Kodak Vision 500T

[Michael Ryan]

Hello All,

 

I'm shooting some test footage on an old Kodak K100 16mm camera and I need some help with filters.

 

I shot some Kodak Plus-X with this camera and got some excellent results which I will post a link to the footage when I get it back from the transfer house [i got it transferred to miniDV by Forever on DVD for .15 cents per foot, no set up fee or any other fees which makes it an excellent deal. I sent the tape so the only other charge was for postage. However, they only do reversal no negative].

 

I want to test some 500T and I have a bit of a problem. The Kodak spec sheet says to use an 85 filter. But I can't find an 85 filter in the kind of filters the K100 takes (series 6 filters from the '50s). Any ideas how I can get an 85 filter on the front of the lens. I want to shoot a little footage in the daylight to see what it looks like.

 

The test footage I want to shoot at night will be in a city settings with street lights and store sign lights only. Any thoughts or suggestions. What F stop? It's just a test (no sound) so should I shoot at 16fps or 24fps?

 

Mike

[Charles MacDonald]

I want to test some 500T and I have a bit of a problem. The Kodak spec sheet says to use an 85 filter. But I can't find an 85 filter in the kind of filters the K100 takes (series 6 filters from the '50s). Any ideas how I can get an 85 filter on the front of the lens. I want to shoot a little footage in the daylight to see what it looks like.

An 85A filter should be not too hard to find in seris 6 - as it was used for Tungsten Kodachrome in daylight. the 85A is "close" and well within the adjustmant that you would use in transfering and prrinting. it might just be called a "kodachome" or an "a" filter.

[David Mullen ASC]

Technically you would use an 85B to correct 5500K to 3200K, but Kodak tends to just use the term "85" in most of their publications.

[Michael Nash]

The test footage I want to shoot at night will be in a city settings with street lights and store sign lights only. Any thoughts or suggestions. What F stop? It's just a test (no sound) so should I shoot at 16fps or 24fps?

 

As a rough guide you should be able to get a slightly dark exposure at f 1.3, 24fps with 7218. Your lenses probably don't open that wide, so there's only so much you can do. 16fps will give you 2/3 stop more exposure.

[Saul Rodgar]

I want to test some 500T and I have a bit of a problem. The Kodak spec sheet says to use an 85 filter. But I can't find an 85 filter in the kind of filters the K100 takes (series 6 filters from the '50s). Any ideas how I can get an 85 filter on the front of the lens. I want to shoot a little footage in the daylight to see what it looks like.

 

The test footage I want to shoot at night will be in a city settings with street lights and store sign lights only. Any thoughts or suggestions. What F stop? It's just a test (no sound) so should I shoot at 16fps or 24fps?

 

Mike

 

If you want to use 500T during anything else than dawn/ dusk daylight you will need plenty-to-some ND on top of the 85B, unless you want over exposure. The problem with using too much ND on a lens is that it gets hard to see through the viewfinder, especially at f11-16.

 

Try to find the closest diameter filter to your lens and you can make it fit with ring adaptors, step-up, or down. As a last resort, you can jerry-rig some filter in front of your lens with gaffer's tape, but 'tis non-standard and problematic at best. So I'd try to get ring adaptors first.

 

As to the night footage I would incident read the light from your street lights and go from there. But of course that's up to you and what you want exposed as middle gray, and what you find acceptable in terms of contrast, etc. Or spot meter your picture and judge from there. Michael Nash explains it very well above. I generally want my negative as well exosed and with the right density as possible. You can always tweak it in post. The style and look you are going for, though, well that's up to you. But I wouldn't shoot 16 fps on 16 mm unless you really need more f-stop and you don't mind /or are going for the faster-than-live-action- look, think old Chaplin Charlot-style movies here.