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Nick Collingwood

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  1. Got some questions about pushing and pulling film stock after reading this fantastic article about shooting La La Land on film, and after a recent wedding I shot. I'm not a complete novice or anything but still only been shooting motion picture film for a couple years now. As I said, I shoot weddings among other things on Super 8 and sometimes, you just gotta deal with the light you're given. Last wedding I shot, the ceremony was EXTREMELY dark, I'm talking like, you could barely see the couple with your eyes dark... So I was shooting 500T on my Beaulieu 1008XL (f1.2 lens, 225º shutter) wide open then I had CineLab push it a stop in development. I DID get back an image amazingly but it is pretty darn grainy. It's ok but I'll have to work around it with my other footage. And it got me to researching it some... After reading about pushing and pulling online and on Kodak's website here it seems like pushing may not be the best idea for low light contrary to my thinking. Plus this quote "Push processing is not recommended as a means to increase photographic speed." I know pushing only increases light that's hit the film therefore more light gets brighter whereas little light get a little brighter hence more contrast. So why does Kodak speak against it so much? In low light should I just shoot at box speed and then fix in the scan. I know Phil of Pro8mm says on his site that pushing is largely unnecessary with the quality of scans these days. Thoughts from other scan labs like Gamma or CineLab? What's the point in pushing film then? Also... pulling film. In the La La Land article, they mention shooting 250 at 100 and 500 at 200 and then pulling in development. Does anyone do this? For film I've overexposed, I've always just done normal processing and fixed in post due to the large latitude of V3. Would it be better to pull? They mention finer grain and lower contrast in the article. I always just figured it was a fix for overexposure. A novice viewpoint, clearly. Also how they heck are they shooting nighttime at 200ASA!? Sorry for the long post but a bit confused and curious about more experienced shooters' thoughts.
  2. I think that's a fair assessment Michael but... at the same time it seemed like Kodak wanted to market this to attract new Super 8 shooters. People can buy a Sony A7s m2 with lenses, cards etc for less than that and get guaranteed, nice video results albeit not film. Whereas Super 8 is a bit of a risk and learning curve. Us younger shooters have definitely been spoiled, in a sense, by the cheap eBay cameras (of which I have gotten more than my fair share of sub-$100 steals) but also I feel like that unfortunately plays into the market for Kodak. $2k new camera, or $50 on a random Canon 514XL that... oh sweet! It works. Saved $1950. Not a complete example obviously but for a young, 27 year old, budget minded shooter like myself, that matters. At $75/roll these days for stock/process/scan, that new camera is worth about 25 cartridges of film. But at the same time, I get it. A new Canon T6i or what have you runs around $1k so the price isn't completely absurd. I'll be holding out for the $500 version while I buy up their new Ektachrome and utilize their new film circuit for processing. Maybe they'll nix the screen for a normal viewfinder to save some dough. They have to kill something in order to get that price down so much. In the meantime, Nizo 801M and Canon 814XL it is. Either way, glad Kodak is making moves. Exciting times!!
  3. So according to this video Kodak just posted, at about 10:30 he says the "Limited Edition" version of the camera which is coming out first in Spring 2017, will retail for $2000. Ouch... I have been really intrigued and tempted by this camera and compared to a refurbed 1014XL Crystal sync from Pro8mm, it's still cheaper but damn. That's a steep price and removes me from the running. Hopefully the Standard version is still plenty capable and a quarter of the price. They won't get any new adopters if the cost of entry and film is insanely high. I didn't watch the rest of the video so not sure if there were other important details. Have to watch later.
  4. Shared it in the Super 8 forum but figured such huge news warranted a post here as well! Kodak is reviving Ektachrome 100D!! http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/Press_center/Kodak_Brings_Back_a_Classic_with_EKTACHROME_Film/default.htm
  5. Holy cow. I kind of can't believe my eyes but it's true! Available Q4 2017! http://www.kodak.com/US/en/corp/Press_center/Kodak_Brings_Back_a_Classic_with_EKTACHROME_Film/default.htm
  6. I don't understand the negativity Andries. I have done something to defend you? I'm merely asking for support for a non-profit lab. I didn't realize my statement was so offensive. Do you know of another non-profit lab? I'd gladly revise the post if so. Otherwise, why not support the very organizations and groups that are helping keep film alive and attracting new filmmakers? MNA has helped me get into filmmaking personally and the non-profit has been steadily growing over the last 10 years and is currently putting on a 20 night film festival featuring various works on 8mm and 16mm. They do numerous workshops and screenings throughout the year to promote filmmaking on real film. Maybe if you'd met the founder, Steve, you'd see that he just loves film and wants it to flourish with more shooters and artists. Plus, I feel like the small amount of artists that will ultimately use this lab will not affect the livelihood of commercial labs. They are different demographics (fine art vs commercial). Like I would probably still send any wedding I shot to CineLab but smaller personal projects to MONO. But at the same time, I think the labs and scanners still around are doing well. CineLab is great but even when I send them footage for development it takes longer than they expect because they are so swamped. MONO wouldn't be gunning for the giant tens-of-thousands of footage jobs that keep pro labs like CineLab or Spectra open. I guess I'm a bit stunned at your reply and don't understand wishing ill will upon the organization? It's seems needlessly antagonist in a time where film needs all the support it can get. But I'm all ears...
  7. Hey crew, Hope this isn't against any rules but figured if there was ever an audience for this, it's everyone here. So I just wanted to spread the word and ask for help for an amazing cinema arts organization here in NYC. It's called Mono No Aware and its director, Steve Cossman, has been running really fantastic 8mm and 16mm film based workshops and screenings in NYC and honestly all over the country and world for 10 years now. Most of those workshops have been out of its directors apartment in Brooklyn as well as NYC-based community darkrooms. I just want to be clear... I don't work for Mono No Aware or Steve. And have only taken a few workshops from MNA (like the 500T reversal one I documented here or b&w caffenol non-toxic processing or b&w reversal) which I loved and made me really fall in love with the format and the tangible aspect of it. Anyways, Mono No Aware is running a kickstarter to start the world's first motion picture non-profit lab here in Brooklyn, NYC to help the artist community and grow that community as well. It will feature lots of capbilities like processing, 2k scanning, rentals and more workshop space. From projects like Impossible Project's film and camera, New 55/New55 Color instant film, Film Ferrania, Kodak's new camera/processing and other film based projects, a lot of really awesome things are happening in film now that things are leveling out in terms of digital adoption. Let's make it happen! (Also donate to New55 Color if you can! I don't even have a 4x5 but donated to help keep peelapart alive) Here's a bit of info directly from the kickstarter but check it out and donate what you can. If there was ever an organization that deserves some filmmakers cash, it's MNA and Steve Cossman. That man puts his life and soul into making it thrive. MONO NO AWARE is a cinema-arts non-profit organization working to promote connectivity through the cinematic experience and preserve the technologies of traditional motion picture filmmaking. In 2015 MONO NO AWARE Organized 38 Local workshops for 420 workshop participants in Brooklyn Traveled to lead 40 Classes and lectures at host institutions for 600 participants through outreach programs Facilitated 100+ equipment rentals Distributed 50,000 feet of film stock for 1,000's of filmmakers Presented 20 artist-in person screenings for 1,000 audience members Presented the work of 33 international artists at our 9th annual exhibition to an audience of 900 over 2 nights The MONO Lab will be unique because in addition to our strong educational initiative and active screening series, we will be able to offer the services of a commercial lab, affordable facilities for continued practice, and we will increase our ability to host international artists for production of new work and presentation opportunities. With the equipment donations from a major motion picture lab, professional animation studios, and several post-production facilities, we now have the ability to provide so much more--all under one roof. With our space we can become self sustaining in our efforts to engage and play a larger supporting role within that landscape on all levels. OUR GOAL The more that we can raise through this campaign the more we can make available to a greater number of people. Increased services and facilities will include: SUPER 16MM & SUPER 8MM LINEAR PROCESSING FOR B/W & COLOR NEGATIVE FILM SUPER 16MM CLEANING AND SCANNING SERVICES SUPER 16MM & SUPER 8MM CAMERAS / LENSES / PROJECTORS / INCREASED PRODUCTION EQUIPMENT ACCESS & SPACE DRY LAB SPACE - OPTICAL PRINTING / CONTACT PRINTING / FLATBED EDITING & VERTICAL EDITING STATIONS WET LAB SPACE - WITH 24 - HOUR ACCESS TO FACILITIES INCREASED PROGRAMMING / WORKSHOPS / SCREENINGS / RESIDENCIES This is a critical point in the history of the moving image. With your help, we can make this new space a reality. Mono No Aware is a 501©(3) organization, which means your donation is tax deductable. So ya. There's my plea. I'm donating. Hope you do too! And be sure and take a workshop if you're ever in NYC!
  8. I think Michael covered a lot of it but I'll just say that in regards to the roll you shot, V3 has a crazy amount of latitude so I'm sure you'll get at least something out of it. I've shot 500T in a camera that over exposed it by 1 and 2/3 of a stop and gotten great results and shot 500T in a super dimly lit wedding reception and in a dim concert venue and gotten results although I did have them push those 1 stop in processing. As far as your overall question, in short, I've only been shooting for about a year but I would generally say zoom in to focus then zoom out and meter at whatever focal length you actually want to shoot at (unless the lighting is really tricky). If you meter zoomed in then zoom out, the camera will be exposes for whatever it was you zoom in on which can be good (if it's a face for instance) or bad (if you zoomed in on a something bright to meter and the rest of the scene once zoomed out is dark or something like that). Either way, Super 8 is forgiving and shooting film is about research (as in... google everything. So many forums out there like this one for instance with people who have probably shot with a similar setup). trial-and-error, and learning from that. Have fun with it! You'll get the hang of it.
  9. So I've actually done this at a workshop in NYC and had pretty good results. I shot 500T in cameras that only read up to 160 so it over-exposed it 1 2/3 of a stop to blast the orange cast away somewhat. I documented it in this post here. http://www.cinematography.com/index.php?showtopic=71254 Sure it has a yellow cast but since most projectors have yellow-ish bulbs, I found that my eyes ignored the color cast after a few seconds of watching the projection. And it was just cool to have color reversal!! Of course now, Pro8mm and Retro8 have been looking into having Provia100D cartridges since 200D is dying and grainy. And then of course the slow and steady progress of Film Ferrania... And tri-x which is still a beautiful reversal film albeit b&w obviously.
  10. Hm that generally seems to look right. The rule of thumb for Nizo's is red dot everything. So top dial (aperture) at the red dot for auto. Middle dial at red dot for normal shooting (otherwise it's timelapse) and then red dot for 18fps on the bottom left since 18fps was standard but obviously 24fps is fine. I'd made sure your filter dial is all the way to bulb or sun as currently it looks like it's in the middle. Anyways... as far as your issues, as odd as it sounds, if I recall correctly, I think the solution I found for my Nizo 801 Macro that had a sticky shutter was to put it on single frame (the timelapse) and then continuously pull the trigger. Just keep shooting a bunch of single frames for several minutes without film in (doesn't need it in there) and then try to do a longer take on normal red dot setting and see if it lasts longer. It's something about rejuvenating the electronics. I don't know the science. But it fixed my 801 from only shooting single frames to being my main camera now without issues. Mine had been in a grandfather's attic for a while so it was definitely unused for a long time. Works great now thankfully! Hopefully that helps. Try to google Nizo stuck shutter or trigger and you might be able to dig up the results I found before.
  11. Wash - 5 min warm water 1D - 115° 8:30 min Rinse - 5 min warm water 2D - 112° 7 min Rinse - 5 min warm water Blix - 115° 7min Rinse - 2 min cold water Remove remjet backing Rinse - 20 minutes cold water Add drop of Photo Flo Dry. That's what we used for those rolls. So you should get a result. But they stressed that temps are very important, down to the degree. So keep that in mind. You can actually see a little of the workshop around 5:00 in the film. I haven't tried all this myself at home yet but want to soon! Ya we just did ran it through a soft wet sponge pinched (with our fingers) around both sides in a large tray of water. Not ideal and you can see a few emulsion scratches where the bright purple is but for the sake of the workshop, it was fine. They recommended using two reels and rolling it back and forth between them with a sponge in the middle. Almost like a Morse tank.
  12. Just to throw in my own 2 cents. I'm in the US and I've traveled with 35mm, Polaroid and Super 8 film, sometimes still in their original, unopened packages and I've asked for hand checks and they generally have no problem and they DO NOT X-Ray them, contrary to Andries comment. They just do the swap and overall check. Pretty quick and hardly delayed me anymore than TSA normally does. With that said, I also had the experience in Morocco where they would not hand check my 35mm film and sent it through the scanner and luckily it was ok. The highest ISO film I had was Portra 400. Kodak definitely does not recommend film going through any x-rays but especially checked bags. Carry-on bag scanning x-rays aren't great either but are much lower. http://www.motion.kodak.com/motion/support/technical_information/transportation/index.htm
  13. haha That's hilarious. One of the joys of Super 8 for me is being able to quickly swap cartridges depending on the lighting or feeling without worrying about the film being exposed. Plus I always enjoy having a few light leaks in the roll for editing purposes because they look nice. Josh - if you remove the cart after filming some (whether test or actual use) you'll only lose around 8 frames of Super 8 and you'll have some light leaks of a few frames on the start and end of those lost frames.
  14. In my experience this is very true. Sure some truly don't know but I've messaged probably 10-15 sellers of "I just found this in a box, I know nothing" cameras and ask if they would put some AAs in the battery compartment (always on the lookout for a cheap working Nikon R10 ya know. haha) and 9/10 say "ya I put some in and it doesn't work"
  15. Is there anything banging around inside? I recently picked up a cheap Super 8 camera off eBay I was assured was working but when I got it, heard ratting inside and the viewfinder was (mostly) dark. Well given that it was a mere ~$15, I decided to pop open the camera carefully and I found that the small mirror that reflects the prism into the viewfinder had detached due to dried, old glue. So I superglued it back into place, reassembled slowly and BAM! Working viewfinder. Still waiting on my test roll to get back to me but it did totally fix the viewfinder issue I had, other problems notwithstanding. So if you're feeling brave enough, have a go at it, otherwise, plenty of cheap but working S8 cameras to be had on eBay, but S8 is otherwise not very cheap if you're planning on getting back into it. But it is fun!
  16. Just did an awesome workshop in NYC with MONO NO AWARE where through the magic of cross processing, we got color reversal from 500T! There's a small amount of info online about it but essentially we shot 500T rolls on Super 8 cameras that only meter up to 160T and without the daylight filter engaged, shot the film. So basically exposing it about 1 2/3 stop over what it normally should be. Apparently this is necessary to get the right exposure for this unorthodox method. Then we developed the film in a LOMO tank with a Tetenal E6 kit and some adjusted times. Then once it was developed, we put the film in a tray with some fresh water and photoflow and using a sponge, gently scrubbed the film to remove the remjet backing. Then dried it and projected it! The film ends up with yellow highlights and blue shadows but it looks pretty solid! In actual projection, it looks better because your mind tends to disregard the bizarre colors especially given the yellow hue of most projectors bulbs anyways. So check it out! It's fun to know there is a way to get color reversal other than the Agfachrome 200D and hopefully the Film Ferrania whenever that materializes. Also that's yours truly at 9:05.
  17. If you just ask the TSA security person to hand check your film, they usually will. Just don't be in a super rush. I've done it with Super 8 rolls and 35mm and Fujifilm pack film several times now. Only place I had trouble was I think in Morocco or something where I had a bag of 35mm that they made me put through the checked bag scanner. Film still came out great.
  18. Hey everyone! So I live in NYC and I've been shooting Super 8 as a fairly serious hobby since last summer. I love it. This forum has been a source of so much info. I've already bought several cameras, shot vacations, field trips, events, etc. Problem obviously is it ain't cheap! And even more of an issue is minimums. Given that I don't normally shoot 4+ rolls at a time, I've been forced to wait for weeks if not months while I slowly shoot more rolls until I meet the minimums. I've gotten developing from Spectra with their film+processing packs for ~$40/roll but that of course doesn't include shipping to/from costs then I have to ship it out for HD telecine unless I do it somewhere in NYC but to be honest, I prefer the pro places as their quality and turnaround is been way better than local in my opinion. Moving on, I've also just bought film locally at B&H/Adorama for ~$38/roll or Du-All for ~$32/roll then sending for processing/scanning at CineLab. That's probably my cheapest method I've found since Spectra scanning is pricey!! Anyways, even with that, I run into the minimum issue with CineLab and Spectra. With $ minimums around 200ft for processing and $150 for HD scanning, that's around 6 or even 8+ rolls before I hit the minimum. I've gotten as low as 6 rolls telecined at CineLab for around $125 which is below their minimum but I guess they just shrugged their shoulders and did it when I mailed the package. All in all, if done right and hitting minimums, I can get a roll bought/processed/scanned for around $70 if not a little less including all the shipping. I know Spectra has their "Rank-A-Roll" packages but those are pretty steep in price in comparison to doing it normally. (~$105/roll) And Yale has its "Reel Deal" packages which are $125/roll. I've also (early on in my tests) gotten 2 rolls developed and scanned as a "Test Roll" from CineLab for around $90 but I'm not sure they'd let me do that every time. So all that to say... you guys have any advice as far as best quality/price balance for low volume Super 8? Does no one else run into this issue? You guys just always shooting 10 rolls at a time? haha. Help a budget filmmaker/enthusiast out!! I know I'm kinda asking for the moon here with film costs these days but the cheaper I can get my methods, the more I will shoot! And I'm always itching to shoot more film! (Also I am very eager to hear more details about Kodak's new S8 packages in the fall. Seems like that would fix my issues if the price is right) Sorry for the wall of text. Slow day at work haha.
  19. In my tests, I got around 38 frames. I could've gotten more if I had a larger piece of glass as I was just using glass from a 5"x7" photo frame. So there was still some room in the film scanning area of the V500 as I was scanning it the long way down the full length of the flatbed. And ya I was pleasantly surprised. I ended up getting it scanned by CineLab anyways because I had like 6 other rolls to be scanned so I figured why not. The CineLab scan was obviously better but since I developed via Caffenol, I think the effective resolution of the film was greatly reduced as it was really grainy compared to previous tri-x I have shot. Here's the scan. I had to lower the quality a little bit for imgur but it's pretty close.
  20. I was in your boat like 8 months ago. I'm still new to the Super 8 game. With that said, I've researched far too much and spent too much while toiling away hours at work and here's my relatively uneducated opinion. For ~$200 you should probably go for one of these models which all have manual aperture control and servo zoom although I've almost never used power zoom on any of my cameras. Also slow-mo will almost always be based off of 18fps (so 36fps for half speed of 54 for 1/3 speed). And any AF S8 camera is bad. I believe it locks the focus at the beginning of the shot and there's no way to change it. As said above, if you're patient on eBay you can get a steal. Nizo 801 Macro/Nizo Professional/Nizo 561 Macro - These all are top notch German cameras and very common where you are in Germany. I've met a German filmmaker who bought a perfect Nizo Professional for 50€!! I have the Nizo 801 Macro with the UltraWide Lens attachment which doubles the view angle (i.e. 7mm to ~4mm). I have a couple other Nizo's as well like the S56 but they aren't as nice. Features 18/24/54fps, 150°/75° changeable shutter angle, Timelapse, servo zoom, and can read Vision3 50D and 200T and Tri-X natively and then 500T as long as you meter it yourself. There is the 481 Macro but at the wide end it's 8mm vs 7mm on the other models. It really makes a difference. Also all of these except the Pro need special cell batteries for the meter (both manual and auto sadly). Still available though. Canon 814XL-S/1014XL-S - Canon's top Super 8 cameras and some of the best/sharpest out there. I don't have any experience with them personally because they were too pricey. Features 9/18/24/36fps, meters any Kodak stock natively (I believe), intervelometer, 220°/150° shutter angles. XL lens so with the 220° shutter angle can shoot in low light. Nikon R8/R10 - Similar build quality to Canon's. Top of the line, especially the R10 with a super sharp lens. It meters up to 500T natively. 18/24/54fps. 160°/80°/40° shutter angle. Great camera. Agfa Movexoom 10 - Sleeper hit! I got one for $40. Wide and sharp 6-60mm lens (wider than most S8 cameras which stop at 7mm unless using a wide angle adapter). Intervelometer. 18/24/54fps. 180° shutter angle. I don't think it meters 500T natively. As said above, in my research, the Beaulieu's have interchangeable lenses but are expensive and high maintenance esp with the batteries. If you still want one, look for the 4008/5008/6008/7008 models. Same with the Leicina Special. I think those are your best best. There are TONS of cheaper S8 cameras to be had if you're really wanting a cheap aesthetic. I love my Canon 514XL. So small and light. Also do you research on film cost, development, scanning and you can try and minimize costs. If you're in Germany, I can't really help you with that but it's worth the effort in my opinion.
  21. I did a brief test of a roll of Tri-X I developed in Caffenol. (Was trying to see how low I could get costs of a roll of Super 8 down to. Around $25/roll in materials including the roll so not bad! No cost assigned to time for home development and scanning of course.) I used a Epson V500 scanner in negative film mode. I put a plate of glass from a photo frame down over the film which was placed longways down the negative scanning area (it was already scratched from home development so I wasn't too worried about handling scratches). Then I scanned it at 2400dpi, brought that into After Effects, made a 4x3 comp, and made the strips into one long train of image strips, then made them move up into frame in a 18fps comp with an expression to continue the movement indefinitely. I also had a separate null on the whole thing that I kept moving over time to keep the image in frame. I'm a motion designer by day so I know my way around AE pretty well so this process wouldn't be for everyone but I couldn't get some of the software out there to work correctly. Worked better than I thought but it's definitely a time consuming process and about half the quality of a 1080p scan. Might try a full roll in the future. I only did a few seconds. You can see it here.
  22. I've got it! My first Super 8 camera in fact. I like it. Super light so it's great for traveling with. Not the sharpest lens around and I'm an amateur but I've liked my results so far. I also have the C-8 Wide adapter which helps with the 9mm focal length. I just joined this forum so I'm not sure if it's ok to link youtube but here's a trip I made this July to the Dominican Republic (50D). First Super 8 roll I ever shot actually! And this is me walking around NYC with some friends and exploring Ellis Island (200T). And it only takes 2 AAs which is the lowest of any Super 8 camera I believe. I got it for only $35 so it was worth it. I've used it on a few trips since then. The 9fps is good for timelapses when telecined at 18fps. Hope this helps you get a feel for how it looks and my experience with it.
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