Super 8 Ektachrome 100D A Stop Low?

[braxus]

I was wanting to buy some of the new Ektachrome Super 8 100D for my stash. Though 35mm seems to be okay, I have been seeing reports on Super 8 the new Ektachrome is too dark at 100ISO, and they tried exposing at 64ISO and it came out ok. Has anyone else noticed this? He also tested the old Ektachrome 100D and Provia 100 and those exposed normally at 100ISO. So what is with the new Ektachrome? Anyone else notice this issue?

 

[John Salim]

No, the film is absolutely not 'dark'.
It's down to you to set the correct exposure for your camera.
Remember most super 8 cameras ( 30+ years old ) were originally designed for a few speeds - many only for 40 ISO tungsten and 160 ISO daylight.

Simply loading a modern 100D cartridge straight into an old camera won't necessarily set the metering and filter system correctly - and you'll end up with wrong exposures !
Do some research on your camera and check if it'll set ( or if you can manually set it ) for 100 ISO daylight.

John S

 

[braxus]

I never said I was the one doing the test. I have only seen examples posted online. The reviewer stated he set all 3 films the same exposure between them- all 100 ISO. Yet when getting the new 100D back, it was the only one which was dark. He manually set exposure for each shot.

 

[Agulliver]

I haven't used the new Ektachrome nor seen the reviews of the super 8 version that you mention.

But....with the old 100D, my Elmo Super 110 and Beaulieu 10008XL would automatically meter it correctly - which I usually confirmed via manual metering. It was spot on.

I'm surprised to learn that the new 100D seems dark in super 8, as usually the problem was over-exposure leading to washed out shots.

Assuming the actual material is the same as the 135 film, how have people found that reacts at 100ISO exposure? I've not read anything about it being dark.

 

[John Salim]

Super 8mm film is coated on the same base as 35mm ( which is why it's not available on thinner base 120 yet ).16mm should be introduced later this year.

People saying their results are dark are unfortunately under-exposing their film !
If you use a decent exposure meter and know your camera's shutter angle & running speed, you can work out the aperture.

I've processed a lot of 100D ( old and new type - cine and stills ) and results vary from 'spot on' ( ie... commercially shot ) to ( sadly ) 'dire'. This is usually where people have bought a super 8 camera off eBay, bought some film and assumed everything will be fine - normally un-tested of course.
Result..... an expensive mistake.

John S

 

[Agulliver]

Good point about shutter angles.I believe I've encountered Braxus elsewhere and he knows what he's doing....but did the person testing the E100D in super 8 know about shutter angles in super 8 cameras and therefore set their meter correctly?

IIRC the old 100D super 8 cartridges were correctly notched for those cameras capable of reading all available notches. I am yet to sample the new Ektachrome

 

[guangong]

Cinematography.com has an excellent comparison of Super 8 Ektachromm D100, along with comparisons with older Ektachrome and Fuji. Film looks great.
Cheaper Super 8 cameras were only able to work with 160 tungsten which was converted to 40 asa daylight using a filter (the “sun” symbol). Converting daylight film to tungsten is not practical. As noted by Agulliver, the better cameras read notches in cassette. How many notches varied from camera to camera. I have a list of what cameras read what notches, but too lazy to look for it. Recently shot a roll of D100 in my Nizo Professional and ready to send for processing. My Zeiss Movieflex (the RollesRoyce of Super8 cameras) can handle any conceivable notches; asa is dialed in manually on my Beaulieu, so notches don’t matter.
What I am really waiting for is Ektachrome D100 in 16 mm. If Ektachrome:BW cost ratio is as close as price of BW 16mm, the difference in cost between Super8 and 16mm Ek D100 would not be that great. What is lost with 16mm is compactness of S8 cameras.