Camera recommendations?

[Scott Morrison]

I'm looking to buy a new super 8 camera. I'd like something that's fairly light and small like the Canon Auto Zoom 318, which I've got, but something which also has a fair amount of functions. I've borrowed a Sankyo camera before and loved the results of the film I shot on it, but I've noticed some Sankyo models only register certain types of films, are there any Sankyo models which would be worth buying?.

 

I've been researching but can't seem to find many and so I was just wondering if anyone here might have a good model to recommend (something that still shoots well and is reliable after x amount of decades would be good!) before I spend a bit of money on one.

 

Thanks.

[Scott Morrison]

I should probably add, I'm a student at the moment, so have a relatively low budget of around £50-100 for a camera

[Simon Wyss]

Scott, there is no new Super-8 camera on the market. The latest new such product was the danish Logmar. You can detect new old stock somewhere, cameras made in the 1980s or so. Kodak has announced a new Super-8 camera a while ago, we all wait for it with the exception of myself.

 

Now I am a mechanical guy dyed-in-the-wool. Plastic and electronics are not my cup of coffee, not even the Giotto besides it. My recommendation would be to leave Super in favour of Regular. You have tons of Double-Eight film cameras and projectors on trade places for little money. You have black-and-white stocks as well as a few color emulsions available in Double 8. Pick a Bell & Howell Filmo 8, preferably a turret model, most preferably a GB-Bell & Howell 605. These have three D-mount threads and a critical focuser. Together with a focusing alignment gauge as it was named you enter the macro realm down to objects touching the lens. If you need extension tubes, come back to me.

 

Else I could offer you different Paillard-Bolex H-8 Reflex models with primes or a zoom lens. My cameras are completely overhauled and I give a two years warranty. Paillard-Bolex pocket cameras are on my shelf, too, B8 and C8 models. But a Zeiss-Ikon Movikon 8 might also be fun to play around with. That camera offers free access to the film gate. You can focus on the film itself (black-white print stock) or on a piece of matted blank film.

[Chris Burke]

This is on Super8arena.com

 

http://super8arena.com/sankyo-xl-210-supertronic-p-155.html

[Mark Baldry]

I would recommend something like a leicina rt1

Ask questions to make sure it's working.

But they have quite a few advanced features, built like tanks and shoot nice images. You can pick them up quite cheaply.

 

Have a look on http://www.super8wiki.com lots of info on makes and models, some with reviews.

 

Let us know how you get on. Good luck

[Brad Jashinsky]

I recommend saving up just a bit more to purchase a Canon 814 Autozoom Electronic. I started with the Canon 310XL and recently upgraded to a Canon 814 Autozoom Electronic. I purchased one on eBay for $150. You can shoot single frame, 18, 24 and 40 FPS. It offers both auto and manual exposure. Unlike some models, the 814 Autozoom Electronic doesn't require button cell batteries for the light meter.

[Gareth Blackstock]

Keep researching, yashica, Elmo, and sankyo produced great cameras, but research which ones accept modern super8. What do you want from a camera? Canons are great, but unless you spend big, you won't know which of its many functions still work.

The 814 is cheaper than the 1014, difference? Longer zoom. Don't zoom, walk closer...

The cream cameras of most brands offered more features, a top of the line Elmo may offer same functions of the canon for quarter the price.

Good luck....