Harry Alen

Hi! I test shot two Wittner Chrome 200D cassettes with Canon 512XL - the other was read as 160D (by the camera standards) and the other was notch hacked to read as 250T. I made sure not to use the built-in filter with the notch hacked film either outdoors or indoors. I thought that the "underexposed" notch hacked film would look better but I think there are signs of not exposuring ok in both filmed and processed films. How does your cameras reas Wittner Chrome 200D and how has your results been: 1) in daylight (with or without ND filter) 2) indoors (with of without ND filter) My experience is that the "overexposure" at 160D really makes the images look "flat" compared to 100D which reads/exposes as it should bu almost all the cameras. Also the underexposure is not as good as I thought it would. A little better in some pictures (but sometimes worse), but the image is clearly underexposed and not that colourful and too grainy too. Am I doing something wrong? All Ektachromes I film turn out 100% good! Is it simply because 200D is not a standard for Super 8 or do I need to check my eyes at the doctor :) Thank You for sharing your experiences with Wittner Chrome 200D!

No long term storage/old batteries... I have to test whether it is a stuck exposure indicator (images will be ok) or will the exposure meter stuck (mostly over exposured images if shot camera pointing up)... I will report here after I've processed the film. I've tried to make the meter to go from underexposure to overexposure (without film of course) in seconds and it seems that the meter is slowly getting better - hopefully this is just about the exposure indicator being "stuck" and the exposure being filmed correctly... However... This will not be solved unless I shoot with the camera and see what happens. Thanks to everyone who contributed to this "mystery"! Thank You all!

I use 1.5V high quality GM or Duracell AA-batteries. I have the user manual and I think I (at least should) have the right kind of batteries. I have now set the manual/auto switch on and off for about 200 times if there's some "stickiness" to the non-usage of the camera before I've had it.

Same behaviour indoors. If the camera is panned up, the light meter stucks to the value it has reached until the camera points "too up" and does not change even if I release the trigger and press it again. No change if I select manual - it is at the same value... But... When I return it to "normal" shooting position without tilting it up - everything is normal.

Hi! A couple of quick questions: 1) Does the light meter show different readings when there's a film cassette inside than it does without a cassette? Is there difference with different cassettes (f.ex. 100D and 200T?) 2) When I pan the camera to the sky, the light meters "rolling numbers" seem to become stuck to some value and will not change unless I pan my camera again back to the normal vertical shooting position. If I point down to my toes, the light meter will not be stuck... Does this mean that the indicator is "stuck" but the iris will behave normally or does it mean the iris value is stuck and therefore I wrongly lighted images? Anyway... There's some issues with my 512XL unless this is confirmed as "a feature" :) Thank You! Just filming with 310XL and 512XL with Ektachrome 100D - nothing developed yet... Unfortunately :)

Ok, I thought I'd modidy the daylight cartridge to tungsten - then 310XL will read the film as 250T... Theoretically 250T would be better than 160D/160T but I guess I will only find out by testing. Viktor Gibardi said 160 is better - I will film half of the cartridge as 160D (as it is recognized by the camera) and other half after the hack (so camera will read it 150 tungsten)... Let's find out :D

Hi! I of course posted an error in the topic - 160T hack isn't needed as the camera understands 160D... I would like to know if anyone's ever done this? I'm planning to test Wittner Chrome 200D with Canon 310XL. This is what I think will happen: - Must keep the built-in yellow filter off always (tungsten position) - Outdoor shots will look normal - Indoor shots will look yellowish/tint to orage Should i overexpose the film (160D and no hack) or underexpose (250T and hack) - I'm guessing the 1/4 stop underexpose would look better than any amount (even though 160 is closer to 200 than 250) overexposure. I'm doing this because Canon 310XL (or any of my cameras) cannot read 200D correctly and I want to make it look the best in that camera - I'm thinking 250T is better than 160D in colors/saturation and overall better looking picture. Also - how do you do the notch hack? Do you use driller or how do you clip the cartridge without damaging anything! Thank you for your comments - I really appreciate your time for a newbie questions like mine! Maybe one day I can pass some knowledge myself... After many cartridges of filming :D

Oops... Forgot... Canon 310XL will in my undestanding meter 100D correctly but Canon 310XL AF and Canon 310XL-S AF will meter it as 160T (source: http://super8wiki.com/index.php/Super_8_EKTACHROME_100D_motion_picture_film_exposed_in_old_cameras). I think there is no way I can mix these cameras - on my camera's side there is a text Canon 310XL and the other two look very different from 310XL.

I'm about to do first tests with Canon 310xl and E100D and not using ANY filters (I don't have any at the moment).. Just make sure, as a noobie, have I got it right? This is what I gathered from your answers and manuals - thanks for the links! - E100D will be correctly exposed - Canon 310xl CAN and WILL expose it as 100 daylight ASA. - There is no need for any filters and/or exposure meter tweaks to expose it right. - There is no need to pull the red tab up (unless shooting objects against the sun/light source) - 100D is a daylight film, unless using a filter, indoor shots will tint to red/orange (yellowish) - if so, not a problem for me - E100D will perform exposure-wise ok indoors and in normal room lighting. - There are no cartridge tweak solutions to make 200D to behave like 100D? Those cassettes would be cheaper... Next I will test 814 Auto Zoom - as I have to wait for the M9 battery adapters to arrive. I must apologize for my simple questions, but I need to be sure I make no "rookie mistakes" - as said, I really want to begin shooting Super 8!

Answering myself - 1.5V not good, will need Weincell 1.35 zinc air battery or M9 adapter that reduces the voltage to 1.35 - that would be the best and in the long run cheapest solution! I downloaded manuals and as long as there is Ektachrome 100D available, no probs. However, has anyone tested that Wittner 200D will actually read as 160D and that can the overexposure corrected with ND-filter? Thank You all! I just ordered Ektachrome 100D and zinc air batteries to test further - I think the brightness problem is because of the battery was wrong voltage :)

Ok. Thank You! 100D reversal stock it is then... And about the 1.3V battery in Canon 814 light meter. I have undestrood that 1.5V V625 alkaline battery is ok. Is there any problem for the light meter about the extra voltage amount? How should I use the light meter with that camera?

Hi! I have 3 Super 8 cameras, Canon 310xl, Canon Auto Zoom 814 and Canon 512xl and all in working condition. I also have a Chinon 330 Sound projector, which is also working flawlessly. I recently decided to start using the cameras and I bought negative Kodak Vision 200T not knowing anything about the formats. The 3 min cassette was shot with 1 minute in each cameras and I noticed from the digital scans some differences with brightness - this is where I think the "nothches" and how the camera reads the cartridge is related. And of course, I found out that negative is not watchable with projector the hard way :) So color reversal film is what I need and have to shoot. How does my cameras recognize following film types: Ektachrome 100D (I think some of my cameras read this correctly as 100D) Wittner 200D (not any of my cameras support 200D?) And when do I have to use the tungsten/daylight switch that is in all of cameras. Sorry for the noob-questions, but I really want to use the same cameras my grandfather did and want to keep shooting Super 8 for years to come, as I have so many good and working cameras. And also share the same feeling with my children I had as a child when we watched the old super 8 reels of my father when he was a young man :D Thank you for all of your answers!!!