been like this the entire time I've owned the camera but maybe the corrosion has worsened a little over time. It did not affect the film last time I shot with it but if it has worsened I'm afraid that the corrosion would come off into the gate while the film is running. I guess my question is, is there an easy solution to this? Like I'm sort of wondering if there is a paint that I could use on the edges of the blades that would seal over the chipped area. Any advice is appreciated!

I have a Minolta XLSound 42 that I'm interested in converting to a 24fps capable camera per these instructions:   http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Minolta:_how_to_modify_XL-42%2C_XL-64_to_add_24_fps   I'm curious if:   1) Anyone here has tried this and can give me any insight into the process.   2)  Does anyone know how a modification like this might affect exposure readings?  Will they be accurate at 24fps if I make this modification?   Thanks for your help!

I have a Chinon Pacific 60 SMR XL that came back to life after about 10 minutes of persistent button pushing. Seriously. The guy who sold it to me kept insisting that would work. I was willing to take it anyway because he only wanted 10 bucks for it but he wouldn't let me take it until it starting running. Which, thankfully, it finally did and it's worked fine since then. Same thing with an old DAT machine that sat unused for many years. I just kept pushing buttons and turning it on and off until things starting moving again. Took about 20 minutes. Anyways, worth a shot.

Lower fps is a good idea. Next time, next time... That Luke is swordsman to be reckoned with!

Thanks Friedemann!

I guess since you asked for camera suggestions I should also add that I have generally found Canon and Minolta cameras to be reliable and have quality lenses.

Talking price about super 8 cameras is a little tricky. Sure, some cameras are well known and always fetch hundreds of dollars - certain Canons, Nikons, Beaulieu etc. And there are definitely people out there who will put an outlandish price tag on a not-so-good camera they are trying to sell because they know other super 8's have gone for lots of dough or they're trying to cash in on the cachet of "vintage cool" or something. However, if you keep your eye out you can still find good cameras for not a whole lot. Most of mine I paid less than $50 for. One Bolex was free. Another late model and very feature-laden Chinon was $10. Generally, this is what I look for: Good glass (no fungus), manual exposure option, 24 fps, light meter that doesn't require mercury vapor batteries, and clean battery and cartridge compartments. Test it with batteries and make sure it doesn't squeak or grind when operated. Of course, I'm always willing to sacrifice one or two of these options depending on the camera (Unless you're talking fungus. Stay away from fungus). It just depends. http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Main_Page is a great resource for specific camera info.

Thanks for your response Alessandro. It was a pretty perfect time of year to be shooting. I was lucky to get some cloud cover on the second day because I didn't have an ND filter and once we got out of the woods the meter was really inching toward the red. Your interpretation of the story is interesting. I like your thought about the swim noodles because I bet they would have been visually striking. I went with sticks because that's what we used for swords when I was a kid. Also, sticks fit the budget for this thing. Thanks for your input!