Will Montgomery

I've had great luck with the newer MN & MS (black) models as far as meters go but I've never owned a grey one. As Ruben says, test, test, test.

Great article Jurgen. You picked a perfect subject. Reminded me I need to get one of my cameras to him soon.

He has a great modern battery solution for all those who need new or re-celled batteries for your 4008/2008 models. Have no idea how long they last because I've never been able to use one until it was done.

I think you meant to say "THE" man. As in all caps. He's the best. Good guy too.

I think of Regular 8 as the new Super 8 since Super 8 is more like 16mm now with film and scanning improvements. ?

The K3 can make decent images, especially with a Pentax Super Takumar M43 lens, but the real issue for me was always the constant winding. (I only rarely noticed the registration issues.) If you just want to try 16mm out then go for it because the camera is so cheap, but keep in mind by the time you buy 1 roll of 100' 16mm film, process it and transfer it, that will cost more than the camera itself...so the camera cost shouldn't be the issue here and therefore I'd suggest spending $500-$600 for a Canon Scoopic MN or MS.

10 hours ago, Patrick Cooper said:

Good point. It does give the format it's own kind of character, setting it apart from say 35mm.

Interestingly, when I used to watch the Australian television series McLeods Daughters (which was shot on S16) I was always impressed how clean the footage looked. Even indoor shots in which they likely used fast film always looked super clean like the exterior shots. Whereas Law & Order (shot on 35mm) looked slightly grainy to me. Perhaps they used very fast film on the L & O TV show for a gritty look? I guess that Kodak Vision 800T neg film would have been in existence around then. 

When 16mm was used in TV productions (mostly outside the U.S.) they really new how to shoot it and minimized the grain because that was what they wanted. The Walking Dead is of course still shot on S16 and they definitely keep the grain down but it still has that look. These days 16mm is great for letting that film freak flag fly. Definitely will separate your work from the pack.

On 3/14/2020 at 3:53 AM, Patrick Cooper said:

Though obviously not a candidate for conversion to Super 16 as that lens would probably only cover regular 16mm (though I'm betting there's a fair chance that the long end of the zoom might cover S16.)

It has been done...at least once...but it is completely impractical & time consuming. Mainly about shifting the lens over to center it. The last & only one I know of that Visual Products did was something around $4000. Ultra 16 is super easy on that camera although just shooting 50D and cropping regular 16 to 16:9 will work just fine. You get a little extra grain but that's kinda what you want with 16mm, right?

I went through this about 12 years ago. Started with the K-3, then made it Super 16 and did every upgrade I could but honestly I was tired of missing shots because I was winding the thing.

I made it all the way up to an Arri SR3 that I still love for paid shoots like music videos but my favorite run-n-gun inexpensive camera is the Cannon Scoopic MS. Only takes 100' loads and has a fixed zoom lens but that lens it truly amazing. I've had colorists comment all the time about how sharp the lens is and they couldn't believe it was on that camera.

A Scoopic is the easiest camera every made for loading. It has built in autoexposure like Super 8 that actually is decent (I get exposure then lock it down usually). The batteries can be re-celled at a Batteries Plus+ usually. All these features lead to you actually using the camera more. I highly recommend it. 

You can get into Bolex's, Arri S's or other Russian cameras (I've had all of those and they can be great), but they all have pretty much the same quality image depending on the lens you use.  Bottom line is that a Scoopic is the easiest to use with a great lens and therefore you will use it more. It's also probably the most recently made of all 16mm options under $1000.

My 4008 ZMII was the black 4008ZMII that shoots 80 fps and came with amazing Angenieux 1,2/6-80. It was only produced in a very limited number in 1975 and is sometimes called the "10 year jubilee model" or "anniversary" model.

If I shoot at 80 fps it sounds like a very angry swarm of bees next to your head. The quality is amazing though...like 16mm was in the 70's. When I also shoot my cheap Super 8 cameras because they are easier to shoot, the difference is instantly noticeable in the final product..

I suggest picking up some new batteries from Björn Andersson in Sweden. He's making some great new ones that look great, last forever and charge with the original charger easily all for a very reasonable price. While you're at it, he's probably the best Beaulieu technician left on the planet and can get your camera looking and working better than new with original parts.

I believe this will contact him:

info@beaulieu-service.com

Or try Facebook at:

https://www.facebook.com/bjorn.andersson.3158

Kodak has a cinematography app that will help you with run times and film speed. Search for Kodak in the App Store.

Those units are inexpensive enough for you to purchase and try them out. My experience with the Wolverine was that it was ok to see what was on the film and probably fine for family members to see but no where near the quality I was looking for. Part of what is so great about film is how amazing it can look when transferred properly.

If you are looking for a step up check out http://moviestuff.tv. Significantly more money than what you've mentioned but leaps and bounds higher quality.

If you're just talking about a rotation that's a very simple After Effects project or almost any NLE can do that with keyframes...

On 1/8/2020 at 3:47 PM, Bruce Greene said:

I would just add to run the camera for a few feet after the last take before cutting the film.

Good point. It's easy to forget things you do without thinking.

You can get digital outs to 16mm and 35mm but they are rather expensive. Like $150 per minute with sound. But you wind up with a negative and a positive so you can make more prints from it easily.

Here's a great company for a lot of specialized film needs:

http://www.videofilmsolutions.com/digital-intermediates--printing

If you don't finish the reel then you can simply cut the film at the loop, ease the stock all the way into the mag, remove the exposed stock (in a changing bag or dark room obviously) then either remove the short end (carefully label the can with stock type and length) or re-thread it back into the mag to use the rest.

I always keep several pairs of little kid's blunt scissors in my kit for such purposes. They don't need to be super sharp or pointy just to cut film and better to avoid sharp point things on set.

Nothing wrong with the workflow, but everything depends on your final requirements. If you have specific delivery requirements you adjust based on that, but especially when the camera originates in ProRes, you should be fine transcoding to whatever you need from ProRes. I would suggest working in the higher quality ProRes codecs however instead of the 422.

Your workflow will change with every production so it's fine to get something that works for you but just be prepared to adjust for each gig. 

I applaud your efforts to fix it, but the meter wouldn't be as easy as another mechanical issue. Unless it's a simple fail in the wiring, you'd have to buy another Scoopic to get the replacement part.

Honestly you may be better off just buying another one that works since they are so inexpensive. 

Thanks Bjorn, I have two cameras to send to you after the Holidays. So glad you're still maintaining these cameras and have the parts to keep them running like brand new.

I've had similar results on many 16mm cameras when I failed to load properly. The only exception is the Scoopic MS with the auto-load feature that has never failed me. (knocking on wood.)

You'll have no problem once you do it a few more times.

On 11/4/2019 at 4:04 PM, Allen-Deon Saunders said:

@Will Montgomery

do you have any footage to share? I’d be interested in seeing some if you do. If not I understand. The footage from the film posted by someone else was shot entirely slightly out of focus. I was wondering if that had something to do with the FFD. 

I'll have to do some digging...the issue may be that it would have been transferred in SD but by a great colorist.

Bjorn is the Beaulieu man! Thanks for the help as usual!

It's been a few years since I last had to do this but is anyone currently re-celling 4008 batteries? I have about 4 to do...probably not something Batteries Plus+ here in the states could handle.

Thanks in advance!

Lots of different opinions on the Blackmagic scanner. I believe it's fine for dailies, if you're looking for something you'd finish with you may consider some other options but perhaps best if you just do a test to make sure it's what you need.

Blackmagic Scanner: UHD for 35mm, 2k for 16mm. The camera doesn't move so the sensor is basically cropped in for 16mm.