Will Montgomery

Another film shot in Super 16 recently was Half Nelson which is currently out and getting great reviews. I think anyone in this forum who watches it will see its 16mm pretty quick.

Shot on Vision2 500T, its a little grainy and all handheld which was a little taxing on the eyes, but nice to see that rather than DV on a big screen.

Pick up some m42 mount Super Takumar Pentax lenses... like a 28mm, 35mm or even a 50mm. They are extremely sharp and pretty reasonable on the used market. I've had some amazing results from them.

I think the "Pro Upgrade" and S16 conversion was like $350 for both. Then another $75 for the viewfinder mod. On mine, the matte was widened not just removed so I still have a framing reference, although its a little hard to see on the right hand side.

While the Kinor is a better camera in a many ways, its not nearly as portable and light weight so consider that as well.

If you start paying over $700 for a K3 Super 16 modified camera, you're paying too much or should consider another, better camera.

Definitely look for that crank mod as well, winding that K3 will make your hand ache.

I have a few hundred feet ready for testing, I'm just trying to find a good lighting condition to try... Maybe at dusk on Halloween.

Tobin isn't making the motor any more and Duall bought up the few remaining he had. Unless you really need it in Super 16, I'd still look for a Canon Scoopic M or MS for under $700 and you'll have a rock solid 16mm camera with easy loading and great auto iris (if you would want to use it.).

This is coming from someone who has a Super 16 K-3 modified by Duall. I'm just tired of winding the thing and its not worth $1500 to buy one with a motor.

The Duall camera has been serviced and possibly upgraded to Super 16.

The 150-175 cameras on eBay often come directly from Russia or Ukraine, and you never know what you'll get. I got lucky but sent it to Duall for a makeover anyway which cost more than the camera itself.

So I spent about $500 on my K-3 to have Super 16 with a widened viewfinder too. Not a bad deal.

If you're looking for a camera to start off with, consider a Scoopic M or MS. I just picked one up for $500 and can't believe how nice it is not to have to wind the camera constantly. Plus, loading is extremely easy. Not Super 16 though...

That might be a double 8 magazine camera. The cartridge is more of a rectangle than the square Super 8 cartridge.

If so, it would be a 25ft roll of 16mm film that's perfed in the middle to give you 50ft of regular 8mm film. Those were cool cameras because of how small they were for the time.

Spectra and Yale are located nearby and both offer much better deals on prepping for transfer (Yales prep might even be included along with processing at no additional charge or a very nominal charge, Spectra as well is very minimal), but alas, no 50D. Not because either lab doesn't want to offer it, but because it's not on the table, yet, from Kodak.

I think Spectra will honor Pro8's prepaid processing, so you can still buy from Pro8mm and have Spectra process and prep for no extra charge. They might require you to transfer there though...

As a print Creative Director, I'm constantly going through external drives. I have 12 right now.

I would recommend the Maxtor 500gb Firewire 800 drive. I believe they are actually (2) 250's in one enclosure.

The only drive I've ever had fail was a big 500gb LaCie drive.

That of course doesn't really mean anything, it could have been just a rotten apple.

The Firewire 800 interface makes a big difference when you are moving around these GIANT uncompressed HD files. They all have Firewire 400 and usually USB 2.0 interfaces on them as well so you're covered.

Flying Spot vs. Bonolabs

You'll get MUCH better color out of Flying Spot with their colorists. Bonolabs has a different philosophy, they due as neutral of a transfer as possible so YOU can adjust it. Both houses do a great job in their own way, you just need to consider what you're looking for.

Flying Spot in Seattle gave me one of the most amazing Super 8 transfers I ever had, I put it right up against some 16mm from the same day and same lighting and it was hard to tell the difference. They use some sort of noise reduction I think because with 200T, I saw almost no grain.

I've used Bonolabs as well and the resolution is great to work with, I'm just not that great of a colorist so I like to have a pro adjust for me (plus a DaVinci color corrector is much more powerful than what I have in Final Cut.)

What's wild is cutting the HD footage into SD projects. You can pan and zoom without any loss of quality; fixing poor framing easily and doing some pretty cool effects.

Here's the link...

Dwaynes Photo

I've had several thousand feet of Double-X negative processed by Forde labs in Seattle with GREAT results. I really like that stock by the way. They process B&W negative for $.16/ft.

http://www.fordelabs.com/rates_bw_rev.htm

As with any important projects, have a lab do some test processing for you to judge quality. Don't tell them its a test, just send it through their normal proceedures.

I don't agree with "complete disconnect in look" either, that's why I limited the scope of the type of shots that the Super-8 would be used for.

You may not agree, but the truth remains. Even on a 1 second cut away, the move to Super 8 would be JARRING. Even with 50D in Super 8, the grain structure difference due to enlargement in post would hit you like a brick wall. Great if you want that effect, but annoying and inconsistent if you don't.

Now, I can see a well exposed, low speed negative Super 8 shot possible working with standard 16mm footage in the types of shots you're talking about, but no way could it stand next to super 35 footage and look even remotely close.

I have 2 of the older 814's; the non-sound ones. They are quite a hunk of metal and are really solid. Optics are great, but I miss higher speeds, they max out at 24fps.

The idea behind the Super-8mm is it would not take up a lot of room, and would be pre-packaged and ready to shoot in an instant.

I think the point is that the highest rated show on network TV doesn't really need to save money or time in production enough to justify the complete disconnect in look. They absolutely could use super 8 on the Darma explaination sequences (and I agree that it wasn't even 16mm on what they showed, absolutely some Smoke or Inferno effects) but why bother when the director just tells the DP to make it happen and they will lug the Super 35 camera whereever they're told.

Didn't the Scoopic come with three 72mm filters? I've seen sets labeled "For Canon Scoopic only". They were skylight, 80, and 85.

This one didn't, but I didn't buy it new. Getting front lens filters is easy, I can order from B&H no problem.

Interesting that Canon would make the system like that without some sort of back focus compensation; maybe they just thought it wasn't that critical for news gathering.

Should I order Wratten filters from Kodak for the back filter on my Scoopic MS or just go with the screw on type?

I have empty filter holders that can be inserted into the camera, just don't know if quality is an issue with this type, and I have no idea costs for ordering a small Wratten filter from Kodak. I need a #85 for sure and probably a few others for b&w.

Anyone have experience with the new Fuji Eterna 400? I have some sample stock and was considering different test applications...

What? I thought these camera's where "built like a tank" Basically I wasted my money on the damn thing if the all I can do is hope for the best.

Built like a Russian Tank, not an M1-A1 Abrams. Meaning that if you get a good one, it will probably hold up for a while, but there are plenty of bad ones out there too.

Plus, at $150, its not exactly a huge expense.

Another thing, make sure you DON'T USE the plastic take up reels that come with the camera. Use the metal ones from Kodak & Fuji. The plastic ones can bend inward slightly with time and cause all sorts of issues.

That's the same simple mod that is generally done to a Russian K3 as well; widen the gate but don't recenter the lens.

I love the K-100, great camera.

Run tests with all your lenses (write down each lens' name on paper and shoot it) then have a telecine operator check it out... sometimes they can do it for free or cheap if you tell them its a camera test.

Yes, you may get some vignetting and there will probably be a little distortion as well with those old c-mounts, but hey... its still Super 16 and you can choose how much of it you want to use if you're transfering to video anyway.

You may find your K-100 scratches in the S16 part anyway due to the transport.

If you transfer to DV, have them set it up as a 16:9 anamorphic transfer so when you import it to your editor you can tell the computer its anamorphic and you'll be using all the pixels available.

Brace your palm against the zoom lever for a little extra leverage. Its probably been stuck on there since 1991 or so.

That lens has a longer screw than most m42 still camera lenses.

It's only a cinematography process - the prints are projected as normal on regular 35mm projectors. The prints themselves use a different color printing technology (dye imbibition lithography) instead of a photochemical dye coupler process, but from a projection booth standpoint, it wouldn't appear any different. In the theater, however, the print will look much more vibrant with greater contrast range. It also is more or less fade-resistant, which makes it very important for archivists.

I thought the original projectors had 3 different films that went through a projector as well as the camera.

Loading a K3 is really a feel thing... it took me about 10 rolls to get comfortable with it. And even then, if I haven't done it for a while, it's not easy.

Mine doesn't have the loop formers so my experience would be different if yours still has the autoload feature. I haven't looked at anyone else's instructions so mine might be close to Olex's.

1) Set the speed really low, like 8, push it into the top feeder slowly then press the button

2) feed about 5 inches through

3) Make the top loop, pull back the pressure plate and slide the film down into it.

4) Then I hold the film on either side of the gate/pressure plate, pulling back and down towards the presure plate and wiggling until the perfs catch on the notches.

5) Make the bottom loop and feed into the bottom feeder (sorry I don't have the correct terms).

6) Advance the film slowly and insert into the bottom reel with the reel not in the camera, THEN put the reel into the camera and advance a little more until it sounds ok.

By the way, I just picked up a Scoopic MS and I was BLOWN AWAY by how EASY it is to load. Just push the film a little ways into the mechanism, press the button, and viola! Instantly threaded film. I'll have to see the test reel to make sure it loads ok without scratches, but I'm looking forward to using this camera!

Are there any museums or theatres that actually have a working 3 strip Technicolor machine? It would be fun to see one in operation.