Roy Brown

You know its easy to target Kodak for all of films woes but quite honestly the reason film is percieved to be dieing is because of consumers. Hundreds of thousands of people have dropped 35mm film cameras for Digital and while you can complain Kodak didn't market this or that correctly the fact is no amount of marketing prowness can overcome the firestorm of digital. Good God the word digital has become synonymous with perfection, state of the art, convenience, Hip and other ridicules superlatives. The same thing happened when video cameras became somewhat affordable in the early 80's. The image was crap but what was the difference it was the latest and greatest right? What about when Super 8mm hit the market in 1965. Oh my this new system is fantastic throw out the obsolete 8mm roll camera and step into the future. What about filmmakers like George Lucas and Robert Rodrigues these guys are out there bad mouthing film left and right. Why not blame them for the demise of film. I shoot 90% Kodachrome for direct projection so this decision hurts but honestly I commend Kodak for sticking with Super 8mm, however I wish they would have come up with a different solution.

I believe that the underlying reason for cutting Kodachrome in Super 8mm is the losses on the processing end for Kodak. Everything from the shipping costs, honoring old mailers and upkeep of the Swiss plant was draining profits from the 8mm division. Problem is Kodachrome Carts are the biggest seller and in Kodaks opinion taking away from the higher profit 8mm products. The strategy is by cutting K40 carts Kodak is forcing Super 8mm loyalist to purchase higher profit products. Even if sales dip profits will go up because no processing headaches. Kodak probably has decided that this decision will ultimately make the 8mm film division healthier and therefore be able to continue to provide products for the long term. I can imagine that the new CEO said either cut the entire 8mm product line or find a way to make it more profitable. I commend Kodak for sticking with Super 8mm when just about every other company folded up the tents years ago. I wish they would have figured out a way to keep K40 by giving up the processing and still provide the raw stock. Dwaynes in the US solved some of there problems but they needed a similar company in Europe because thats were the majority of the Kodachrome Carts are sold. My 2 cents :) BTW John - Thanks for your posts in this and other forums and I promise I will try the new 64T. I shoot 90% of my super 8 for projection so I am less thrilled with all the new choices but if my thoughts are correct and Kodaks move keeps Super 8mm cartridge filmaking alive then OK they did what they had to do.

I was using a Spring wound Bolex with the shutter open. 135 degrees? I thought the flicker was constant and seemed to be from one of the three lights. I really need to learn more about HMI's. Are some HMI flicker free at all shutter angles or are they set to be flicker free at a specific film speed and shutter angle. Does the camera need to be running at crystal 24fps or will the spring wound motor running at lets say 23.5 to 24.5 fps go out of sync with the light? Thanks for the responses Roy

Its possible but I have shot several rolls of film with it using just daylight or Tungsten lights and the footage was great. Also you could clearly see the light flicker in the scene. The flicker varied a lot from scene to scene depending on the light positions. Roy

Well I got my film back from my Bolex shoot (see earlier Post) and exposure was dead on. However one or more HMI lights flickered badly. I had thought the HMI's were flicker free but one must not have been. In order for this not to happen again what can I do in the future. Is it as simple as making sure the HMI's I rent are designed to be flicker free at any shutter angle? I would be using a Bolex or a Eclair NPR. BTW The Video from the Panasonic DX100 in 24P mode did not have any flicker present. On a comparison note the film showed so much more detail that flaws unapparent on the video were glaring on the film. For example Skin complexion, Dirty windows, Imperfections in the paint of the location. The colors really popped with the film and were more subdued on the video.

Thanks for the reply Sam Well its a day after the shoot and I had set the shutter angle to 80 degrees instead of 135 mistakenly using the 1/80 speed as the degrees. Readjusting the meter I see that I would have opened up the aperture approximently 1/2 stop which is good because the scenes will work better slightly over exposed than slightly under exposed. I am using DuArt and getting a one lite work print and a overall Beta Sp video transfer so we shall see. Roy

We are shooting a Commercial Tomorrow and at the last minute I decided to shoot a roll of 7245 with my Bolex. (Also shooting 24p video) I have always used a Bolex meter in the past and used Kodachrome. I will be using a Sekonic L508 Cine Light meter, (sold the Bolex meter) and just wanted to make sure I am setting it right. I am shooting 24fps ASA 50 shutter 80 degrees. I will also use a tape to measure focus were as I have just used my eye before. Any comments or suggestions would be helpful. I realize I should have run some tests before hand but it was a last minute idea. :) Thanks Roy

OK fine I toss the Ziess in the nearest dumpster. :)

I have two 70dr's one modified with a 400ft mag and electric motor. I have 5 viewfinders but only a couple lenses and I doubt they are much good (Canon 50mm tv lens). I have a couple of c-mount lenses from a non-reflex Bolex, will they work OK? Will any C-Mount work as long as it screws all the way in? I noticed a 75mm Switar hits the center turrent screw. I am testing both cameras for auction and want to make sure I am selling a decent package. Thanks Roy

I have a NPR with this zoom (In Very Good Condition) along with some primes. How does this zoom rate against other zooms. Should I try upgrading. Most of my experience with 16 is shooting with a bolex (Rex II with switar primes). Thanks Roy