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Canon 814 XL Manual Exposure


Zacary Caine

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Hello I recently picked up a Canon 814 XL and I have many questions about film speed and manual exposure.

 

To start,

 

Most of the time I'm going to be using Kodak film stock.

50D

200T

500T

 

I understand these are ASA speeds correct?

I read my cameras manual and i noticed that it does not read any of these film speeds.

 

Artificial - 25 40 64 100 160 250 400

Daylight - 16 25 40 64 100 160 250

 

 

My question is,

What will my camera read it as then?

What does this mean for my auto exposure and manual exposure?

 

I've read some things in these forums about over exposing manually or underexposing, if thats the case, how do i go about doing that?

 

If someone could explain f-stops to me, or refer me to a video or something that would be great!

I've seen a few videos on the subject but I'm still a little confused how f-stops and film speed coincide, and how to underexpose and overexpose, things like that.

 

Another question.

 

I've read about a notch hack that you can do to the Tungsten stocks to disable the filter.

 

My question is,

Why would you want to do a notch hack on a Tungsten stock when the internal filter corrects it for you?

 

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Those are ASA speeds. Well if it does not read any of those speeds and you're using 50T, 200T & 500T stock then you should be fine.

 

F stops is how wide open the iris is. Google f stop and go on images. There you will see what changing the lenses f stop does to the iris (sometimes called the entrance pupil). Bigger the number then smaller the entrance pupil. Smaller the number then bigger the entrance pupil.

 

But there are tons of answers on Google and YouTube on f stops that are going to be more detailed than what I gave.

 

Film speed, ISO (sometimes called ASA) is just how sensitive to light the film stock or the digital sensor is.

So this is usually set first.

If you want to use 500T stock, you will set that on the camera (or a handheld light meter if you are using one). Then you change your f stop according to what the meter reads.

 

But remember that shutter speed also comes into play. I'm not sure how the Canon 814 XL works and therefore I do not know how to set any of these. Although I'm sure YouTube has a ton of vids telling you how to get a light reading.

 

Hope this helps.

 

I'm just wondering, have you shot on a camera before? Do you have access to a DSLR that you could play around with ISO, F Stops and shutter speed before shooting on Super 8? This might be a better way of learning before going to shoot on film.

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Ya I agree with Dan. I think it'd be best to read up on the basics of photography first before shooting film, let alone Super 8, given its inherent cost.

 

With that said, Super 8 WAS created to be fairly user friendly and you're in luck, that's a great camera. I have one myself. It should read 50D as 40 (totally fine), 200T as 160 (totally fine) and 500T as 400 (totally fine). So basically... shoot away on auto exposure. I wouldn't even worry about manual exposure at this point. Some people may scoff but I almost always shoot on autoexposure.

 

No need for notch hacks as the latest film from Kodak (Vision3) will allow you to switch the filter out as need be. But I generally stick with it as it was originally meant. To simplify... Enable the filter while outside and disable while inside. Or you can just always have it disabled and it can be easily corrected in the scan these days.

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I'm just wondering, have you shot on a camera before? Do you have access to a DSLR that you could play around with ISO, F Stops and shutter speed before shooting on Super 8? This might be a better way of learning before going to shoot on film.

 

Thank you so much for your reply!

I do have access do a DSLR and even a few film cameras but honestly I haven't really messed around with any manual settings.

Haha i just thought getting into super 8 would be a good time to learn.

But you're right, i might fiddle around with my other camera a little more.

 

 

With that said, Super 8 WAS created to be fairly user friendly and you're in luck, that's a great camera. I have one myself. It should read 50D as 40 (totally fine), 200T as 160 (totally fine) and 500T as 400 (totally fine). So basically... shoot away on auto exposure. I wouldn't even worry about manual exposure at this point. Some people may scoff but I almost always shoot on autoexposure.

 

Haha yeah honestly I was going to just use the autoexposure for now but I wanted to get into using the manual to really get everything out of the camera, ya know.

 

Also, since you have this camera, how would you describe the low light capabilities of this camera? That's one the main reasons why I picked up this camera.

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Also, since you have this camera, how would you describe the low light capabilities of this camera? That's one the main reasons why I picked up this camera.

 

I've only shot with the camera in bright light but I have shot with its sibling, the Canon 814XL-S and the low light capabilities are really great. Throw a cartridge of 500T in there and make sure the dial for shutter angle is on the window (shaped like a box) and not the sun so that the shutter speed is lower and you can really get some solid low light footage. I shot this is a dark loft. I've also used a 514XL and 500T and literally shot in a cave that had fairly low lighting. Autoexposure at that point just opens the aperture up all the way. Not the sharpest footage with low light but it works.

 

But ya, I'd definitely mess around with your digital SLR first. To get comfortable with what ISO/ASA, aperture, shutter speed/shutter angle and some of that means if you want to really want to know how to understand photography and manual exposure. Super 8 can easily be shot on autoexposure though and gets great results so don't stress too much.

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Zac, your camera should do fine in lower light but it's not just the camera, but the film stock as well. My concern about the camera you have is the lack of 24fps. The 814 XLS, 814 AZ and 814 AZ Electronic do shoot 24fps. All of them have a fast aperture of f/1.4 and I think yours has both 220° and 150° shutter angles. Use 220° in low light if you need it keeping in mind you will have more motion blur. Also, use 200T or 250D film stocks in low light if you don't mind the extra grain.

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I shot this is a dark loft. I've also used a 514XL and 500T and literally shot in a cave that had fairly low lighting. Autoexposure at that point just opens the aperture up all the way. Not the sharpest footage with low light but it works.

 

Wow! Nick, nice stuff!

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Thanks Dave and Dan! That's probably some of the cleanest/sharpest low light I've shot. Luckily I added some light to the set up. The 814XL-S has a hell of a lens. Also the 2K scan from Gamma Ray was top notch. Best scans I've ever gotten.

 

But Super 8 in low light does have its limits. I shot this wedding in a ridiculously low light venue where you could seriously barely see the couple with your own 2 eyes and they didn't want any other lighting so I shot on a Beaulieu 1008XL (220º shutter) at 9fps with a f1.2 lens and 500T pushed one stop. So pretty much everything one can do to help without actually adding light. It did manage to miraculously capture an image but it was grainy as all get-out so I minimized using that footage it in the edit. You can see the ceremony at around 2:35. The 814XL should probably perform similarly.

 

Also Dan as a sidenote, I like shooting at 18fps. Keeps it true to the medium in my amateur opinion and is more budget friendly to this wallet-strapped shooter. It's a little tricky in editing sometimes but not awful.

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Also Dan as a sidenote, I like shooting at 18fps. Keeps it true to the medium in my amateur opinion and is more budget friendly to this wallet-strapped shooter. It's a little tricky in editing sometimes but not awful.

The wedding film looks great as well!

Super 8 is great and you're right about the 18fps. I'm sure it helps.

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Thanks for the comments guys!

 

Also, use 200T or 250D film stocks in low light if you don't mind the extra grain.

 

I was planning on using 200T or even 500T for low light stuff, I'll look into 250D

 

 

I shot this is a dark loft. I've also used a 514XL and 500T and literally shot in a cave that had fairly low lighting. Autoexposure at that point just opens the aperture up all the way. Not the sharpest footage with low light but it works.

 

 

This looks really great! I'm excited to shoot with this camera now!

 

Unfortunately I received the camera and I have a few concerns.

Everything works perfectly fine but I opened up the back, pulled the trigger and looked through the shutter and i saw a little black spot

Will this show up in my footage? I think i already know the answer but I wanna hear what you guys have to say.

Is there any way to fix this?

The spot is completely stationary, lens is completely clean though, so is the eyepeice.

 

I tried to upload a photo but idk how this thing works haha.

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