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Introduction to the 8mm formats

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 https://web.archive.org/web/20130603225348/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

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) and his Super8-cartridges: Agfa and Konica stopped selling their "Single 8"-films in 1966/67 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.

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.

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.

Film

This section has been moved here....

Cameras

  • When using a 35mm-still-photography-lens on your C-mount Super8-camera, you'll have to multiply the lens's zoom-range by 6.5 to estimate the resulting angle. E.g. a 28-100mm lens on your Super8-camera will act like a 182-650mm lens would do on your still-photography-SLR.
  • movie.project-consultant.net has announced (02/2012) remanufactured cameras with new electronics, Super8MAX filmgate and professional features
  • 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

Projectors

Editing

Widescreen and Anamorphic Format

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."

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 or Super8MAX. Ruedi Muster (Switzerland) also offers such a conversion for DS8-cameras. He's calling the format "Super 8B" - with "B" for Breit(wand), which is German for wide(screen).

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.

Double Single 8

Double Single 8 by Jörg Polzfuß

3D

  • You can get the best results when using two cameras and later two synchronized projectors. 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.

Elmo3DUnit.JPG

  • A DIY-attachment for 8mm/16mm-cameras is described here.
  • 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 and have been re-released by Derann in 2008/2009. 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.

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 (called "record stripe" in in this image) for monophonic sound
    2. or both main and tolerance soundtrack (called "balance stripe" in in this image) with the same monophonic sound. (Using both tracks might be redundant, but helps when one of the tracks gets damaged or covered by a tape splice.)
    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!)

Transfer to Video or Digital

Books and Magazines

Internet Resources and Links

Photography Basics

Exposure, shutter speed, depth of field, etc.

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! ;-)

Accessories

Video taps, matte boxes, etc.

60m/200ft-cartridges

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.

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.
File:Beaulieu SuperDrive SD8 60 small.pdf

Super8DM (Dream-Magazine)

In 2011 Mike from http://film.project-consultant.net/ has started a project to modify certain sound- and silent-cameras for using a Super8 60m/200ft daylight film-reel. It has a pressure-plate and does not need any additional motor or batteries. The reel-drive works similar the old Kodak 60m/200ft-cartridge. The "Super8DM" will become a part of the modified camera and can't be removed.
If there is enough demand on the market he plans to sell the cartridge complete with modified camera. There is no price calculated yet.

120m/400ft-cartridges

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". Unfortunately he "Supermag 400" is out of production since late 2006. 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 still available via archive.org:

Blimps / Sound Barneys

Filters

Cases/Bags

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.

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.

Rewinders

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

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.

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,...)

EWA S8B FilmRewinder.JPGHama 3850 FilmRewinder.JPG

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.
Hama5500PistolGrip.JPG

Self timers

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

Where to Find Equipment, Processing and/or Telecine

Argentina

  • ARCO IRIS (Super8 Processing Lab, used equipment, filmstock, ... ): Balcarce 773; 3er piso, Capital Federal; Buenos Aires; 5511 3664 7004 phone; 5411 4361 4728 fax

Australia

  • (NSW) DVD Infinity (filmstock, processing, SD/HD scanning, restoration, supplies,...) Crows Nest, West Pennant Hills and Sutherland NSW. Phone 1300 850 383 / 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)
  • (WA) DiskBank (8mm, Super 8, 16mm telecine in SD & HD) aka Avidtech aka WA Duplication Phone 61 8 1300 663 822.
  • (NSW) Tuscan Industries (wholesale supplier of reels and cans) 17-31 Eveleigh Street; Redfern, NSW. 2016, Phone 61 2 9699 2422.
  • (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) Photo Continental (film stock and processing) 1480 Logan Rd; Mount Gravatt Central; QLD 4122; Ph: (07) 3849 4422, Fax: (07) 3849 4424
  • (QLD) ProjectorHeaven (Super8, 8mm, 9.5mm & 16mm: projector sales, service, hire, belts, globes & ebay auctions) 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) MemoryLab (telecine, 16mm-filmstock, ...)
  • (VIC) Nanolab (filmstock, processing, telecine, ...)
  • (SA) Sublimevideoproductions ( telecine, ...)

Austria

Belgium

Brazil

Canada

  • Exclusive Film & Video - processing lab and camera/projector rental
  • Frame Discreet Film Transfers Frame by Frame transfers (Reversal/Neg)
  • Film Rescue - processing of old films
  • Kominek - processing lab
  • LIFT - "Liaison of Independent Filmmakers of Toronto": film-stock (also for non-members) and equipment rental (only for members)
  • L.L. Lozeau - processing lab
  • Main Film - camera/projector/...-rental (S8, 16mm, ...) and S8-workshops
  • Niagara Custom Lab - processing lab
  • Optimage (Super8 Processing Lab): 48 Stirling Rd.; Edmonton, AB T5X4C3; 780 475 1206 phone

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

China

Czech Republic

Denmark

Finland

  • mutascan - filmstock, processing, videotransfer

France

  • TOP DISC: Studio de transfert numérique de supports audiovisuels. Cassettes vidéo, films 8mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm et 16 mm. en HD, 2K, 4K,: Paris

"topdisc.png" "flashscan_nova.png"


  • La Bande de Cinés: Normal8/Super8/9.5mm/16mm Equipment Dealer: 12,rue des Roses; 75018 Paris
  • Color-City Image: Super8/9.5mm Processing Lab (Colour reversal and negative) & Super8/9.5mm Equipment Dealer: 55 avenue Joffre; Epinay/Seine 93800; +33 1 48 41 36 25 phone; + 33 1 48 41 38 03 fax
  • color films archives: film stock, telecine,...
  • C-ae Ciné-Super8: filmstock, Super8 Equipment Dealer, ... : 1601 cité Jacques Duclos, 93200 Saint Denis
  • super8france: filmstock, ...
  • Transferfilm: 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
  • SARL Easy-Transfer: telecine devices
  • Family Movie: Super8 Transfer with MWA HDScan : 16 rue Moreau; 75012 PARIS, 0811 034 627 phone 1, +33 1 44678450 phone 2
  • Pyral: produces perforated magnetic tape
  • Saga 8mm: super 8 transfer on dvd: 67 rue saint jacques; 75005 PARIS, 01 83 62 83 13
  • 8 Numerique: super 8 transfer on dvd or hard drive : 30 Avenue Pierre Mendes France; 94880 Noiseau, +33 1 49 82 37 11 phone
  • MK Films: Leaders, ... (16mm and 35mm)
  • AS’Image: filmstock and transfer to video: 116 Bd Richard Lenoir; 75011 Paris
  • Photo Labo Service: Transfer Films Super 8, 8mm, 9.5mm, 16mm with optional Restoration: 1 rue Henri Fabre; 84000 Avignon, 04 90 82 90 90
  • la suite numérique: filmstock, telecine, ...: Lyon
  • re:voir: filmstock, ...: Paris
  • LE FILM DE FAMILLE: Studio de transfert numérique de supports audiovisuels. Cassettes vidéo, films 8mm, Super 8, 9.5 mm et 16 mm. en HD, 2K, 4K,: Paris

Germany

Greece

  • Hyper8 Super8 telecine and lab, Georgiou Stavrou 4, Thessaloniki

Hungary

India

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

Ireland

Israel

Italy

  • CIR - manufacturer of the CIR splicers
  • Condor Foto Milano (lab accessories, special effects, lights, ...)
  • 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)

Japan

Mexico

  • City Milenio (Super8 Equipment Dealer): C sta Teresa 187-C Piso 4 ala sur, Mexico DF 14010, 52-55-5425-2441 phone
  • Curioso Laboratorio: processing
  • Renta Imagen: cameras, dollies, cranes, ... rental
  • Lab Tank: S8-films, ...

Netherlands

New Zealand

Norway

  • Filmtek AS (Processing Lab, telecine, ...)
  • 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

Poland

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

Russia

  • CineMechanica - lab and filmstock (Double8, Super8, DS8 and 16mm), also processes Orwo- and Svema-films with custom made chemicals
  • Topkadr - telecine: Normal8, Super8, 9.5mm, 16mm, Super16 and 35mm

Spain

  • AP Photo - reels, ...
  • Chandal - film-stock, used equipment, ...
  • Foto R3 - film-stock, chemicals for home-processing, ...
  • FOTOPIBE, C/ Bolsa, 11, Madrid, Tel: 91 521 78 75 - Super8-filmstock, used equipment
  • FOTOCASIÓN - Super8-reels, used equipment, ...
  • Microdelta Balears - telecine + repairs cameras/projectors
  • Mundo Super8 - used prints, projectors, ...
  • Ochoypico - Telecine Transfer 8mm, Super8, 9.5mm, 16mm (PAL & HD) Tel: 629 56 02 38
  • Radio Cinema Jiménez, Calle de Antonio Acuña 3, Madrid, Tel: 914 352 974 - Super8-filmstock and sells/buys used Super8-equipment
  • Retro Lab Cine - film-stock and processing
  • Super 8 Sevilla - telecine (8mm and Super8)

Slovenia

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

Sweden

  • BGA Videoproduktion (Filmtransfer) Södra Kungsvägen 34B, 802 52 Gävle, Tele +46 26-66 93 93
  • Uppsala Bildteknik AB, Svederusgatan 1, 754 50 Uppsala, 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
  • Diginova - film and video transfer, Uppsala

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, ...
  • Foto Bären Optik AG - used equipment, film stock, ...
  • Foto Pro - used equipment, film stock, ...
  • Garage 5 - used equipment, transfer to video, ...
  • Gepe Produkte AG - filmreels, ...
  • Walter Baumgartner - mainly only repairs, but is also selling used cameras/projectors
  • DVDKopien.ch in Basel - super 8 to dvd/hdd, video to dvd/hdd, telecine in Basel, Switzerland

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

Turkey

Ukraine

United Kingdom

United States of America

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

Worldwide

Internet portals with film-releated auctions/offers

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

Festivals, Events, Fleamarkets, ...

... moved into this article: Festivals_Events_Fleamarkets

Processing

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

Animation

Troubleshooting, Maintenance, Repair, and DIY

DIY Accessories

DIY Frame-Counters for Super8-cameras

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.
  • 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 (back-up on archive.org)
  • 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
  • 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.
  • 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
  • Filmaker 8 USA repairs of various makes and recelling of Beaulieu batteries
  • Kameraservice & Filmtechnik E. Piehler, Nachtweide 13, D-64569 Nauheim, Germany, +49 / 6152 / 80 79 38, kameratechnikpiehler@t-online.de, (he is known as Leicina repair specialist in Germany)
  • Herbert Geissler, Liechtensteinstrasse 75, D-72770 Reutlingen-Gönningen, Germany, +49 / 7072 / 92 97 0, servicing Bauer and Nizo and Canon, an has a spare parts centre
  • Microdelta, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, can repair various cameras, e.g. Nikon R10, Fujica ZC1000, ...

Rumors

Rumors

About this FAQ

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