[doctor dan]

i recently came inot possession of one of these:

 

does anyone have any experience working with this type of camera, and if so, do you have any tips, or pointers for possible problems i should look out for. im on a fine art course, and itll be fantastic for making some short films ive been thinking of doing...

thanks for any help!

[Jesus]

You might want to rob a bank for film and developing costs

[!@#$%!]

fucking a! sweet!! that camera is beautiful

i don't have a lot of experience with film but a friend of mine is a bona fide FILM maker-- and by that i mean he works almost exclusively with film-- makes awesome abstract films kinda like brakhage. what are you looking for exactly? my first pointer of course would be: get a good light meter. shoot.

i think at this point the advantage of film anyway is its materiality, meaning, you can shoot whatever, and once developed you can paint, scratch, bury, grow mold on it, poke holes, or do any number of things that are not so easily done with video.

sweet fucking camera, congrats, and if you care do add me to your will i only want that. i'll wait as long as it takes

[Tokolosh]

Nice camera!
!@#$%! made a good point about getting a good light meter. 8mm, 16mm, 35mm cameras need good light. I've worked with 8-16 before and what I noticed is that you can better have too much light than too little.
When you eventually develop the film you will notice that it's darker on film than it was on location. If you film outdoors on a sunny day you shouldn't have a problem. Forget cloudy grey days.
Something else, when you buy the film roll, the costs of developing are included.
I pay around 25 euros in europe for 3min of 8mm film.
16mm is about double the price.
Great to experiment with celluloid, and it gives a certain look to your film.

[jon boy]

the film costs are unbelievable so make sure what you are shooting is what you need. maybe get a small camcorder and shoot the stuff first on that so you know you are getting it right.

[Iain]

And processing cost isn't included in the cost of shooting 16mm. Also, I heard that k40 super8 films is/has been discontinued...that was the only process paid film as far as I know.

Anyway, film is obviously a lot more hassle than video although I don't have much experience of it outside a bit of super8. My friend recently shot some 16mm on an old bolex and he said it was a bit of hassle. He lost about 25 feet of film because the film wasn't wound tightly enough....

But film is ultimately worth it I think...

[Iain]

The cost of it will hopefully make you more disciplined and careful about what you shoot....you'll think about it more and what you shoot will be leaner than what you would indiscriminately shoot on video...in theory.

[Tokolosh]

Originally Posted by Iain

And processing cost isn't included in the cost of shooting 16mm. Also, I heard that k40 super8 films is/has been discontinued...that was the only process paid film as far as I know.

Anyway, film is obviously a lot more hassle than video although I don't have much experience of it outside a bit of super8. My friend recently shot some 16mm on an old bolex and he said it was a bit of hassle. He lost about 25 feet of film because the film wasn't wound tightly enough....

But film is ultimately worth it I think...

Sorry, my mistake about 16mm developing costs.
It's about 0,49 - 059 cents per foot, depending were its done.

But I know k40 super8 is still done in Switzerland.
You can find that info here: http://www.saeure.ch/super8/s8faq.html

[doctor dan]

i think kodak have brought out a new ektachrome super8 film, because the demand was enough from the hobbyists. in most places it isnt porcess paid, but some shops include it in the price.

[Iain]

Yeah...I was told they are still processing K40 in Switzerland but only up until the end of May. I have a roll tucked away that I should probably shoot soon if that's the case.

[Tokolosh]

Me too.
Got some Afga 8mm film x2 which has already been used
for Sonic Youth in 2004, Paradiso, A'dam.
Can't find a place that will process them though.
Looked everywhere!
Any suggestions Iain?

[Iain]

Not sure to be honest...I have only ever shot process paid super8 stuff. Is it super 8 or regular 8mm?

These guys do a lot of 8mm/16mm processing, they might be of use:

http://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/

Don't think they process regular 8 though...they might.

[next step]

I'm completely out about old cameras but I'd like get one and start something!

[Tokolosh]

I'm not sure which type of 8mm afga they are.
I'll check it out when I get home and get back to you on that Iain.

I bought them a while back and hope they haven't expired.
If so... I'll use them anyway and send them in
for free development. It says so on the return envelope.
No audio strip. That I know for sure.

Thanks for the link. I'll take a look now.