Matt Wells

So what is you evidence? How much K40 is being sold, what are the fixed and variable costs for the lab, what is the cost of manufacture of the stock and loading it into cartridges; what are the distribution costs. If you dont have these figures then you can only present your comments as observations not hard fact. Matt

Alessandro you have a very big problem, and that is that you base your entire observations on opinion - what you believe the market is for this format, what you believe can be achieved. I am just about to seek equity finance for my business here in the UK. Unless we can demonstrate that we know our market place completely and utterly AND back this up with research and hard figures, we will just be laughed out of the meetings. You just can't go around saying this is what I believe to be the case without evidence. To back up your assertions you need to provide information and knowledge such as: - Details on the make up of super8 users, not based on your casual observations, but NEW detailed research - Details on the average budget of productions on the format - percentage of home movie users - age of users - condition of equipment This list is not exhaustive, but if you can demonstrate accurate knowledge in these kind of areas then you will be in a position to dictate what path should be taken. Matt

I think that Saving Private Ryan was a 90 degree shutter. Matt

I second that - Ask for Len Thornton, his job is to deal with the low budget / student customer base. Matt

I agree with you John. I made the point on another thread that, whilst Kodachrome has lots of good features it also has a lot of bad issues too: Too slow Too contrasty Too difficult to expose for newcomers Just another thing John: this question might be difficult to answer quickly, but what sort of investment would be required for a lab to start processing super8 film? would it be possible to use one precessing machine for E6 on some days and ECN on other days if it was handling low volume? If it was a lab already offering E6 and C41 stills processing, presumably this would be a big advantage? Do you think that Kodak would be interested in any kind of joint venture with a lab to provide this service - I'm thinking of the UK. Thanks Matt

Oh no - not a EURO arguement working its way into this aswell <_< (anyone from the UK will know how controversial this has been in recent years) Matt

Matt I entirely agree with you. Alessandro, you seriously need to get into the real world. Kodachrome has some SERIOUS issues that, I would argue, demote the super8 format, and I could argue, even though I love all Kodachrome emulsions in all formats, that the super8 format is better off without it in terms of attracting new users. 1. K40 is far too slow 2. it is far too contrasty 3. it is FAR to difficult to expose for newcomers When I try and get others into shooting super8 I don't even mention K40, other than to say it is readily available cheaply with processing, but I also add, you need serious anount of light to shoot it, and know how to expose film properly. A lot of perople coming to super8 are younger people who want to shoot a cool looking film or music video on a budget and Kodachrome is far less suited to these people than the newer more modern stocks. I read that the new 64T is less contrasty than K40. I think that you should praise Kodak. To even consider that anyone at Kodak can be bothered to waste their time plotting with Pro8 is fantasy. AS my day job I run a business here in the UK (not at all related to film) and if someone comes to me and says "I think that this product is being purchased by consumers in this quantity" the first thing I say is "OK where are your figures?" Where are your figures and hard evidence for they assertions you make, both about the usage of super8 and the conspiracy theory? Come up with this and you will be taken seriously. In the meantime I see Kodaks dedication to the super8 format as almost philanthropic, especially with this new 64T being available specifically for Super8! Presumable money has been invested R&D to ensure that it will work for the format, money will also be spent on marketing - and if you think that this costs nothing unless you put out huge advertising campaigns etc think again. Matt

Anyone have any experience or opinions of this stock in 16mm. I am considering using it for some, for want of a better description, documentary work. I need a stock with lots of versatility and plenty of speed. Cheers Matt

It is miles easier to shoot film......I mean I've snowboarded miles and miles with a super8 camera hanging from my neck and obtained superb ski footage after minimially graded transfer - its just so easy! The latitude of modern negative allows, if you need it, for point and shoot and you dont have to worry about burned out highlights and crappy flat look and colour. Matt

"Cinematography" by Kris Malkewictz (sorry I don't think this is the correct spelling of his name) Available from Amazon Matt

Hi there everyone, I have been posting on the board for sometime now, and I have a question for anyone in the UK on Saturday 23 July this year: I'm looking for someone who can shoot 16mm and some DV at my wedding on this day. I will supply all equipment and film stock etc etc and pay all travelling expenses + £200 cash to whoever wants to have a go. I'm not looking for anything desparately complicated, just someone to capture the day - all editing, processing, transfers etc etc will be done by myself afterwards. There will be no need to record sync sound with the 16mm as I will be cutting this to music or sound 'stolen' from the DV. Probably looking at buying in around 1000ft+ of 16mm. The wedding is near Shrewsbury in Shropshire. There is a train station there or it is about 3 hours drive from London, for example. As I say, I will cover travelling expenses (up front if necessary) + cash on the day. All you need to do is turn up with yourself on the morning of the 23rd. If anyone is interested please feel free to message me or e-mail me at: m.wells@extraspace-storage.com Thanks, Matt

I have used a 6080 extensively, and it really is a superb camera. Very good registration, and the schneider lens is really sharp with excellent resolving capability. They are also very robust, which I can testify to having snowboarded miles and miles with one hanging from my neck! I have used it extensively with K40 and the negative stocks from both Pro8 and Kodak direct. Matt

Another thing: I tried to get hold of some Kodachrome in 120 roll film for my Hasselblad the other day, and was told it was no more :( Can this be confirmed? thanks, Matt

Someone suggested to me that Kodak still have the machinery lying disused in Wimbledon, London, left over from before all European processing was sent to Switzerland. However this would have to be confirmed. Matt

The reason I am asking is that I was skiing last week and using a friends 8mm filmo to shoot "on the move" shots. I was thinking - this is a superb little camera - a 16mm one would be even better!! - doesnt even matter that much if you wipe out and get snow on it or something! Matt

Anyone know if the old 16mm Bell & Howell Filmo cameras (like the 70 model) require double perf. film? If so can they be modified to accept single perf? Also, anyone know what the lens mount is on the turret? Cheers, Matt

How severe is the loss of resolution if you take a 16:9 frame out of a std. 16mm negative during telecine? I have not ever done this before and am wondering what the loss is. I suppose, obviously, it would be best to select a slower film stock. Thoughts and opinions would be appreciated. Matt.

You will be amazed what you can get away with - they seem to work really well the daylight spools. What I love doing is loading the camera when there are people watching who are unfamiliar with movie film and daylight spools - they think you are wrecking your film! I'm always more careful unloading the film because I believe that when the film is loaded in the factory it is wound in a special way so to minimise edge fogging. Obviously when you unload the camera will not have wound it in the same precise manner. Mabey John can confirm this. Matt

I know it sounds like a cliche - but I take great pleasure in seeing the very distinctive look of film projection - it has a sense of occasion about it. However this of course must be distinguished from a beat up print / flickering lamp or other practice issues. The imperfection is what distinguishes cinema. Matt PS if anyone lives in or around Birmingham UK - avoid the new AMC cinema at 5 ways - unless you enjoy beat up prints, flikering lamps and out of focus presentation etc etc.

I think that Phil is overstating things. First - yes you need to focus - and that is one of the best bits about 16mm, having some Depth of field - one of the things that distinguishes 16mm from DV (that means being able to manipulate the focus, as opposed to video where everything, from near to far, appears in focus). "having" to focus will give to about 10 times more image control than you have with your mini DV, just to kick off with. Second - it really is not that difficult to load a 16mm camera. Admitedly you want to practice a little first - I did - I practiced with an old roll - I think it took all of 3 goes. Ideally get a manual for the camera bacause this will give a little help about the "loops" - the film needs to loop above and below the gate and not be too tight or too loose. Third - Exposure. Regardless of whether you have a built in light meter (if you have in the K3 I would not trust it anyway) These are available on E-bay, or you could get a new one. I could recommend the very handy and quick to use Seconic L-308B. Go out to shoot your skate boarding, set the meter for the film speed and take an incident reading by pointing it at the light source - eg the Sky - and fire away. The best thing you can do is order 2 roll 3 rolls of reversal film (apparently the Kodak 100D 7285 is a great new stock) Try and make some notes about the meter readings and the aperture settings you have used so you know when you view your footage - you will learn a LOT this way, especially about getting the exposure right. You will be able to look at a scene and very quickly determine how you want to expose. Fourth - on the colour temperature issue. The film stock mentioned above is balanced for daylight (Hence the "D") This means that if you shoot it in daylight colours should be rendered pretty much as they are. IF you shot it under artificial tungsten light everything would appear too warm and too red - this is because tungsten light is a lower colour temperature and the film is balanced for the higher colour temperature of daylight - which is bluer. However you can correct this very easily. If you want to shoot Daylight balanced film in tungsten you can use a blue colour conversion filter (80A) and this will mean colours are rendered accurately. If you are using tungsten balanced film (and most motion picture film is tungsten balanced) you could use an 85 filter to convert for use in daylight. You ahve to remember though that these filters do "steal" some light - the 85 about a third of a stop - so a 100ASA film becomes a 64ASA film - and the blue 80 filter steals a huge 2 stops (if I remember rightly) This is why normally the conversion is tungsten to daylight for practical reasons- but if you know that you are only shooting outside then daylight stock could be a wise choice. The best thing you can do is just try a couple of rolls - use the 100ft daylight loading spools - And for your purposes, a transfer to MiniDV will be ideal - you could then use you camcorder to feed the footage into a computer and edit it, add music etc etc. You would need to transfer the film for this and that is another topic..... Matt

Really enjoyed it - really well balanced and informative. Matt

I own a Hasselblad 500C/M even though I'm more into cinematography - but it is just an utterly beautiful piece of kit, and the quality it produces just superb. Matt

Looking for a NLE system for PC use - What do people make of Adobe Premiere - I believe the current version is called Adobe Premiere Pro 1.5. What other contenders are there for use with PC as opposed to Apple. Many thanks for any thoughts. Matt

I may be shooting a music video soon which involves the band sitting in a room as a variety of characters walk past - we think that it would be good to have the characters movement as a timelapse whilst everything else is normal speed. I have thought about shooting the band first and then clearing them off the set and then backwinding the film and re-shooting at 2fps (we are shooting 16mm). However, can anyone name any software capable of this - is this something a typical NLE package could handle? Be grateful for any thoughts and experiences on this - are there any other ways of achieving this? Many thanks, Matt

The 18 is Super8 is incredible, for a 500ASA film. The 17, however, I am finding it hard to see bery much improvement over the older 74. Infact I had some amazing results of the 74, and I have to say I have so far not been as happy with the 17. - might just be me though. Matt