Sorry about the backlog on blogs…coming up are which AF101/ GH2 lenses to buy blog, a review of the year (whoops!), results of Bloom Challenge 4 and many more…
For all my career I have tried to emulate film with video with various degrees of success but I have never shot film. Well this year I will be experimenting. Not with 35mm but with 16mm and a lot more Super 8mm. The biggest problem is the expensive. 16mm film, processing, telecine costs a lot of money. Even Super 8mm is a fair bit, about £30-40 here with processing and telecine for around 3 minutes or so depending on frame rate. So not cheap.
It’s not that I have any inclination to shoot film professionally. I just want to mess around and it’s a great excuse to start collecting Vintage cameras.
What I am also going to be doing, after Eric Kessler set me a challenge is to see if I can use the 16mm and Super 8mm camera with the Smartlapse/ Oracle/ Revolution hear and Slider combo for timelapse. My 16mm camera and one of my Super 8mm cameras do timelapse so it will be a bit of fun!!
Some of the Vintage cameras I have are just for display as they are works of art…
Above is the 16mm Krasnogorsk-3 that I have with the intervelometer and below is video showing how it works.
For that lo-fi look you can always screw with your images in post or use a camera like the iphone with 8mm Vintage Camera, or a Digital harinezumi. Check out Nino Leitner’s blog post for the review of the iphone app.
iphone Super 8mm: CanonFilmmakers.com FINALLY arrive in London!! from Philip Bloom extras on Vimeo.
Digital Harinezumi: Lo-fi coolness! USA Video Blog from Philip Bloom extras on Vimeo.
Great little toy camera that shoots digital “Super 8mm” looking footage.
Read about it here: http://philipbloom.co.uk/2009/11/08/lo-fi-heaven-digital-harinezumi-digital-super-8mm-camera/
Filmed in Chicago and LA
Real & fake Super 8: shoot-out from fcr on Vimeo.
Genuine telecined Super 8 footage vs. fake Super 8 digital video (recorded with a Panasonic GH13, Nikon D90 and the iPod/iPhone app Vintage 8mm Camera)
8mm Vintage Camera iPhone App Review from Storme Wood on Vimeo.
I took the new 8mm Vintage Camera iPhone App to my son’s hockey practice to test it out. I love it. Check out my video review to see and hear more about it.
I first heard about the app from Nino Leitner’s blog. It’s a great post and a great blog. Check out Nino’s blogpost here: http://ninofilm.net/blog/2011/01/08/8mm-app/
The 8mm Vintage Camera iPhone App is available in the app store here: http://itunes.apple.com/us/app/8mm-vintage-camera/id406541444?mt=8&ign-mpt=uo%3D4
And you can visit me at http://www.stormewood.com
Cheers!
22 comments
I nearly bought some Krasnogorsk-3 lenses for my GH2 but there isn’t an adapter yet. Asking Ciecio7 to make one… the Russian 35mm equivalents are stunning.
Hi Philip, new contributor here a director who loves your work and site. I’ve mixed Super 8 with HD on a variety of projects, I’ve even TKed super 8 at 1080p! Check out my docu’s at stephenjudge.co.uk. Happy to share experiences. Steve J
Were in the same boat it seems. A year ago I got a terrible camera fever and ended up buying a pile of super-8mm cameras and accidentally one singe-8mm camera. Only recently I have shot my first three reels of film (still to be developed). It just some random stuff I shot in Paris. I’m planning on doing a proper set of tests to see how my cameras perform in different situations some time later.
It sure is expensive. I have to order the film from Netherlands, send it back for developing and then send it to Sweden for HD-scanning. For three reels the total cost is somewhere around 200€. But if I someday get close to this quality: http://vimeo.com/15440982 it’ll be worth it 🙂
Looking forward to your first short shot on film! 🙂
Super8mm is where I got my start in filmmaking. First, an old Bell & Howell my parents had. Wore that thing out with it’s amazing 2x (yes, two) zoom. For a number of years I used a collection of 3 Nikon R10’s. I had an old Nikon intervalometer that made doing timelapse a snap. I also had a Canon 814 (the little brother of the 1014), an Elmo that used a 200′ cartridge, a Beaulieu, and an old Nizo.
Alas, I sold them all! Now, years later I have a tinge of seller’s remorse.
Very interested to see what you come up with on cine film.
I got interested again in super8 a couple of years back.
Super8 really doesn’t have to look as rough and flickery as that iPhone app suggests…
There’s a Belgian chap called Freddy Van de Putte who is doing amazing things with old 8mm films and his own DIY telecine system… take a look at http://vimeo.com/13173031
It’s a real eye-opener what he can get out of those tiny frames. The quality he’s getting out of vintage (1950s-1970s) footage is just astounding.
Actually this link is a great example, it shows some footage of Morocco with Freddy Van de Putte’s telecine and post-processing applied. This is cine film from 1975 !!!
http://vimeo.com/1644000
got the 8mm app for my iphone a couple of days ago. love the 70’s porno film type. I will be sure to post all the money shots
50 years from now your 5D mark ii will be sitting in prize place on your vintage camera shelf, and you’ll tell visitors that it was ‘the one that started it all.’
Hey Philip,
I’ve used a Braun Nizo for a few years on the Tour de France – great little s8 camera. Shot for the first 2 weeks, then sent the films to Paris to get telecined and transferred to tape ready to cut some funky little ‘retro’ pieces for the final day – went down really well, completely different to the normal coverage of a live sporting event.
The Braun was indeed built by the shaver company! It has a built-in intervalometer, instant jump from 18 fps to 54 fps for great super slomo (but it gets through a 50ft roll pretty fast at 54fps!), it’s even got a macro facility on the lens.
Oh, and they look so cool in 70’s sci-fi, brushed aluminium!
Not sure where you’re getting your films telecined, but I’ve had good results from The Widescreen Centre off Baker Street for my personal work – they transfer to tape or hard drive – and they’re fast and efficient (no connection other than as a satisfied customer).
Good luck with it and have fun – reminds me I need to do more myself.
Cheers,
Adrian.
8mm is quite nostalgic. There is a serious group out there at: http://www.pro8mm.com and they cover everything from film purchase to processing. I have also recently experimented with 8mm in my grandfather’s Canon 814AZ camera, whilst recording with a Canon XHA1 at the beach for contrast. I called it ‘Duelling with the two Canons.’ http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i84-wxykiM8 Overall, it was interesting but not really worth pursuing. Using 8mm today, even with all the digital enhancements of today is like driving a restored antique car. It looks great but still drives like an old car.
Here is a grading test I did on AF100 vs 16mm: http://vimeo.com/18597155
You have a son?
no, why do you say that?
I used to shoot a little super8 with a Canon that had a nice external intervalometer and also had a nice feature in that you could hook up a camera flash via a pc cord. I noticed that your Canon Super8 also has a flash port. Try it out some time as it will open up some new options when shooting time lapse.
El Mao\\
I thought the sign said “Baggage in Hell”
To bad you will never see the beauty of super 8 Kodachrome. It really was magical. The company that was the only one left has now stopped processing the film.
I would like to see your ideas for shooting with super 8 and getting sync sound. And please also shoot with Black and white.
I have one of the original home movie camera which was made in 1924. It’s a a Hand Crank (i.e silent film) 16 mm cam. It’s called a Vitascope. Hand cranking this bare bones movie camera is the ultimate in Seat of the pant’s film making. Ill post some pics and footage maybe when I get a chance.
Of course what you really want to do is not telecine the material but project it. See if you can get your hands on a super 8 or 16 projector. Shoot Reversal and see the magic all over again. Oh yeah and if you want to edit your super 8 try and find a Hervik? splicer.
Good luck
Dimitrios
Also, as you probably know that Canon 1014XL-S is one of the best super 8 cams you can get. Use the 1014 if you are going to try anything with sync sound. Wait till you see some of that stuff.
Sorry if I’m a little overexcited at seeing what someone with an eye like yours will do with these things.
Hi Philip, does the blog backlog include a review for the Nikon D7000? Very curious about your thoughts on the camera. You tried it in Amsterdam, didn’t you? Thanks!
no, check out my which video dslr blog for reasons why no review for now!
Super 8 is one of those things that seems to reemerge in the public consciousness every decade or so. Like dark red lipstick, vespas, morose existentialists or drunken drag queens… It’s always nice to see.
Hi Philip
I shot about fifty music promos on Super-8 in the 90s. The results can be spectacular with a good telecine. I found the most exciting thing the use of still-photo-lenses on a Beaulieu-camera. The crop factor ist about 6, as far as I remember. By using a 200mm you get a 1600mm with reasonable speed. Just imagine these images!
Nice write-up.. 🙂
Amazing coincidence, 2 days ago I was fooling around with my father’s 814xl-s(1981) and was actually thinking of selling it to fund a new lens.
I was actually feeling really guilty of thinking smtg like that, and now, after reading this article, I feel like a complete douche. 🙂
Decided to keep it.. it was actually used for a couple of times only, so looks brand new..so compact and stylish, a bit smaller compared to the 1014..
p.s. Selling the hasselblud stuff instead,haha.. 🙂
sometimes analog can sooth our digital souls, you know what I mean?
here’s a recent short on super 8 for your viewing pleasure…
http://www.shieldsfilms.tv/music/times-gone-by/