What's up with the jitter-thing?

[MovieStuff]

The thing that everyone needs to remember is that the date on the carts means nothing as it refers to the film inside and not the cart itself, which is what causes the problem. You can have new film in an old cart. The new (and supposedly fixed) carts have a smooth skin while the older carts have a textured skin. We really need to notate the type of cart as well as the expiration date. If people are still getting jumpy footage from the smooth skin carts, then that means the problem has not be solved at all and that Kodak is pulling out collective legs. If everyone shooting new footage will make a notation of the cart type (smooth vs textured) then perhaps we can gather some quantifying data on the jitter issue. Otherwise, we will continue to talk about dates which mean nothing since it refers only to the film inside.

Roger

[jessh]

Can you explain more in detail how to tell the new smooth carts from the textured? I also noticed on the K40 cart I am shooting right now it has v2.4 imprinted on it, in the bottom indetntion part (if that makes any sense) and the top one says B. Could the v2.4 by any chance be a version of the cartridge and help determine which are the new ones? I would like to know if this cart is one of the older ones, I also just got some film in the mail from kodak and would like to make sure its good.

Thanks,
Jess

[S8 Booster]

This was posted earlier and lists the "good" cart series:

Posted by
> Scot McPhie I've just got off the phone from the Kodak
> rep I've been dealing with here and he's just received
> confirmation from his technical services manager that
> Kodak in France have admitted to the problem - I think
> they said it was a minor but unacceptable variation in
> image quality - caused by the faulty manufacturing of
> a disc used in the cartridge.
> This has been looked into by them and all cartridges
> numbered 3631 7768 onwards should be free of this
> problem.
> Because there was an official (internal) statement by
> them admitting to the problem I'm also eligible for a
> refund - so will be getting my 40 odd faulty
> cartridges refunded.
> Hope this info helps!
> Scot M
> http://www.mango-a-gogo.com/inmyimage/image.htm

[Manuel]

I was freaking out on the set today. Here I am, three days and $1,500 dollars into my production and I've got jamming cartridges! I had one refuse to even budge in my camera today. To follow up on Roger's comment, ALL my Plus-X cartridges are textured, none are smooth. I just bought these carts, so if it's true that the textured ones are the problem, then Kodak is STILL selling them, because I bought these DIRECT from Kodak.com which shipped them to me from their Rochester facility on 6/3/02!

So whom at Kodak do I speak to for reimbursement? Not just for bad film...but my light and grip and dolly rentals as well?


Fuming...

-Manuel (manahoo@yahoo.com)

[jessh]

This was posted earlier and lists the "good" cart series and onward:

Posted by
> Scot McPhie
> This has been looked into by them and all cartridges
> numbered 3631 7768 onwards should be free of this
> problem.

I am in luck, the carts I just got in from Kodak are 3631 7769, just barely :-) What about Plus-X and Tri-X these seem to have different numbering... Anyone know about how to tell for them?

~Jess

[MovieStuff]

I am in luck, the carts I just got in from Kodak are 3631 7769, just barely What about Plus-X and Tri-X these seem to have different numbering... Anyone know about how to tell for them?

Well, again, we really don't know if the numbers mean ANYthing. The only way to know if you have one of the new carts is by the physical characteristics. The new ones have a smooth plastic finish and the older ones have a textured finish. I would say that even if you have the right numbers, if the outer skin is textured, then chances are that the cart is suspect and more than likely bad.

So far, based on people I've talked to that have sent film in for transfer, the only carts that seem to be trouble free (when they remember to look) are the newer ones which have the smooth outer skin. These were supposedly manufactured correctly but, then again, we really need people to LOOK at their carts before shooting and make a notation of the results. The numbers mean nothing because they refer to the film inside, which has NOTHING to do with jamming.

Unless people start making a concerted effort to notate the cart type and the results, we may never know if it's safe to go back in the water. At this point, we still have too many people hung up on the stupid numbers which refer only to the film; not the cart construction. Again, it is the cart construction that makes the film jam, not the film itself. The numbers do not refer to the cart. Look at the outer skin; that's the only way to tell, regardless of what Kodak says about the numbers.

Roger

[S8 Booster]

With all respect Roger, the texture says nothing in my case. I examined an old (bad - jammed) and a new (smooth running - good numbers) cartridge and the texture is exactly the same (visually identified).

However, the good one runs smooth like a well lubricated sewing machine. Consistent sound.

The cart outside "feels" very different like as if the good one is lubricated on the outside and the bad one is not. The good one feels very smooth by touching (slippy) but the plastic & texture seems identical. The old one feels "dry" by touching.

The bad ones grinds and jerks and makes all sorts of funny noises.

My suggestion to check the K40:
Check the good numbers.
Check the mechanical noise, should be consistent, smooth running.

For other "K" films without "good numbers" reference:
Check the mechanical sound, should be consistent, smooth running
Should feel "slippy" not "dry" by touching.

I mean really smooth, even noise.

[S8 Booster]

What is the difference?




Anybody tell me?

[jessh]

Could you tell me what it says in the bottom right corner of each of these cartridges? should be something along the lines of V2.4 and the top right might say B.

Thanks,
~Jess

[S8 Booster]

Check:



Top detail says "B" for both bad and good cart.

Bad cart:
Lower detail on defective cart reads "V105"

Good Cart:
Lower detail on good cart reads "V106"

[Manuel]

I suspect that Roger is right, I've had both good and bad results with the textured cartridges, so it really means nothing to any of us out here in the field. I can hold up two identical-looking textured carts as well: one was good and the other was bad...so what? At this point it only means that not ALL the cartridges in the production run were faulty. Based on what I am reading in these posts, there seems to be no way based on numbers, stamps or other identifying tags on the cartridges to tell if it is going to fail.

Well, if its the smooth cartridges that correct the problem, it seems pretty straightforward...if only I could get my hands on some smooth cartridges. I keep getting textured ones from Rochester. Just to be sure, I am recording ALL the data and cartridge style information on every roll I send in for processing, so I can have some useful data to report.

-Manuel

[cheung]

This has been looked into by them and all cartridges
numbered 3631 7768 onwards should be free of this
problem.
8O I was so "lucky" to have bought 20 cartridges numbered 3631 7768 !
I had shot one roll. It came back allright.

[Andreas Wideroe]

:!: S8Booster: Remember max 500 pixels horisontally for images. These are 506 and as you see the frame-line is broken...

[S8 Booster]

Hi Andreas, I formatted the picture in 500 pix exact with adobe premiere to not cause the problem. Actually it was broken before I posted the picture. Anyway, I can edit it and put in the small picture to see if that helps.

With my browser the frameline was broken since page 3 popped up.

Edited, see, no difference. Seen this before even when no pictures were linked onto the page.

regards,

[Andreas Wideroe]

Edited, see, no difference. Seen this before even when no pictures were linked onto the page.

Hi Vidar!
Things look good now. Atleast on my computer. Did you make sure to do a real reload of the pages in your browser? shift+refresh or ctrl+r?

Anyway, 500pixels is the maximum size - if it's 506 it's too large.

Take care - and keep on posting!
/Andreas