Super 8

[Ektagraphic]

Hi-
Is there anyone out there still shooting super 8? I just picked up a camera and some film and I can't wait to have it processed!!

 

[2F/2F]

I have shot standard 8mm with Kodaks, Nizos, and 16mm on a Bolex, but just got a Minolta Super 8 camera as well. Should be fun while it lasts!

 

[Ektagraphic]

Have you used the Ektachrome 64T or did you shoot Kodachrome?

 

[alan doyle]

yes i shoot a little,it is great fun shame about the kodachrome s8.
still think it was the best ever cine film.
this is some of my old super 8 work.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tZo7IusGkmg

and if you check out ebay uk some kodachrome s8 and 16mm is listed

 

[Kevin Caulfield]

Alan, that is superb footage, masterfully edited. Very well done!

 

[Ektagraphic]

Great Alan! What were you using for a camera?

 

[2F/2F]

Have you used the Ektachrome 64T or did you shoot Kodachrome?

Hello,

None of the above!

I shot Plus-X, Tri-X, Ektachrome 100D, F64D (the only Fuji film I have used), 250D, 200T, and 500T!

I can get all this stock and get it processed locally for reasonable rates with same-day turnaround. Not true for Kodachrome. I also prefer the color response and contrast of Ektachrome and the color neg. varieties I tried. Kodachrome does have its "look", but I prefer these other films.

I do have one roll of Kodachrome 25 standard 8 sitting here. It expired in 1979. I'll shoot it some time and see what happens.

Has Kodachrome 64 been discontinued as a motion film?

My main use of motion picture films has been:

1. shooting performances; mainly for friends (this is where the Tri-X, 200T, and 500T were used - then scanned and AVID)
2. "experimental" projects that are far closer to still photo work than film work (mostly Plus-X and Ektachrome 100D - usually a mix of in-camera editing and manual splicing, and projected)
3. required school projects (F64D, 250D, 200T, and Plus-X - then scanned and AVID)

 

[Tom Kershaw]

Does anyone here process their own Super8 film?

I've seen the Lomo tanks on eBay but they seem to have limited availability.

Tom.

 

[Ektagraphic]

I don't even have a darkroom. Do you process your own?

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I have not processed my own Super8 film but am interested in doing so. B&W reversal to begin with.

Tom.

 

[alan doyle]

Great Alan! What were you using for a camera?

nizos,canon and my favorite the leicina special rare and quite expensive,it takes leica m lens.

check this out a unique quick experiment..
you buy a bulk load of 35mm ilford xp2 and lovely agfa apx 25,cut it up and put it in some super 8 cartridges.
click on hd for better quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o2FGm_FyXs&feature=channel_page

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

There are a few of us fiddling around, and a few doing more serious work, with small gauge cine cameras. There are a few dispersed threads on 8mm, S8, and 16mm film shooting and processing, and a social group at--

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

The social group can be a little more flexible about topics like telecine and digital editing than we generally are in the regular forums.

 

[Tom Kershaw]

you buy a bulk load of 35mm ilford xp2 and lovely agfa apx 25,cut it up and put it in some super 8 cartridges.

How do you prepare the cartridge (slicing up the film, insertion etc.)?

Tom.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

There are some reusable S8 cartridges that were in the Soviet Union. Sometimes they come up on eBay.

I think the biggest problem with slicing up other film is going to be perforation. There are companies that slice down and repackage film, so maybe they could do it.

 

[David A. Goldfarb]

check this out a unique quick experiment..
you buy a bulk load of 35mm ilford xp2 and lovely agfa apx 25,cut it up and put it in some super 8 cartridges.
click on hd for better quality.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0o2FGm_FyXs&feature=channel_page

This looks fantastic. Hard to believe it's S8 and the sync is great. APX25 was such an amazing film.

 

[Ektagraphic]

Dwayne's will be putting it to DVD for me for only $9! Does anyone know how good they are?

 

[alan doyle]

This looks fantastic. Hard to believe it's S8 and the sync is great. APX25 was such an amazing film.

on the first clip the mother of all clips...at the end 12mins in.
shot of the guy leaning against the car pulling back to reveal the women that was agfa apx 25 as well.
had about 10 rolls made using the old russian cartridges.
i remember being in the telecine suite,when the apx 25 stuff came up everyone gasped,at full resolution on an 8000 dollar sony monitor it looked amazing. even with a super 8 size frame it had a seriously fine grain.
i pleaded with agfa to give me 400ft and 1000ft rolls of 35mm but the company was not interested as they were in financial trouble.
i now wish,i had got some made into 16mm as this film was beautiful.

 

[Tjibs]

May I ask how you cut down the film, and how you managed to get the sprocket holes in correctly? It does look gorgeous.

I shoot a fair bit of Super 8 and process most of it myself (Both color and black and white, but haven't tried negative stocks yet.) Depending on what's needed I take out the Canon 814Xl-s, Beaulieu 4008ZMII, or a Nizo S800 (Why can't more cameras have the ability to open op the shutter fully? It's capable of some amazing results..)

I have not processed my own Super8 film but am interested in doing so. B&W reversal to begin with.

Tom.

I would actually advice doing color reversal first, as it's quite a bit easier compared to B&W reversal, considering there's no re-exposing needed in color development. Temperature is always the key, though. And loading correctly can be quite tricky.. Good luck!

 

[alan doyle]

May I ask how you cut down the film, and how you managed to get the sprocket holes in correctly? It does look gorgeous.


i got super 8 sound/PRO 8 california to do a load of stocks,but i had big problems with dirt and unstable images. and bad customer service.
i spent a fortune.i then found a batch of russian cartridges that you could open,and found an old geezer in a film lab near notting hill london.
the lab was a motion picture lab and they had big old slitter perf machine.
he did all the work for 5 pounds a roll.
the lab has now gone and i do not know what happened to the machine.
the film had excellent stability.
the stocks i had made into super 8 were.
agfa apx 25
agfa apx 100
ilford xp2
ilford pan f
ilford hp5
ilford sfx
fuji velvia
fuji provia 100 and 400

 

[Tom Kershaw]

I would actually advice doing color reversal first, as it's quite a bit easier compared to B&W reversal, considering there's no re-exposing needed in color development. Temperature is always the key, though. And loading correctly can be quite tricky.. Good luck!

That is probably a good idea, but I'd still need a physical mechanism / contraption to develop the film. An altered Jobo reel might be preferable from my point of view.

Tom.

 

[Ektagraphic]

There are a few of us fiddling around, and a few doing more serious work, with small gauge cine cameras. There are a few dispersed threads on 8mm, S8, and 16mm film shooting and processing, and a social group at--

(there was a url link here which no longer exists)

The social group can be a little more flexible about topics like telecine and digital editing than we generally are in the regular forums.

Thanks! I just joined the group. I am starting to explor a whole new world !

 

[Michael W]

Dwayne's will be putting it to DVD for me for only $9! Does anyone know how good they are?

I just had 3 cartridges of K40 done at Dwayne's & considered having them transfer it. I did some searching & at the filmshooting forum read a couple of reports that said their transfer quality is not good. So in the end I went for process only. I'd rather pay extra for a professional quality telecine job if any of the footage is good, rather than $9 for something I can't use.

 

[2F/2F]

Thanks! I just joined the group. I am starting to explor a whole new world !

Don't neglect standard 8 as an option as well. Frame size is a little bit smaller, but some extremely good cameras and lenses were made for the format, such as the Bolex H8 Reflex with three-lens turret. It is actually 16mm stock (though it is perfed differently) that is run through the camera once in each direction, each time exposing only half the film's width. During processing, it is slit down the middle and the two halves are spliced at the ends. This is all my family ever shot, and all I have ever shot as well (for 8mm, anyhow). As I mentioned, I just got the camera in which I am going to try Super 8 for the first time.

 

[Ektagraphic]

Actually, I just aquired an really neat old Keystone 8mm camera that I can't wait to try! I thought I should support both!

 

[Ektagraphic]

Where have you had your 8mm processed? Do you have it telecined?