My Elmo Superwide just arrived!

[Cineworks]

Last week I won an auction for an Elmo F20 S-XL Superwide with a bid of only $105. It showed up today and looks brand new! Still in the plastic and Styrofoam packaging. It even came with the original instructions, carrying case and two conkin graduated filters.

And they aren't kidding about the superwide lens. At 4.6 mm, I'm guessing it translates to about 20 mm on a 35 mm still camera. Unfortunately at superwide, the lens stops out at f=4.6. But at the normal-wide/macro setting (8.6 mm), the lens shows a fast f=1.2.

The camera has a 220-degree shutter, fixed focus, and runs at a single speed (18fps). The light meter only reads 40 and 160 ISO, but it has a manual aperture so I don't expect any problems there.

This camera is gonna make a great and practical addition to my small S8 arsenal.

I can't wait to shoot some footage!

[Alex]

Congrats.

It's a cool camera just made for steadicam work.

[super8man]

Here's mine:

http://home.pacbell.net/mnyberg/super8mm/super8_26.html

Best of luck.

m

[Alex]

Here's mine:

http://home.pacbell.net/mnyberg/super8mm/super8_26.html

Best of luck.

m

I noticed your Kodak link is not working.

[freddiesykes]

The USA Kodak link is:

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/s8mm/index.jhtml

[super8man]

There are a few outdated links on there...sorry folks...just the way it is. Smart people will figure it out.

Cheers,
Mike

[etimh]

Last week I won an auction for an Elmo F20 S-XL Superwide

Sounds fantastic--congratulations. So cool to get it in such great condition and for a nice price as well.

This camera has fixed focus, correct? No need for focusing at that wide setting I suppose. Also interesting that it shoots only at 18fps and single frame. What is the reason for this, I wonder? Simplicity? No percieved need? I do like shooting at 24 fps on occasion and I like cameras that at least have the option.

Still, I want one of these.

Good luck with yours!

Tim

[audadvnc]

Just out of curiosity - has anyone attempted to take a videocamera wide angle adapter to the front of their S8 camera? I've got a 0.5X adapter for my Sony camcorder, and might try to tape it to the front of my Nikon R8. Issues? Vignetting? Focus? etc ...

[Alex]

There are a few outdated links on there...sorry folks...just the way it is. Smart people will figure it out.

Cheers,
Mike

It's not that hard to fix, is it?

---------------------------------------------

Just for kicks try a video wide angle. The biggest problem may be that the actual wide angle lens video cameras use are much smaller in diameter than the ones used for Super-8 cameras, and that would result in vignetting.

As for why the Super-wide does not shoot at 24 FPS, Elmo decided at some point to only offer 24 FPS on their top end cameras. Kind of strange actually.

Maybe they figured extending the cartridge's run time from 2 minutes and 30 seconds to 3 minutes and 20 seconds would make Super-8 a better value.

[super8man]

Its the definition of eccentric...steadfastly correct on somethings, stubbornly out of date on others. Can't wait until I get to be a grumpy old man - imagine it! No, I prefer to write paragraphs on here than dig into the html some seasons. This is one of those seasons.

Thanks though. I appreciate the word. I'll get to it.

Cheers,
M

[Alex]

Its the definition of eccentric...steadfastly correct on somethings, stubbornly out of date on others. Can't wait until I get to be a grumpy old man - imagine it! No, I prefer to write paragraphs on here than dig into the html some seasons. This is one of those seasons.

Thanks though. I appreciate the word. I'll get to it.

Cheers,
M

The only reason I'm being nosy is because I feel in a subliminal way it unintentionally erodes the way of film.

RGB in Hollywood is shuttered because they could not get their lease renewed, to people passing by their store it's one more example of the demise of film when the company was apparently making money AND offering a film service, they just couldn't get their lease renewed.

After one "learns more about small format filmmaking" at your website,
a hiccup occurs when it comes to the link that directs people to Kodak and Super-8. If you've noticed, Kodak's super-8 web page will continue to expand as new super-8 success stories are added.

But alas, the same person who will now be successful because they learned how to use their superwide through the tutelage provided on your website now won't have anywhere to go to immortalize their impending Super-8 success story.

[super8man]

OK OK...now where was that busted link again? I hope it is sited at the top of this page!

Thanks Alex.

m

[Cineworks]

RGB Rocked!

I spent hundreds at that place. 'Don't know of another outfit that packages kodak cine film in still film cartrages. I did countless film test using their service back in school.

And making contact prints from neg film, then making up slides for only a few bucks... you just cant beat that.

[super8man]

FYI, the f-stop is f1.2 at all focal lengths, including in the superwide 4.6mm mode.

[Alex]

FYI, the f-stop is f1.2 at all focal lengths, including in the superwide 4.6mm mode.

But as I recall, the actual front focus is not up to the lens surface when the f-stop is wide open. Kind of disappointing because the screw on wide angle attachments used on other cameras one can practically focus onto the lens surface.

I think where that wide angle lens would be fun to shoot with is shooting big objects at a close distance.