Paul Vanderhoof

Oliver -- could you measure the voltage on the power cord pins and determine which ones provide voltage to the camera drive system and metering, as opposed to the pins for the sound which I do not care about. Still could not find any one to give me the specs on that. Also, are you providing 24 volts to the camera? Do any of the pins pull down to lower voltages? If you could post or send me a quick drawing of the actual power pinouts that would help me make a cable. How is the speed stability and camera noise? Thanks, Paul

You can still post-shoot-stripe Super 8mm. Wittner and a few other places still sell the striping supply and you can still find the striping machines on ebay and in Europe. As for recording sound directly on the film as you shoot, single sound, some sound super 8mm still shows up regularly on ebay, mostly kept in someone's freezer -- but usualy too pricey. Single sound 16mm seemed to have disappeared even more completely and I have only seen a little bit of it show up on ebay. CP, Auricon, Canon were the only ones to do single sytem sound that I know of.

Hello to John Adolfi, Roger Richards, Adam Garner! I read with interest you account of converting your Scoopic to U16. I would love to get more details about Bernie's job and how much to whole package costs, etc. I have an MS, an M, and a Sound Scoopic 200. I am thinking about getting the U16 done. My MS and M are in very good shape and I've shoot a few rolls which looked pretty good to me, but the Sound 200 is a little rough and I haven't fixed it up enough to use it yet -- no docs and no power supply. Anyone have some docs so I can figure out the external power???? Anyway, while the 200 hundred is heavier, it has a reflex mirror shutter, registration pin, and built --- so they say --- quieter for single sound, like the CP. Oh and it takes 200 ft spools (which are hard to find). So that one is pretty interesting too. It looks like it has almost the same lens as the MS and M, same focal length and aperture, but I am not sure if it is exactly the same. Interesting thing is, though it weights a good deal more than the M/MS, it balances in your hand surprisingly well. Just playing around with it non-running it did not seem that fatiguing to hold for extended stretches of time. Ah mystery! Oh, one other question -- any vignetting problems? Anyway, I would love to correspond over my regular email about this camera convesion. Thaks, Paul Los Angels Area, California.

Oh, and note that there are posts about an outfit in Los Angeles, California (I think) that is successfully doing an Ultra16 mm conversion on the Scoopic. I know some people have done it themselves for a lot less also, but don't know if the quality was good. Anyway a Scoopic 200 with near Super 16 film area is interesting.

Bengt: Keep posting as I for one am interested in your progress and results with the Sound Scoopic 200 (I really think that the 200 refers to kilos this camera weighs!). I sent you a message after reading your post but maybe you didn't receive it. Anyway, I found mine without the battery pack or power cable and thought to make my own power cable / battery pack but so far I haven't done anything with the Scoopic 200. I don't know what the pin outs are for the power and there are many contacts -- some for the sound. I removed the sound module from mine as of course it's useless. I was quite excited about the registration pin and the actual through the lens mirror shutter. Mine also is in sad shape as far as the light seal foam is concerned -- everything a sticky gooey mess. I have not yet even run it much less run any film through it. I did get lucky on ebay and found some cheap 200ft daylight spools -- with film and still sealed! Well, anyway, if you had any documentation, you know, technical schematic or any hint on how to rig a power cable and battery (I don't want to damage anything connecting power to the wrong point) I would appreciate it and if it could be scanned and sent email I'd be ecstatic. The camera in general looks very good and I am hoping that it will run and shoot good film. Also like to know how quiet / noisy it is. Since it was designed for sound I was hoping that a well serviced Scoopic 200 would run reasonably quiet. Also I am sure that it isn't crystal synched but how accurate is the frame speed? Ian: Good to know the 200ft daylight spools can be ordered in England but ordering them and getting them to US for a reasonable price is probably quite a hassle.

Yes, I saw the A-Minima spool in pictures and they seem different, different shape hole than the 16mm spool, but yes, I will contact Kodak and ask about it. Paul

Interesting comments -- will try some of these ideas. My Scoopic MS and Scoopic Sound 200 both have filter slots behind the lens, so I could stretch some net over that and slide it in. A Scoopic MS or the older type (which few people like) don't have this option, so the filters and nets would have to go in front of the lens. Few Pro-sumer HD video cams have interchangeable lenses, so they too would have to have "nets" in front of the lens. Anybody have a suggestion of what brand of pantyhose to use? Super ultra fine expensive brands I would assume. And only black? What about white? Doesn't Tiffen make a white SoftNet as well as black? Doesn't white give you the wedding diffusion (high key) look while black would be the low key, glamour look? Any names of cinematographers, old or new, who use these "nets" a lot -- to get some idea of the look from the pros. Thanks, Paul

Any footage samples?

Don, Thanks for your reply. I will check out that link. Any advice on cleaning and lubricating the cine cameras, especially Canon Scoopic? Thanks, Paul

You getting vignetting at the wide angle focal lengths? Used any wide adapters on the Super-Duper? thanks, Paul

David -- thanks for the reply. Need to get some bounce back to know what I should be doing. Also, for subtle diffusion on the cheap what advice can you give regarding "nets" , ie, actual women's hosiery and such used for diffusion. I have read that's the way the old timers did it and I have seen some posts about which material is best but I haven't a bookmark on those older posts. What is the best way to use these nets -- glue into a cardboard or plastic 4x4 filter holder or stretch it over the matte box / lens, etc, etc. And do you have to keep a pretty distant focal point and wide apertures so not to "see" the netting? Paul

I searched a lot to see if my question has already been answered but I could not quite find the answer I am looking for. So, here is my questions: In shooting HD, 16mm, and sometimes S8mm, I always telecine and edit digitally and the final product is nearly always digital -- dvd. I have a mixed bag of filters in different sizes: most Series 9 and 4x4, but really a mish-mash. Other than ND or ND grad and 85 / 85 B for Film, is there really much / any need for filters any longer, as color and diffusion can quite easily be adjusted digitally. What would be the basic filter kit: pola, 85x, ND, ND grad, and then? Any need for the softnets, diff, fog, choco, tobac, coral, coral grad, etc, etc? OK, I know the first answer will be -- depends on what look you want, etc, etc. I know from my still shooting days that you want to put as few glass surfaces in front of your lens as possible, none if you can get away with it -- lessens the air-glass surfaces that create reflections and flare -- and its worse for zooms because they inherently have more surfaces. Since my 16mm equipment is Scoopic and a CP-16/R, here I am depending on older lens design and coating technology. And once you have "filtered" the original, be it digital or film, you are quite stuck with it. Also, filter kits and matte boxes to fit everything runs into a lot of $$. Thanks for whatever help you can advise. Paul

I want to refurbish a couple of Scoopic cameras myself -- the later M/MS and Sound Scoopic 200 type. Where do you get the right foam -- best foam -- to redo the foam light seals? This is a question for those Scoopic owners who have done their own refurbishing. Also, any advice regarding opening it up to clean and re-lube? I know somebody out there must be a Scoopic tinkerer. Thanks, Paul

Hello -- looking for information and a repair manual / schematic for a Canon Scoopic Sound 200. This was created by Canon about the same time as the Scoopic M / MS 16mm news gathering cameras. Built for single system sound (sound on mag-film). Instead of the 100ft load of the M/MS it can take 100 or 200ft daylight loads. Also has TTL auto-metering, so it will meter through your filters, a mirror shutter instead of a prism for the viewfinder -- ie, you see shutter flicker, and was built to be much quieter than the M/MS. It has only one filming speed - 24fps, a removable sound head, and a real registration pin in addition to the claw. It is quite a heavy tank, but surprisingly even balanced handheld. Far simpler, fewer options than the M/MS but with the same lens -- except no Macro. I need to get the power pin-outs figured out because I don't have the original external sound amplifier / battery pack. It has a bigger connector with more pins than the M/MS. I also would like to know more about the speed regulation -- Canon's site says it is : Electromotive film feed by a built-in mini-servomotor controlled by electronic governor (used jointly with registration pin), manual feed knob provided Image Stability Within 01.5% vertically, within 0.1% horizontally BUT....does not say anything about crystal synch....so I'm wondering just how accurate the 24fps is. Single system sound did not have to be as accurate as dual system. Also would like to see if I can modify it to run on multiple speeds. Also, anyone have some 200 ft daylight spools....I really need some. Also, anyone have a clue if I can use 200ft cores in this guy???? Anyway....I really like my Scoopic MS and I am looking forward to see what the Scoopic Sound 200 can do. I really do need some data / schematics on this if anyone can help with that! Paul

Matt Pacini -- How did your cp-16 ultra-16mm experiment work out? Is your Nizo UWIII that you use on our Scoopic the plastic lens or the glass? Screw on 72mm? Also, did you try the ultra-16mm on the Scoopic? Looking for details on results. Your message box is full. Thanks, Paul