Jessie No

Hi! I bought a Kodak cartridge and I was wondering... When I put the cartridge in, since there's already a little lenght of film that is visible at the beginning of the reel and that therefore, that part of the film might be exposed... Should I shoot for a few seconds before actually filming what I have to film (to make sure it comes out the way I want it to)? If so, how many seconds approximately? Thank you!

Hi! I'm pretty new to the Super-8 world and would need some help, if possible. I recently bought a Yashica Super-8 30 ThruTheLens CdS-EE. There's an exposure control knob on it. How does it work? The options are "BL", "I" and "N". What do they stand for? My guess was "Backlighted", "Indoor" and "Neutral", but I really ain't sure. Also the knob doesn't stay in place to select the option (will it stay when I put the cartridge or the lamp)? Or is it just to adjust the focus? Sorry, I'm really new to this as I said... My other question was about the button to verify the batteries. How does it work? Will a light turn on when I press it to let me know the batteries are okay? Thanks in advance for your precious help! It's really appreciated! Jessie :-)