Jump to content

Super-8 total costs in 2018


Samuel Berger

Recommended Posts

If you use the same care that you exercise in filming, editing, and handling of Super 8mm, THEN you could also process the film yourself and save a significant amount. Granted, it may not be for everyone, but back at the tender age of 13 I realized that I could save tons by processing my own still films, and shortly after movie films (Kodachrome notwithstanding of course). The cost of the equipment needed will be rapidly returned to you over the first several rolls of film you process. At the moment, there isn't much to be done about the high cost of film, since this is sort of a niche market and we're glad just to have film available. Figure a cost of $5 per roll to process it yourself (slightly more or less depending on B&W or Color Reversal or Color Neg), and your own labor.....you will be way ahead financially. The other cost you'll be saving also is the postage costs back and forth, which add up rapidly, especially for small orders!

 

I suppose it's a good thing that not everyone does this or we'd risk losing the few labs left supporting the film processing industry. However, I'm sure they will continue to have their 8mm, 16mm and 35mm customers. I'm hoping for bulk film to be released eventually in Double Super 8mm, which can then be slit down to Super 8mm and self loaded in a variety of cartridges, both Super 8mm and Single-8 ones. It may be some time before this pleasantry happens, but it is a possibility especially once 16mm film goes into production, via a Special Order option with KODAK.

 

Lastly, there is still tons of expired film out there in the hands of many an enthusiast. The frozen stocks would fare better of course, but I see lots on eBay all the time, and have bought quite a bit of it myself to experiment with. Sadly, some sellers think that their closet stored 30+ year old Super 8mm filmstock is worth a small fortune, what with the increased interest in this gauge. You can always make them an offer, if allowed. And most of these films can be self processed as well. There are various methods available to process your own film, so it doesn't have to be expensive if you can't afford the sometimes pricey LOMO tanks.

  • Upvote 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Taking into account what Martin says, there are also excellent expired films that still give good results.

I wanted to ask at Lee: I'm always tempted to take the Soviet films (not the DDR) like the Svema OCh-50 you mention. But I knew that they had a proprietary development, and I know only osome laboratories that want to develop them. Do you know about Svema (or similar Soviets) that can be developed in E6 or some other easy way? The same goes for the black and white Soviets.
Link to comment
Share on other sites

Long time ago using the film stock Svema OCh-50 but I seem to remember it was a 12 step processing it from 1st B&W developer to drying. Fortunate many of these out of date films are still around to try out and see what we get back. It looks like the old silent films as I say very Nosferatu and ideal for my project back then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks, Lee. It's true, many expired particoulars film are in ebay at similar. The time or the different emulsion type make them have characteristics for certain projects.

I invite those who use films from the Easter Bloc, Svema, Tasma, etc., to post impressions (even laboratories where they can develop them, results ...) I would be interested. :)
Also in the forum section film stocks and processing. :)
Edited by Luigi Castellitto
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Any word on the release of Kodak's new Super 8 camera? I'm quite interested in it, and I'm hoping it will be released by Christmas, but I have no idea. I've also heard widely varying reports of the cost (anywhere between ($400-$2000). If it's anything near the latter, that is deeply disappointing.

 

[sorry if this is a bit off topic, but I figured we had discussed this earlier, and this is too small to start a new thread.]

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

Any word on the release of Kodak's new Super 8 camera? I'm quite interested in it, and I'm hoping it will be released by Christmas, but I have no idea. I've also heard widely varying reports of the cost (anywhere between ($400-$2000). If it's anything near the latter, that is deeply disappointing.

 

[sorry if this is a bit off topic, but I figured we had discussed this earlier, and this is too small to start a new thread.]

 

It will be expensive. I would expect it to be at least $1600, probably more. But honestly, if they can make it sturdy and reliable it's not an unreasonable price for what they are doing and all the work that has gone into it, it's just wouldn't make financial sense to us die-hard users when top of the line Super 8 cameras can still be had for $500 or so...cheap ones for $10.

 

They'll be going after a different crowd than us probably. However, throwing on my f1.2 6-90 Angenieux lens from my Beaulieu 4008 zm II anniversary edition might be fun. Although without an optical viewfinder I'm not sure how focus will work.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...