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Nick Collingwood

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Everything posted by Nick Collingwood

  1. Do not use an ND filter. As many (but not all) Super 8 cameras are TTL metering meaning it'll meter through what the lens is seeing. So the ND is rendered useless basically. As Shane described, you'll see what your camera meters, then open up 1/3-1/2 a stop. I think halfway is good. Technically a third but like I said, I think between 64 and 80 is the sweet spot. 64 gets a LITTLE hot and 80 maybe a touch under? It's really personal preference as some people shoot it 1 stop over at 50 and like it projected. I just noticed on my roll I shot at 64 that the highlights were blown in a few shots but overall had WAY better color and exposure than my roll I exposed at box 100ASA speed.
  2. Shane I'd say 64-80 is the sweet spot. 1 stop is too much. I've recently shot 2 rolls, 1 at 64 and 1 at 100. The 64 looked GREAT buuuuut the highlights were a little hot. Definitely better exposure and the colors popped. Just matters if the clipping on the highlights would bother you so I'd say 80 is best. The 100 roll looked good but definitely felt a hair underexposed. The 64 will look way better than the 100 projected, for sure. Erin, I wouldn't worry too much. The 310XL will expose any of these films fine on autoexposure. I'd say you may want an ND filter for E100D though as it's not ideal for SUPER bright days but I think it should be fine. As Mark said, overexposure on any of the Vision3 color negative stocks is fine and your 310XL should handle those well for the most part while on auto-exposure. So don't stress. I have a 514XL which is very similar and I get great results! In fact, I believe the stills I posted above were shot in my 514XL with no ND.
  3. That's great news. They do look miserable to work on. Luckily (knock on wood) my bargain bin 814XL-S I got with a corroded battery hasn't had this common issue. The battery compartment does give me some trouble from time to time though probably from the corrosion I cleaned out.
  4. This point has always intrigued me as well. Any bargain zoom lens for 35mm still camera has a variable shutter for the zoom range whereas the expensive lenses have constant aperture. Yet it seems like even cheap-o Super 8 cameras have constant aperture through the zoom range. Anyone with any insight on this discrepancy? Any agreed Michael, a good Super 8 camera with a steady hand and 50D can rival 16mm from years ago with older scan methods.
  5. Hmm... when this happened on my 814XL-S, it was either because I was shooting in super cold weather or the batteries were low. Fixing those factors made it run smoothly again so I'm not sure what the deal is with yours. Du-All in NYC services them though.
  6. Agreed completely Shane. It doesn't have to do with lamp power, it's the film. I've shot 7285 (2010-2013 E100D) in the same camera as 7294 (new E100D) and the 7285 was perfect, punchy, and bright whereas the 7294 seemed dim in comparison. Recently on a trip to Africa for a gig, I shot one 7294 in my Canon 814XL-S at +2/3 (so 64ASA) and 1 roll in my Nizo 801 Macro at box speed (100ASA) and while both were beautiful, the 814XL-S footage definitely had more punch and projected better. It DID have some clipped highlights but nothing insane. I'd say 64-80ASA is the true speed of 7294, which is frustrating for most S8 cameras since few have exposure compensation. Sure many have manual but that's an annoyance for Super 8 considering it's auto-exposure appeal. Especially since I mainly shoot E100D for vacation footage where I don't want to have to think too much and just want a good projection, not just a good scan. But even at 100, it's still great and I'm grateful for it. The still I attached is from the color corrected (i.e. levels only, not colors) Nizo footage in Africa. Also Jon, you footage would still be projectable. If you kept your composition in the left 2/3 of your viewfinder (if it's a S16 viewfinder) then the projection will just cut off the right edge. Not a huge deal if you're ok with 4:3. You could always still scan it for the full frame.
  7. Hey. Glad you found this camera! It's a solid little camera. I have one and use it often. A few things: It does have manual exposure but tbh, the joy of Super 8 is automatic exposure. With modern color negative stocks, you have extreme latitude to where you don't need to NAIL the exposure and the built in meters are generally reliable enough. Some people may say otherwise but I've shot probably 200 rolls 80% on auto and they have been great. The manual exposure dial is the top left one where it says (Control/Autom/Manual). Control is to test the batteries. Autom is auto-exposure. And manual is the rest of the dial to change aperture (shutter speed is fixed on most Super 8 cameras. This one is ~220ยบ which is around 1/30). You can see the aperture dial change in the viewfinder on the left. But again, unless you want to lock exposure for a tricky lighting scene, auto is great. I've never done the anamorphic thing but it's probably possible. Been done before. Tricky thing being that the front of the lens rotates to focus so most people I think just have the anamorphic held by supports in front of the lens. Adrian Cousins in the Super 8mm Facebook group has done it a lot. If it's Kodak 100D, it most likely the coveted Ektachrome 100D 7285 stock from the late 2000s to 2013. It's gorgeous, saturated and punchy but it is a reversal stock so less forgiving. But can be projected. Similar to Ektachrome 100D 7294 that Kodak just re-released. This camera can expose it fine. Notice how the ASA readings says with daylight film (100 DAYLIGHT) it can read 100ASA. It'll shoot any modern stock just fine as well. 50D fine. 200T fine. 500T will expose at 160 but the film can easily handle the overexposure so I won't worry about it too much. Tri-X on bulb works fine. Here's a roll I shot in my 156 Macro (same camera but with macro capabilities) on Ektachrome 100D a couple years ago. Hope that all helps!
  8. Are you sure your light meter batteries aren't dead? Those weincell 1.35v batteries kinda suck and easily lose charge over time if not stored with the sticker on it. With those batteries dead, even manual metering won't work in that camera, one of the only major design flaws of an otherwise incredible camera. I suggest buying new batteries and seeing if that brings it all back to life.
  9. Ya I think especially with the description saying the battery compartment is clear... there's really no telling what the issue could be and it's most likely buried deep. Definitely not worth that. If you're sharp, you can sometimes get an 814XL-S for around that price on eBay. My broken one with a corroded battery was much cheaper as I said, and I was willing to risk the $50, not $275!! Nizo's are great. I have a beautiful 801 Macro I love. The black model is quite sexy. haha.
  10. As Martin said, this camera is amazing but has a few drawbacks, one of which is using these annoying batteries. The thing with these "Air" batteries is that they kinda "dry out" or something. Notice how when you buy them, they have a little sticker over the flat side? That preserves them. So whenever I'm not using my Nizo 801, I take out these batteries (and maybe the AA but not required) and then reapply the sticker or at least some tape to the flat side. This generally does the trick. Also as Martin said, other voltages will give incorrect readings in the meter so aren't recommended. But the manual mode won't work without batteries so you could do it that way. There are adapters, to answer your question. Underexposure is not ideal for negative film. If it overexposed then I'd say no big deal but under is not good. Up to you I guess. I find Super 8 film too expensive to risk it over $10 of batteries.
  11. I get the complaints with price and wholeheartedly agree but S8 definitely has its place compared to 16mm. Travel. I just got back from a trip to Nepal to hike to Everest Base Camp. Had 2 Canon 514XL cameras with me (1 was a back up) with the wide angle adapter along with 4 rolls of Ektachrome 7285 with me. I would NEVER be bringing a Bolex or K-3 or similar model of camera on a trip like that but Super 8 made it possible, and even allowed me to have a backup camera in case one of these plastic beasts gave up on me. I also recently travelled to Mexico with that 514XL and 2 carts of 7285 and could easily travel around for a day with a small fanny-pack sized shoulder bag that also held my 2 35mm compact cameras and a Polaroid SLR680 (ya I like cameras haha). Again, lugging a 16mm camera along would've made for a totally different experience. I mean, fantastic image quality compared to Super 8 for sure but definitely not as quick or user friendly. While hiking, I could easily reach into my bag, shoot a few seconds of some gorgeous vista and toss it back into my bag before I'd be able to take a reading and set my aperture on a 16mm camera. Let alone the huge weight and size difference in a hiking pack. And now I get to process these rolls (did the 2 Mexico ones on Monday) and project them at home super easily. Granted that cost of Ektachrome 7294 hurts a lot but for me, it's worth it to capture my travels on color reversal film. But if I had to, I'd use Vision3 as well. For professional uses like short films, sure, 16mm has many many advantages over Super 8 but I think those are different markets. Although tell that to the Beyonce and Taylor Swift filmmakers who recently both shot a ton of Super 8 for their documentaries. I shoot weddings on Super 8 and love the portability and speed. Here's to hoping someone at Kodak finally lowers prices haha. One can dream.
  12. Regarding the overexposure, the notching system in the carts for Super 8 will take of that generally speaking. For instance, 200T is actually read as 160 because when the camera was created, 200ASA film wasn't around. And for 500T, it reads it as 400ASA for the same reason. So already those overexpose the film by 1/3 of stop so you're good to go. You don't need to intentionally overexpose it. Also when using daylight (D) film, the cartridge automatically disables the 85B warming filter built into the camera so you can have the filter set to D or T and it won't make a difference. I also wouldn't worry about the R-RL (Run-Run Lock) switch as it's largely unnecessary unless you really need unattended shooting. R is perfect for most uses. You've got yourself a hell of a camera! 50D will treat you well in bright daylight. I like 200T for it's general versatility between bright outdoors and medium light indoors. Try a roll of Tri-X as well! Enjoy!
  13. Agreed with Martin. I shoot a LOT of Super 8 these days and ALWAYS use 18fps. I've shot around ~150 rolls since I started shooting a few years back and literally have shot like 4 at 24fps. I get it all scanned at 2K and all that other jazz but I've always enjoyed the extra ~50s one gets from 18fps and have hardly ever noticed the difference. I think it's worth the sacrifice. One of my favorite cameras is my Nizo 801 Macro, similar to yours! Super sharp. Remember to take out the stupid light meter batteries and retape the flat side to preserve them or else they'll die in a couple months on their own. Good luck shooting!
  14. Mattias I am legitimately stunned. That first link of Disney World on R8 is absolutely the most beautiful and sharp 8mm footage I have ever seen! Such incredible detail and colors that I dream of shooting today but obviously cannot. Fantastic work. I've seen 35mm scans look worse than this! haha. I assume the cost and set up of your rig is quite expensive and complicated? I saw your flickr photo.
  15. You could scan at numerous places. I'd recommend Gamma Ray Digital near Boston. They do some amazing scans. CineLab also in Boston has student pricing. Or there's a smaller shop by Nick Coyle (https://www.nicholascoyle.com/) that can scan it as well. Might be cheapest. All of these can do 2K which I'd recommend over 1080 or less. The quality difference is huge. Local places in your city will be using the lower quality methods.
  16. That's crazy! I don't know of any others but there really are sooo many S8 cameras out there. Just the other week I found out about some cheap... Elmo or something camera that was a reflex camera! I thought Beaulieu was the only S8 cameras that were reflex. Still so many gems out there haha. Also just to chime in on the Fujica suggestion... it's definitely a beautiful, capable and stable camera but I don't know that I'd generally give it as a recommendation except to a die hard. You are essentially required to get all of your carts from Retro8 which ain't cheap and you don't have access to negative stock unless you spool yourself which isn't for the feint of heart haha. I've been researching reloading S8 carts and it's also a bit much. The accessibility of being able to buy fresh Kodak color negative, color reversal and B&W reversal stock easily can't be overstated in my opinion. Also I don't think the Fujica's sell for under $500 generally speaking. Most working models on eBay are like $800. But the camera itself is a thing of beauty no doubt and creates very stable images.
  17. Basically to focus in macro, instead of using the normal focusing barrel on the lens, you use the actual zoom ring it make sure the split-diopter for focusing isn't broken anymore. You don't use tele since you're mere inches away from your subject. The macro "range" isn't just an on or off. There's about 1cm of play in the macro range on the zoom ring which is how you focus. Also you can set the focus barrel to the closest distance but I'm honestly not sure if that makes a difference in macro mode. But can't hurt! Keep in mind at macro focusing distances, the depth of field is VERY narrow so a tripod is recommended.
  18. Well back to the situation at hand, I've shot both the new and old Ektachrome in my Canon 514XL which is similar to the 310XL and gotten great results. IMO, the new stock is a little less sensitive and would benefit from being shot at 80ASA but not a huge difference. Didn't have any issues with overexposure with an XL lens. The stock handles it ok. I shot the older E100D in my 514XL on the beach and was totally ok. Attached a couple stills below from the 2K flat scan without any contrast added back in. In projection it's a bit brighter and more saturated.
  19. Only Beaulieu cameras and Leicina Special cameras have both manual ASA dials and interchangeable lenses. But both are very expensive and maintenance ain't cheap. So I wouldn't generally recommend them unless you REALLY need the sharpest, nicest stuff out there. I'd honestly recommend just getting to know your Nizo better. It can read 50D, 200T and Tri-X perfectly. And you can shoot 500T. I have the 801 Macro and I love love love it. So a few methods: Just shoot it on auto! Seriously 500T has crazy latitude. I've shot it on a beach in a Nizo and it was perfect. See what the camera's meter (reading 500T as 160) shows then using the manual exposure dial, set your aperture to around 1-1.5 stops down (i.e. if the cam reads f4, set it to ~f5.6) then you'll be close to 500T would read without much trouble. Get yourself a handheld meter or just use your phone! Then you can meter and just manually set it. Any camera can shoot any film speed really. As long as you can control exposure. Honestly if you really need the speed, just shoot 500T wide open on your Nizo then push a stop in processing or just in the scan. Scans are so good these days with 2K. And no one even makes film above 500. With that said, if you really want an auto-exposure camera, the Canon 814 series (814AZ, 814XL, 814XL-S) are all great and can expose 400 speed (as well as lesser speeds) and most have slo-mo options and some even variable shutter angles which is amazing. And can be had for $300 or less depending on the day.
  20. From the 1 roll I've shot with it that I shared before in this thread, I'd say yes. I mean it somewhat depends on lighting but mine was properly exposed at 100. Perhaps some of mine were more like 80 or less because of the harsh lighting and limited aperture on my camera though. If you go back a page and watch the film I posted, the grungier film with some lines and a blurred spot in the middle of the frame in it is the FomaPan R100. The cleaner processing with slightly curved gate on the right edge is Super 8 shot in my Nizo 801. I wouldn't use my video is the final say on the process though. This was the first roll of film that little Keystone 8mm camera had seen in probably 40 years. And if CineLab is really improving their Foma process then hopefully your results will be even cleaner.
  21. I think the box thing is because some cameras might engage the filter regardless of filter notch or not so then you'd have some super orange footage. The Nizo metering has always confused me (yet I've managed to get good results). I've shot 100D in my Nizo 156 Macro which meters slightly different and Tri-X in that camera and my Nizo 801, always with the filter set to bulb, and gotten perfect results. The 156 filter is a physical slider to checks to see if the notch is cut, so if it isn't, the slider won't even go to Sun at all. So I've shot F100D and E100D on Bulb. The manual says Artificial light: 16-160ASA Daylight: 10-100ASA B&W: 10-100ASA SO... then the question is, how is my Tri-X reading perfectly in my 801 with no filter notch cut and the knob on bulb? Seems like it's reading it at 160 which should be fine for 200ASA film. Seems like the manual is treating un-notched cartridges (daylight and B&W) the same. But also it does say that all film is tungsten. So how was B&W film notched back then? And how is E100D (unnotched at 100ASA) and Tri-X (unnotched at 200ASA) both exposed correctly when they seemingly shouldn't? Shouldn't the Tri-X be read as 100ASA therefore overexposing it? Or am I missing something here?
  22. I have noticed this myself when searching for 814XL-S cameras on eBay. It seems to be strangely frequent. Any of the cheaper ~$250 ones only run at 18fps but are otherwise in perfect condition. So perhaps some modification people did? I'm confused as well.
  23. My friend... one does not lean into shooting film. One falls headfirst into the awesome black hole that is shooting film. haha. You'll soon get sucked in. Trust me. I started shooting Super 8 like 4 years ago on a whim and now have shot ~150 rolls and currently have a 16mm Arri SR2 sitting in my studio on loan. :D Good luck with the film! Post it here when you're finished.
  24. Ah interesting you have issues with 2K Bruce. I actually was going to come back to this forum and suggest uploading 2K over 1080. I've found that Vimeo gives higher bitrate compression to 2K videos than 1080. Same with YouTube. And I pretty much never scan at 4k so it's not a factor for me. I've found 2K vs 1080 to be a huge jump whereas when I got some 4K scans, the difference compared to 2K was negligible. Granted I primarily scan Super 8 but still. Also Bruce... if you need to replace a video, there's a section under the options for that video to replace it and it doesn't count against your quota. It's under GENERAL>INFO then scroll all the way to the bottom to REPLACE FILE. Boom.
  25. In my experience, first option should be to upload a ProRes 422 (hopefully HQ) file to Vimeo. YouTube and Facebook have no filesize limits whereas Vimeo does if you don't pay. I paid so I could upload higher res stuff. Otherwise you have to keep your uploads to 500mb and that's next to impossible to retain good grain for a several minute film at that rate. If I DO compress, I use 50mbps bitrate which still gives me a ~1.5 gig file for a ~4 min film. Another option might be (counterintuitive as it seems) apply a small amount of grain reduction to your film first. Basically gives the Vimeo/YouTube compression less hassle to deal with therefore potentially getting cleaner results.
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