Jump to content

Apollo 11 Home Movie Bolex D8L Kodachrome 25


Dennis Toeppen

Recommended Posts

Maybe some of you will enjoy this glimpse into the Apollo 11 launch, 50 years ago next week:

https://vimeo.com/322987365

The film was shot mostly with a Bolex D8L. Launch footage alternated between the D8L and a B8. You can see that the aperture plates were slightly different.

I've been shooting 16mm lately, in the home movie genre. Whenever I watch my dad's stuff, I realize he was a much more skilled filmmaker than I. I just wish he'd switched from 8mm to 16mm long before he did, in April 1976.

  • Like 1
  • Upvote 2
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Premium Member

A great example of the quiet artistry you can sometimes find in home movies. That film beautifully shows the Apollo 11 launch from the perspective of what must have been many American families’ experience - a road trip culminating in the exciting spectacle of watching history being made. Great stuff, thanks Dennis! 

Nice scan, too. Shows how good well exposed Standard 8 can look and the quality of those tiny Bolex cameras and lenses.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Great home movie of an important time in history. Thank you for showing it. Yes I agree, great scan and it shows off the quality of the cameras and lenses. Looks better than a lot of Super 8 I've seen. Your Dad was a good cameraman, as you say. Where did you get your film scanned?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

14 hours ago, Jon O'Brien said:

Great home movie of an important time in history. Thank you for showing it. Yes I agree, great scan and it shows off the quality of the cameras and lenses. Looks better than a lot of Super 8 I've seen. Your Dad was a good cameraman, as you say. Where did you get your film scanned?

Thank you.

I had CinePost (www.posthouse.com) scan all his 8mm stuff in 2012. They seem understand the home movie market well and their colorist makes good decisions and compromises. They consistently deliver nice looking files. Unfortunately, all the scans I have are SD. I guess I'll have to do another round. But I don't really feel like there is more than about 2k in an 8mm frame, if that. 

I just went to Apollo 11 "flashback" event at Kennedy Space Center. It was interesting and very, very, very hot and humid.

Edited by Dennis Toeppen
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...