Category:FAQ

From Super8wiki

Jump to: navigation, search

Contents

[edit] Introduction to the 8mm formats

Here is a link to a useful graphic: Regular 8 and Super 8 frame diagram

[edit] Super 8

The most recent change in small format filmmaking came in 1965 with the introduction of a new film format - Super-8mm film (sometimes also called "8mm Type S" or "8mm Type Super"). The new film had been proposed by the Eastman Kodak Company in 1962. The standard 8mm film had been derived by dividing the 16mm film in half. The result was that in proportion to the small frame size, an inordinate amount of the film's area was non-picture - perforations, frame lines, and so on. The new format was designed to make more efficient use of the film, by reducing the size of the perforations, and moving them nearer the edge of the film. By this means, the picture area was increased by 50%. Space down the edge opposite to the perforations was available for a sound track. The new film was launched in May 1965 in the form of a cartridge containing 50 feet (15.2 meters) of the new 8mm wide film. To load the camera, the cartridge was merely inserted, with no threading. A range of Kodak Instamatic Movie cameras were introduced at the same time, and very soon a wide variety of apparati was available from other manufacturers. There have been a number of technical advances incorporated into the design of Super-8mm apparati in recent years. Special wide-aperature lenses, long exposure shutters, and high speed films are just a few. Today, for a very modest outlay, the Super-8mm filmmaker has at his disposal a sophiscated system for recording movement, sound, and color of which the pioneers could have only dreamed. Wordsworth Donisthorpe's hope of talking, moving pictures in color, expressed in 1878, has in a hundred years become available to all.

(copied from http://www.city-net.com/~fodder/s8mm/index.html with the author's kind permission)

You can tell this film apart from Standard 8 because the sprocket holes are aligned with center of each frame. More information on What is Super 8 film.

s8_systeem.gif Super 8 system by Kodak

[edit] Single 8

In 1965 Fuji introduced the "Single 8"-film which is nothing else than "Super 8"-dimension film in a totally different cartridge. The "Single 8"-cartridges do have some advantages (complete rewind possible, pressure plate in the camera, ...), but most companies stuck with the "yellow giant" (a.k.a. Kodak): Agfa and Konica never released their "Single 8"-films and only Elmo, Konica, Yashica and Canon joined Fuji in producing "Single 8"-cameras.

single8_systeem.gif Single 8 system by Fuji

External link to a "What is Single 8"-text.

[edit] Standard / Regular / Double 8

The original 8mm format, sometimes called "Standard 8", "Double 8", "Regular 8mm" or "Normal 8". When the film is run through the camera it is 16mm wide with Standard 8 perforations on each side. Meant to be slit down the middle after processing into 8mm width. You can recognize this film as the sprocket holes are aligned with the line between frames.
There are a few Russian cameras (Ekran 1 and Ekran 3) that don't match this standard and only take material with the width of 8mm (= the film has to be split before insertion into the camera instead of after processing). But this format is an extremely rare, Russian only one and those "pre-split" films seem to be out of production. There have also been some German and US-American companies that produced cameras for 8mm-wide "Regular 8"-film that came in cartridges. However those cartridges are out of production for several decades as well.

[edit] Double Super 8

16mm wide with Super 8 perforations on each side. Meant to be slit after processing into Super 8.
This format has got all advantages of the "Single 8"-format (pressure plate in the camera, fully rewindable, ...), but doesn't come in cartridges like "Single 8"/"Super 8". Hence it's more difficult to insert into the camera.

[edit] Film

This section has been moved here....

[edit] Cameras

  • When using a 35mm-still-photography-lens on your C-mount Super8-camera, you'll have to multiply the lense's zoom-range by 6.5. E.g. a 28-100mm lens will act like a 182-650mm lens on your Super8-camera.
  • Coin cells (needed for some older cameras for the lightmeter):
    • film.project-consultant.net modifies cameras so that they don't need any coin cells anymore
    • WeinCell Batteries' list of coin cells and their new modell-numbers
    • Shops that sell/ship those coin cells can be found in this FAQ's "equipment"-section
    • Some adapters (incl. some DIY) for using new coin cells (with different form factors) can be found in this PDF-file

[edit] Projectors

[edit] Editing

[edit] Widescreen and Anamorphic Format

[edit] Anamorphic Lenses for 8mm Applications

An anamorphic lens compresses the image that is photographed thru it in one plane only. Upon projection thru the same lens or a lens of similar compression, the image will expand to its Widescreen projection "aspect ratio."

[edit] Enlarged gate

Another technique for widescreen is to enlarge the gate in the camera and projector or the telecine/scanner. This has been recently referred to as Super-Duper 8 or Max 8.

[edit] Scaled down gates

Another technique for widescreen is to reduce the size of used film per frame by scaling down the gates in the camera and projector or the telecine/scanner. E.g. some newer Beaulieu-cameras do have view-finders with markings for the aspect ratios of 4:3 and 16:9 that match the Beaulieu 708EL-projectors with the corrresponding, changable gates.

[edit] Double Single 8

Double Single 8 by Jörg Polzfuß

[edit] 3D

  • You can get the best results when using two cameras and later two synchronized projectors. A webpage demonstrating this method. This method is also described in the book "Foundations of the Stereoscopic Cinema" by Lenny Lipton. It's available as a free download here.
  • Several filmers are using beam-splitters from 3D-photo-cameras, but this results in having 0.66 : 1 pictures instead of the usual 1.33 : 1 format. One of these splitters is still produced by Loreo, e.g.. A German page about beam-splitter-attachtments for still-photography.
  • Elmo released an attachment for some of its super 8 cameras and projectors. It created a wide screen effect by rotating the images so that they were foot to foot on one tiny super 8 frame. Similar attachments have been produced by Bolex and Elgeet for their 16mm-cameras. The results of shots made with these attachments have been put onto this DVD, e.g.. The Bolex device can be found in this PDF-file. And some more data about these 3D-units can be found in this article.

Image:Elmo3DUnit.JPG

  • In Germany/Austria/Switzerland the company Piccolo has released Super8-copies (shortened to 120m/400ft) of the 3D-films "Gefahr aus dem Weltall" ("It Came From Outer Space") and "Der Schrecken vom Amazonas" ("The Creature From The Black Lagoon"). Both films should have been released in the USA/Canada by Universal Eight. Anyway: those stereoscopic movies do have more or less good 3D-effects - as long as you wear one of those red-green/red-cyan-3D-glasses.
    It might be possible to make similar films using anaglyphic lenses designed for SLR-still-cameras. E.g. Vivitar's QDos lenses could be mounted to a C-mount Super8/Single8-camera with an adapter.

[edit] Sound

There are three ways to turn your Super8-film into a "talking movie":

  1. Magnetic soundstripe(s) on the film: This is the most common way. You're either
    1. only using the main soundtrack (the area left of the yellow line) for monophonic sound
    2. or both main and tolerance soundtrack (the later is in the area between the two violet lines) with the same monophonic sound. (Using the tolerance soundtrack might increase the quality a little bit.)
    3. or both main and tolerance soundtrack with different monophonic sounds (Duoplay): E.g. You can put the music onto the main soundtrack and add comments to the tolerance track.
    4. or use the main track for the left and the tolerance track for the right channel to get stereophonic sound
  2. Optical soundtrack: This is a not so common way since there are only a few projectors can play back the optical sound and there's only one known camera that can record sound this way: The FUJICA Single-8 ZS400, which is a Single8-camera and not a Super8 one. Nevertheless you can find some prints with an optical soundtrack (monophonic, using the area of the main magnetic stripe) since they've been cheaper to produce. E.g. several prints released by "Ullstein" and "Revue" (distributed up to the mid-80s by "Quelle", one of Europe's greatest mail order companies) do have an optical soundtrack. And last but not least: Several "in flight entertainment systems" used to show Super8-movies with optical sound. Some of these prints even do have two soundtracks (with the second one using the area of the magnetic tolerance track): one in English and the other one for another language (French, German, ...).
  3. Double system sound: The sound is played by a (more or less) synchronized tape-recoder, CD-player, record player, ... . There are several systems that archive a perfect synchronization with either the projector controlling the other gadget's speed or vice versa. The most common systems are the "Braun Visacustic", "Pötter Perfomat" and "Gebuhr Multisyn". Other systems - to be found at least in the Federal Republic of Germany: "Bröker" (by Bröker), "Casy" (by Ell-elec AG), "DS8" (by Grebenstein), "ETS" (by Volland), "HVS-Code-System" (by Hartmann KG), "Lisymat" (by Schurig), "Syn 2000" (by Gigge), "Synputer" (by Schmalstieg) and "Unisync" (by Wawra). In the former German Democratic Republic the VEB Metra Meß- und Frequenztechnik sold a lip-sync system called "multichron 8 s" that worked with a modified "RUSS"-projector and most reel-to-reel tape-recorders: 18fps-projection only, "9 beeps per second" stored on one of the two or four tracks of the tape that's payed at 9,53cm/s. All other amateur-systems available in 1981 in the GDR (and most likely all other Comecon-countries) haven't been lip-sync. In the USA Cresta Electronics sold a lip-sync-system called "Super Sim-Sync" that was also used to record sync'ed to a camera.
    When shooting a film with double system sound, you're either using a crystal sync'ed camera and a MiniDisc-/DAT-recorder or are wasting one of the four soundtracks on your tape-recorder to store a 50, 100 or 1000Hz "beep" each frame or only every 2nd or 4th frame. That "beep" is either generated by the camera itself or by a little "box" connected to the camera's flash-light-control. (Please remember that not all cameras do have such a flash-light-control!)

[edit] Transfer to Video or Digital

[edit] Books and Magazines

  • Atoll-Medien German and English books about projectors, splicers, cameras, ...
  • "Schmallfilm" German magazine for Super8/16mm/...-collectors and users. You can get some books here, too.
  • "Smallformat" English version of the above "Schmallfilm"
  • "Super 8 Today" A new U.S. magazine, completey devoted to Super 8
  • "PhotoDeal" German magazine for camera-collectors that sometimes contains articles about Super8/Single8-cameras, too
  • BDFA's "Film & Video" German magazine for film- and videomakers
  • "Cine 8-16" German magazine for filmmakers and -collectors
  • "Der NEUER SUPER 8 SAMMLER" German magazine for filmcollectors, mainly consisting of classifieds
  • "film actuell" German magazine with news about the non-commercial movie-production in Germany
  • "Videokamera Objektiv" German magazine, mainly about video, but sometimes contains Super8-news, too
  • Ivan Watson’s "Manual of Successful Movie Making" English book that can be ordered with some Super8-related extra-chapters
  • List of movie-books at filmshooting.com English, Norwegian, Dutch, ...
  • "The Collector's Guide to Cine Cameras" by John Wade at Hove Books (September 2001), English, ISBN-10: 1897802188, ISBN-13: 978-1897802182 (available at e.g. amazon.de)
  • "Manual der Filmkameratechnik" by Matthias Uhlig at Camera Obscura (May 2007), German, ISBN-10: 398075331X, ISBN-13: 978-3980753319 (available at e.g. amazon.de)

[edit] Lighting

[edit] Internet Resources and Links

[edit] Photography Basics

Exposure, shutter speed, depth of field, etc.

[edit] Time lapse

The most efficient and practical way of doing time lapse in super 8 is to use a camera with a built in interval timer. Many higher end super-8 cameras have this feature. If your camera does not have time lapse mode but has single frame you can still create time-lapse sequences as long as your camera has a single frame mode. Super-8 cameras have two modes for triggering single frame. One is via a contact switch found in low cost remote control units that many times come with a super-8 camera, or the camera may have a screw in cable release socket. You will have to use a stop watch for accurate time intervals. There are also some external interval timers, e.g. from Fuji or Canon, that can be used with a cable-release or electronic remote. There is no guarantee it will work however. When the camera hasn't got an internal interval timer or a single-frame option, it can't be used for doing a time lapse.

Recommended interval times: (Note, wide angle shots may require different intevals versus telephoto or medium shots).

  • pedestrians and traffic - 1 second intervals or less
  • clouds - intervals of anywhere between 4 and 15 seconds depending on the speed at which the clouds are moving
  • shadows - 1 minute intervals
  • opening of flowers - 1 minute intervals
  • sunset - 4 to 6 second intervals

Don't forget to mount the camera onto a tripod when doing a time lapse! ;-)

[edit] Accessories

Video taps, matte boxes, etc.

[edit] 60m/200ft-cartridges

[edit] Kodak

A long, long time ago,(1975-1997), Kodak released their "Super 8"-films in 15m/50ft-cartridges and in 60m/200ft-cartridges that ran in a lot of cameras. Unfortunately those days are gone.

[edit] Beaulieu SuperDrive SD8/60

Since Kodak has stopped their production of "larger cartridges", the only way to load 60m/200ft is to get a Beaulieu 6008 / 7008 / 9008 and the Beaulieu "SuperDrive SD8/60". Except for the latest "Beaulieu 9008 Quarz"-models the mentioned Beaulieus don't run "out of the box" with that SuperDrive - they need to get modified! There have been some announcements that other cameras that can handle Kodak's 60m-cartridges can be modified to work with the "SD8/60", too, e.g. the Nizo 6056/6080. But there are probably only two or three converted non-Beaulieu-cameras worldwide. This is because the main (or even only) company that did those conversions (Ritter, Mannheim, Germany) went out of business only a few months after the SuperDrive's introduction.
Image:Beaulieu SuperDrive SD8 60 small.pdf
German text about the SD8/60 with some pictures/animations

[edit] 120m/400ft-cartridges

[edit] Supermag 400

If 60m aren't enough or when your camera can't handle the above Beaulieu "SuperDrive SD8/60", you should take a look at the "Supermag 400". (The "Supermag 400" is now out of production and hence the web-page www.supermag400.com was sold to an advertising-company that hasn't got anything to do with filming. Nevertheless the old webpage is stored on archive.org:

[edit] Blimps / Sound Barneys

New Sound Barneys (a.k.a "Blimps") for a lot of cameras can be found here: http://www.super8cinema.com/sound_barneys.html and here: http://www.customupholsteryproducts.com/index.html . Here is an template to make your own blimp/barney from 1975. Of course most underwater-cases are more or less good sound barneys, too, and will allow you shooting in rain.

[edit] Filters

[edit] Cases/Bags

[edit] Problems with old bags/cases

Only a few days ago my Fujica ZC1000's "soft case" lost its "leather imitation": the paint used for the imitation suddenly glued to my hands/arms/T-shirt instead of remaining on the case. At least the camera wasn't affected!
This event made me remember the bag for the Elmo 103 (the bag was produced in 1970/1971): On the inside there was some foam to protect the camera in case of a collision. Suddenly the foam started to stick to the camera, hence I had to replace that bag. (This was an easy task since the 103 fits into most larger still-cameras bags.)
The bags for my Nizos/Canons are still fine, though.

[edit] Advices

  • Porta-Brace has some nice stuff but it's not cheap (soft cases). The Pelican hard cases are pretty good for travel, etc. I have a Canon aluminum hard case for my GL2 that is heavy but gives excellent protection (around $250 normally, I paid $100). Pelican hard cases with foam are under $100 at cases4less.com so they're really worth it (the smaller ones are $40 - $60).
  • As soon as getting any 'new', used equipment or bags, remove all the foam! It's so old it's useless anyway. Some bags have become apart on me as well without a single warning but I've found family members to mend them back together for me.
  • You should really keep your camera in an airtight hard case if you can, and use a soft case when you're out and about shooting. If you keep it exposed to the elements at all time (soft case) lens fungus and rust could develop, particularly in older lenses. In the hard case keep some moisture absorbant if you can (unless you live in a desert or something). Also, in old cases there is old leather, foam, etc... all a breeding ground for fungus and such.
  • Silica gel could be a must if you use the airtight Pelican type cases. Humidity that gets trapped in there won't leave otherwise, doing more harm than just keeping it in a normal bag.

[edit] Rewinders

There are two types of rewinders: One for rewinding processed films and one for rewinding unprocessed films in the cartridge for double-exposures, ... .

[edit] Reel rewinders

These rewinders normally consist of two reel holders that can be hand-cranked. They're only of limited use since you can rewind the film with your projector or viewer, too. Nevertheless they're good for cleaning films.

[edit] Cartridge rewinders

When Kodak designed the 15m/50ft-Super8-cartridge, they didn't think of users who wanted to rewind the film. Unfortunately this lead to a result that is "unrewindable". Hence most cameras can't rewind the film - and those few that can, can only do this for 50 to 90 frames by using some mechanical tricks. This is enough for combing a fade-out with a fade-in, but isn't long enough for longer trick-shots (e.g. showing titles). The only way to bypass this design-flaw is to use

  • one of Elmo's cameras that can film a slide and a normal scene simultaniously
  • Single8, Double-Super8 or a 60m/200ft-Super8-cartridge
  • or one of those external rewinders such as the "ewa S8B" that allow double-exposures for up to 950 frames (but still suffer from the design-flaw, e.g. they don't work the first and the last meter,...)

Image:EWA_S8B_FilmRewinder.JPGImage:Hama_3850_FilmRewinder.JPG

[edit] Grips

There are some additional grips that can be attached to every camera that has got a cable-release and a standard-tripod-connector, such as the hama 5500 pistol-grip.
Image:Hama5500PistolGrip.JPG

[edit] Self timers

You can add a self timer to every camera with a cable-release, e.g. this one or this one.

[edit] Where to Find Equipment, Processing and/or Telecine

[edit] Argentina

  • La Puerta Super 8
  • ARCO IRIS (Super8 Processing Lab, used equipment, filmstock, ... ): Balcarce 773; 3er piso, Capital Federal; Buenos Aires; 5511 3664 7004 phone; 5411 4361 4728 fax
  • RmasT (Super8 Processing Lab): Congreso 1930; Buenos Aires CP1428; 54.11 4783.3303 phone; 54.11 4782.4451 fax

[edit] Australia

  • (NSW) DVD Infinity (filmstock, processing, scanning, supplies,...) 79 Alexander St, Crows Nest NSW 2059. Phone 61 2 9906 6383.
  • (NSW) Sound & Vision Stock Shop (filmstock) 2 Whiting Street, Artarmon NSW 2064. Phone 61 2 9906 2141.
  • (NSW/VIC) Vanbar (filmstock)
  • (NSW) Video-8 Broadcast (video transfers): 21 Dickson Ave, Artarmon NSW 2064, Tel.: 2 9438 4144, Fax.: 2 9436 3953
  • (NT) Ray West Projector Sales & Service, 5 McKay Place, Millner NT 0810; P.O.Box 4080 Darwin NT 0801; Phone: 8985 1097; Fax: 8948 1035
  • (QLD) Max Rescue (video transfers)
  • (QLD) PROJECTORHEAVEN.COM.AU : - PROJECTOR SALES : SERVICE : HIRE & EBAY AUCTIONS : Super 8mm : 8mm : 9.5mm :16mm : Belts and Globes. Location : Gold-Coast of Australia. Email or Phone: +61 4111 43338.
  • (VIC) Film Plus Pty Ltd (Super8 B&W reversal processing): 80 Punt Rd, Windsor VIC 3181. Phone 61 3 9510 4640. Fax 61 3 9510 2582.
  • (VIC) Elizabeth Street Pharmacy (filmstock) Cnr Elizabeth Street & Little Collins, Melbourne. Phone 61 3 9670 3815.
  • (VIC) Nanolab (filmstock, processing, telecine, ...)
  • (VIC) Super-8-Centre (filmstock, used cameras/projectors/...)
  • (WA) Camera Electronic (filmstock, used cameras) 230 Stirling St, Perth WA 6000. Phone 61 8 9328 4405.
  • (WA) Camera Solutions (filmstock) Shop 2, 159-161 Murray St Mall, Perth WA 6000. Phone 61 8 9225 5966.

[edit] Austria

[edit] Belgium

  • ADF Video (Super8 Processing Lab): Bld. Brand Whitlock 148; Bruxelles, Belgium B-1200
  • Cinecamera
  • Color by De Jonghe (Super8 Processing Lab & Super8 Equipment Dealer): 4 Diksmuidekaal; 8500 Kortrijk
  • Recyclart atelier: Rue des Ursulines, 13. Bruxelles 1000. (S8 and 16 Artistic Lab)
  • Studio Gamma (Super8 Processing Lab, Blow-Ups from Super8 to 16/35mm): Rue Delcour 86, 4470 St. Georges, +32 4 275 17 28 phone

[edit] Brazil

[edit] Canada

[edit] Chile

  • Laboratorio Gama S.A.I, Antonio Varas 2245, Ñuñoa, Santiago, Chile, Fono: 56-2-2091396, Fax: 56-2-2051726 - now processes Super8-negative films (ECN-2 process), too

[edit] Czech Republic

[edit] Finland

[edit] France

  • Cinedia (Super8 Processing Lab (Colour reversal and negative) & Super8 Equipment Dealer): 55 avenue Joffre; Epinay/Seine 93800; +33 1 48 41 36 25 phone; + 33 1 48 41 38 03 fax
  • C-ae Ciné-Super8 - filmstock, Super8 Equipment Dealer, ... : 1601 cité Jacques Duclos, 93200 Saint Denis
  • super8france - filmstock, ...
  • SYNAPSE Multimédia - (Super8 Equipment Dealer & Telecine): 22 Bld Charles de Gaulle, 92700 COLOMBES, 0147844409 phone, 0826310924 fax
  • mediaCapture - (Super8 Transfer & Super8 Equipment Dealer): 19, rue trousseau; 75011 PARIS; 0143382227 phone; 0143382227 fax

[edit] Germany

[edit] Hungary

[edit] India

  • Prasad Film Laboratories (Super8 Processing Lab & Super8 Equipment Dealer): 58 . (old 22), Arunachalam Road, Saligramam Chennai 600093, 91 44 3762245 / 91 44 3761175 phone, 91 44 3762290 fax
  • Rainbow Colour Lab (Super8 Processing Lab & Super8 Equipment Dealer): Ramoji Film City, Hyderabad - 501 512, Andhra Pradesh State, +91 8415 246508 phone, +91 8415 246426 fax

[edit] Iran

  • Iran Centre for Film Industries (Super8 Processing Lab): Bahar Avenue; Bakht-Yar No 40; Tehran; +98 21 882 1372 phone; +98 21 882 2714 fax

[edit] Ireland

[edit] Israel

[edit] Italy

  • AugustusColor (Super8 Processing Lab)
  • CIR - manufacturer of the CIR splicers
  • Fotocinema (film stock and negative and E6 processing)
  • Fotomatica (film stock - at least Fomapan in Double-Super8)
  • Movie and Sound Firenze (Super8 Processing Lab & Telecine): via della Docciolina, 1 loc. Vallina; 50012 Bagno a Ripoli (Firenze) ITALY; +39-055-696060 phone; +39-0556920507 fax
  • Zenit Arti Audiovisive (Super8 Processing Lab)

[edit] Japan

[edit] Mexico

  • City Milenio (Super8 Equipment Dealer): C sta Teresa 187-C Piso 4 ala sur, Mexico DF 14010, 52-55-5425-2441 phone
  • Laboratorios Magnamex (Super8 Processing Lab): Caster #47, Col. Espartaco; Mexico D.F. CP 4810; 5.25 677.8494 phone; 5.25 684.2923 fax
  • Laboratorio Temexcolor (Super8 Processing Lab): 5 de Mayo 492, Mexico DF 01600, 52-55-5593-9177 phone
  • Renta Imagen Laboratorio Alta Sensibilidad (Super8 Processing Lab): Av. 5 de Mayo #492, Col. Merced Gómez Mixcoac; Mexico D.F. CP 01600; 5.25 593.9337 phone; 5.25 660.6918 fax
  • http://www.video.com.mx/ - used cameras, ...

[edit] Netherlands

  • Foto van Puffelen - chemistry for home-processing, filters, ...
  • Parallaxe - Large amount of equipment, books and rare super8 stuff
  • Super8 Reversal Lab - Camera rentals, scanning and Super8 Processing Lab: Almost every type of super8/8mm/16mm reversal films [No Kodachrome's]
  • Foto Nivo Schweitzer: Haarlemmerdijk 114; Amsterdam 1013 JH; 31-20-6233159 phone; 31-20-4203016 fax
  • SuperSens - Super8 processing lab, film transfer (MWA-FlashSCAN8), Super8 camera rentals, Super8 film stock etc. All you need for 8mm filmshooting.
  • Tornij Digital Services - Digitalizes all super8 movies to dvd, including customized dvd authoring.
  • Video 2 DVD - telecine services
  • 8millimeter.nl - telecine services
  • homedvd - Transfer 8mm and 16 mm to digital, developer framescanner
  • SuperSens telecines for 8mm, Super8 and 9,5mm

[edit] New Zealand

[edit] Norway

  • Nordisk Film Post AS (Super8 Processing Lab): Oslo 0983; 47-92898100 phone; ++31 20 6621430 fax
  • Norsk Smalfilm AS (Super8 Processing Lab & Super8 Equipment Dealer): Skippergt. 21; 4611 Kristiansand S.; +47 38 17 99 16 phone; +47 38 02 33 84 fax

[edit] Poland

[edit] Portugal

  • Light Film; Travessa Particular à da Centieira, 6; 1800-300 Lisboa; 21-8394780; lightfilm@lightfilm.pt
  • retroparadise; Rua do Almada 561; 4050 Porto; 22-2085852; retroparadise@hotmail.com
  • TOBIS PORTUGUESA, SA
  • Clube Super8 - filmstock, books, telecine

[edit] Spain

[edit] Slovenia

  • Info Film, PP 2053, SLO - 1001 Ljubljana, Phone: (01) 422-47-95 / Fax: (01) 422-47-85: processing,...
  • Super8.si - camera rental, filmstock, processing, ...

[edit] Sweden

  • BGA Videoproduktion (Filmtransfer) Södra Kungsvägen 34B, 802 52 Gävle, Tele +46 26-66 93 93
  • Uppsala Bildteknik AB, Stavby Nyby 147, 747 94 Alunda, Tel. 0708-884831
  • LP Foto (used cameras/projectors/editors/...) Regeringsgatan 83; 111 39 Stockholm; Tel +46 (0)8-442 95 70; Fax +46 (0)8-442 95 79
  • Wibergs Foto Eftr. AB (Filmstock, videotransfer, used cameras/projectors/...) KARLAVÄGEN 61; 114 49 STOCKHOLM; TEL/FAX: 08-660 20 08

[edit] Switzerland

  • Bolex Digital (Super8 Processing Lab & Super8 Equipment Dealer & Telecine): Avenue de la Gare 2; 1920 Martigny; +41 27 722 80 80 phone; +41 27 722 80 91 fax
  • Dellers Film, Altrheinweg 36, CH - 4057 Basel, Phone: (061) 631 3131 / Fax: (061) 693 1516: processing
  • Eschenmoser - used equipment, film stock, ...
  • Filmkunst Simon Wyß und Teilhaber, Kg. - lab, also selling "Gigabitfilm": processing any gauge between 9.5mm and 70mm (including Double8/DoubleSuper8-film and Gigabitfilm in 35 and 16), printing, ...
  • Foto Bären Optik AG - used equipment, film stock, ...
  • Foto Pro - used equipment, film stock, ...
  • Garage 5 - used equipment, transfer to video, ...
  • Walter Baumgartner - mainly only repairs, but is also selling used cameras/projectors

[edit] Tunisia

  • Color City (Super8 Processing Lab & Super8 Equipment Dealer): 296 rue du professeur Milliez; cite olympique tunis; Champigny 94500; 0216 22 47 65 48 phone

[edit] Turkey

[edit] Ukraine

[edit] United Kingdom

[edit] United States of America

[edit] Venezuela

  • Bolivar Films (Super8 Processing Lab): Calle Luis Guillermo Villegas, Edf. Bolivar Films Films Santa Eduvigus; Caracas; 58.2 283.2653 phone; 58.2 284.1011 fax

[edit] Worldwide

[edit] Internet portals with film-releated auctions/offers

[edit] Caveat emptor / Buyer, be aware

Let's face it: Nearly all companies stopped producing Super 8-cameras by 1980-82, the rest followed in the late 1980s (e.g. "Chinon") or 1990s (e.g. "Beaulieu", "Zenit Quarz" and "Lomo"). Your camera should be as new as possible: The newest cameras you can get are the "Zenit Quarz" and "Lomo" models that have been produced up till 1992 and 1995 (sources differ) and the Beaulieu 4008 from the last production run in 1999/2000. (There have been some Beaulieu 4008s that have been assembled later from older spare parts-sometimes using an older 4008 as the base.)

In other words: Since those Beaulieus from 1999/2000 have all been sold (AFAIK) and unless you can get unused and still-in-the-box cameras, you'll have to get a used one. And the majority of the used cameras are older than 25 years. Unfortunately some of the rubber, plastic or foam used for the cameras tends to become porous, fragile or sticky over the years (e.g. many eye-caps from the 1970s simply disintegrate when you touch them).

Even worse:

  • Most cameras on the second-hand market haven't been used for 10 or 20 years. As a result the grease might have become as hard as a stone and dust and humidity might have ruined the camera in the meantime. Therefore the internet is filled with complaints about Kodak now producing "jittery cartridges". Even though Kodak stated that they indeed did have some problems with their cartridges' quality only a few years ago, there's a very, very high chance that the jitter is mainly caused by the fact that most cameras got their last service around 1977. (It's best to get camera with a manual since many manuals contain information about whether the grease has to be changed/checked every 1-5 years or not.)
  • Another problem is that some exposure-meters tend to dejustify over the years. At least this is easy to fix for a specialized camera-repair-shop.

In other words: You'll either have to buy a recently serviced camera with a warranty from a professional "Super 8 shop" (s. the above section) for a ridiculously high price or try to get your cameras very cheap (up to 20 US$ or €) on Ebay or a fleamarket. In the latter case you'll have to waste at least some meters/feet of your valuable Super 8 film to test it. When you're lucky, the camera is still in a good condition. Otherwise you'll probably have to spend 50-150 € or US$ to get it fixed - that is if the necessary spare parts are still available!

Here's a short quide when buying a used camera:

  • Do an optical check: Is the lens clean and unscratched? Have there been any leaking batteries in the camera? Is the cartridge compartment clean? Double check the foam parts, especially the ones that are used to ensure that the cartridge compartment is light-proof!
  • As soon as a camera gets used, it gets scratched over the years. This isn't a bad thing as long as the lenses aren't affected. Nevertheless bruises normally only occur on cameras that have been dropped. In most cases the camera suffered internal damages, too (loose contacts, maladjusted lenses/shutters, etc.) and hence is now most likely unusable.
  • When the camera (or even the camera's bag) shows any kind of corrosion, there's a high chance that the electronics in the camera have been damaged by the humidity, too.
  • Make sure that the camera doesn't use any coin cells for their exposure-meters. Some of these coin cells are now hard or nearly impossible to find.
  • Test the camera with fresh batteries and a Super 8 cartridge! Some manuals state that you shouldn't do any test-runs without a cartridge. In any case you should avoid tests with more than 18fps when the camera is empty. Besides there's a high chance that the motor zoom, the exposure meter or even the autofocus can only be tested when a cartridge is entered.
  • Check the Wratten 85 filter that's included in 99.9% of all Super 8 cameras by inserting a Tungsten-balanced film and setting the camera to sunlight/daylight. In some cameras you can only test this by shooting a film, while other models have a corresponding symbol in the viewfinder or have a viewfinder that's affected by the filter, too (the picture in the viewfinder will become darker when using the filter). (Remark: If that symbol shows up in the viewfinder, this still isn't proof that the filter really works. But the chances that the filter is fine are definately much, much higher).
  • Remember that your camera should be able to correctly handle a cartridge notched to 64 ASA Tungsten!
  • Remember that the cameras' features listed in this Wiki have been corrected/expanded a lot since Anssi Puistot's original list has been imported. Nevertheless all contributors are only humans and hence are prone of error. And of course it might happen that there are several slightly different versions of a camera with the same name or that the camera has been modified (e.g. some cameras do have changeable lenses). Therefore it won't hurt to contact the seller and ask if the Wiki is correct before buying a camera or before even starting to bid on any internet-auction! (If you do find any differences, errors, typos in the Wiki: Please correct them!

You don't know how to get the best prices on fleamarkets? Then try this quide: Flea market tips.

Even though more and more cameras, ... do have a "Price on eBay"-information, you might want to take a look at this Price guide for cameras, incl. Super8/Single8,..., too

[edit] Festivals, Events, Fleamarkets, ...

... moved into this article: Festivals_Events_Fleamarkets

[edit] Processing

Professional Super8 processing labs and sources for the processing tanks can be found in the "Where to Find Equipment"-section.

[edit] Animation

[edit] Troubleshooting, Maintenance, Repair, and DIY

[edit] DIY Accessories

[edit] DIY Frame-Counters for Super8-cameras

[edit] Professional Repair and Service

  • Bolex, http://www.bolex.ch/, still services Super 8 cameras including Eumig models. They still provide factory service for Eumig Nautica cameras and will also convert them to run at 24fps if you wish. On August 23, 2005 they quoted a price of US$290 for 24fps conversion including a check up of the camera, adjustment of all functions, a lubrication and including shipment back to the USA.
  • Gottfried Klose (the designer of the precision pressure plate) has a repair shop and does Nizos and Bauers, etc.
    http://www.englisch.film-super8.de
    GK-Film GmbH
    Mr. Gottfried Klose
    Brandenburger Str. 10
    D-33602 Bielefeld / Germany
    phone: +49 - 5 21 - 971 08 93
    fax: +49 - 5 21 - 971 08 94
    e-mail: gk.film (at) web.de
  • Kurt Schacherl, in Germany, best to fax or telephone rather than email. http://www.video-technik-schacherl.de/impressum.html
  • Bjorn Andersson, well regarded Beaulieu specialist in Sweden: Bjorn.andersson at brevet dot nu
  • Du-All Camera in New York
    http://www.duallcamera.com/
    DU-ALL CAMERA
    231 WEST 29th STREET
    SUITE 210
    NEW YORK, NY 10001
    TEL: 212 643-1042 | FAX: 212 643-9335
    E-mail: Duall529@aol.com
  • Super8Stuff Spezialized on repairing Elmo-projectors, but repairs other Super8/16mm-equipment as well...
  • International Camera Corp.; 847 Jackson Blvd.; Chicago IL 60607; (312) 738-6320 and 1444 Franklin St.; Oakland CA 94612; Tel (510) 763-4226 Fax (510) 763-4227 - spezialized on repairing projectors from B & H as well as Eumig, Montgomery Wards, GAF, Chinon, and Sears. Repairs cameras, too.
  • List of German/European Repair-Shops - doesn't seem to work anymore - please use this link instead
  • SML camera repairs, in Los Angeles, California, will repair Nizos and perhaps others. Call: 310.306.8511.
  • UT PHOTO SERVICE, INC., California, United Staates of America, offers a "8mm / 16mm MOVIE Camera Service" and can repair projectors, too (at least the ones from EIKI and BELL & HOWELL).
  • Spectra Film & Video, California, United Staates of America, offers a camera repair, too
  • Marland, Berlin, Germany - repairs projectors
  • radiocraft's home ciné listing - includes a "repair specialists"-section for Normal8, Super8, Single8, 9.5mm and 16mm (mainly UK-based services)
  • Kodakparts, Vacaville, CA, USA - repairs Kodak-projectors and sells spare-parts and service-manuals.
  • Walter Baumgartner, Zürich, Switzerland - repairs nearly all kind of projectors and cameras
  • PROJECTORHEAVEN.COM.AU: - repairs projectors (Super8/8mm/9.5mm/16mm) and sells belts & globes: Email or Phone: +61 4111 43338.
  • Kinotechnik Rinser, Germany - repairs all kind of super8-devices
  • Fototechnik Heinrich Gerhardt, Germany - repairs all kind of photographic devices, incl. Super8-devices
  • Redl Kamera Service, Austria - repairs all kind of photographic devices, incl. Super8-devices
  • Beck Kamera Service, Austria - repairs all kind of photographic devices, incl. Super8-devices

[edit] Rumors

Rumors

[edit] About this FAQ

To put articles in the category listing below just include the "tag" [[Category:FAQ]] anywhere in the article. Visit the Help page to learn more about adding pages to this wiki.

Subcategories

There are 2 subcategories to this category.

F

N

Retrieved from "http://www.super8wiki.com/index.php/Category:FAQ"
Personal tools
articles