Presenting a native ultraPan8 projector.

[Nicholas Kovats]

A very big thanks to Douglas Palmer in the UK in unearthing an actual native declassified UK Ministry of Defense ultraPan8 projector!

UltraPan8 is a new native ultrawide film format with an aspect ratio of 2.8:1 that happens to be wider than Cinemascope. UP8 utilizes is a hybrid of Bolex H8 + H16 cameras, i.e. http://vimeo.com/27905787

When Douglas first contacted me I could not believe the following plate inscription in his attached photos, i.e "Use 16mm film perforated for 8mm pulldown only". Which begs the question where is the associated UltraPan8 camera? He purchased it at a Min of Defense auction a few years ago thinking it was a regular 16mm projector.

Here are the specs as per Douglas's email, i.e.

"It's a LW Photo Data Analyzer, Model 224A Mk.4. Made in California. It is 240 volts and has old style pre-focus lamp from 300w to 1000w. Speeds 1-12 fps. and 24 fps. 2 inch lens. The light output is cut down a lot by the built-in heat filter so really should be removed. (It's really used for single frame projection mainly.)"

I will be arranging shipment to Jean-Louis Seguin for some slight modification work. The present gate is slightly too high and somewhat not wide enough. Douglas has also provided the following videos detailing some aspects of this UP8 projector, i.e.

1. 24FPs projected on grid paper to illustrate projector frameline and registration.
http://www.youtube.com/user/filmisfine# ... cZUDcGkzKQ

2. The projector exterior.
http://www.youtube.com/user/filmisfine# ... qC3qvkUYo8

3. Stepped speed mode.
http://www.youtube.com/user/filmisfine# ... mwEMubTjV4

Check out Douglas's blog at http://filmisfine.co/. He is currently working on or with Ultra16mm cameras.

[etimh]

This is SO crazy.

Been really impressed with the whole camera project but how wild is it to actually find a projector purpose built for the camera system you basically invented from scratch? Mind blowing.

Thanks for the updates and links and keep them coming! Awesome project.

Tim

[David M. Leugers]

This is not a new idea. It has been around for decades. Just not many if any actual film makers using it. The stumbling block had been the projector which was a do-it-yourself proposition and not easily accomplished. Sound was also a problem. Now with HD transfer to video, this process becomes more viable.

[etimh]

This is not a new idea. It has been around for decades. Just not many if any actual film makers using it.

Who cares about the people who didn't do it, or who aren't using it? Nicholas did do it (getting the cameras modified), and is using it (actually making films--see link). What do I care about things historically not done and never realized? :roll:

The stumbling block had been the projector which was a do-it-yourself proposition and not easily accomplished.

Which makes the news of finding a native purpose-built projector for the format all that more exciting. Get it?

Now with HD transfer to video, this process becomes more viable.

Meh.


Tim

[Nicholas Kovats]

Tim,

Thank you and your enthusiasm is infectious. Some positives inevitably attract some negatives. Comes with the territory.

In between my day job and shooting UP8 test film I am having a hard time keeping up with my UP8 correspondence/activities.

Forthcoming are , i.e

1. 200 ft of new UP8 E100D shot currently being processed.
2. UP8 projector to be tweaked by Jean-Louis.
3. UP8 had a major article in Tony Shapps AV Concepts newsletter (September issue) w/ a readership 0f approx. 6000.
4. Forthcoming UP8 article in German Schmalfilm magazine.
5. The 2nd UP8 camera is now an official go as per a US based forum member. He is going to test his incredible 1.9mm Century lens.
6. A web developer has agreed to assist me in my efforts to construct a web site. I recently purchased the domain UltraPan8.com.
6. I have made an inquiry to one of the top 2 perf conversion engineers on the planet regarding the Eclair ACL. Apparently it's doable.

I'm hoping I do not have to resort to a life of crime to feed my UP8 addictions.

[Lunar07]

freedom4kids -
I do not think that David meant anything negative by his comments. He was just arguing a point. David has been on this borad for a very long time and he is quite a helpful member.
In the same vein do not be fooled by the enthusiasm of some other members. Yes indeed it can infectious, but some infections are actually quite deadly for they hide behind such enthusiasm a lack of tact that reflects the childishness of someone who refuses to grow up ;)

Also, quite soon I'll be joining the ranks of those using Ultra8Pan.
Lunar07

PS: of course, I am not talking about anyone in particular Just a generalization on human observations!

Tim,

Thank you and your enthusiasm is infectious. Some positives inevitably attract some negatives. Comes with the territory.

In between my day job and shooting UP8 test film I am having a hard time keeping up with my UP8 correspondence/activities.

Forthcoming are , i.e

1. 200 ft of new UP8 E100D shot currently being processed.
2. UP8 projector to be tweaked by Jean-Louis.
3. UP8 had a major article in Tony Shapps AV Concepts newsletter (September issue) w/ a readership 0f approx. 6000.
4. Forthcoming UP8 article in German Schmalfilm magazine.
5. The 2nd UP8 camera is now an official go as per a US based forum member. He is going to test his incredible 1.9mm Century lens.
6. A web developer has agreed to assist me in my efforts to construct a web site. I recently purchased the domain UltraPan8.com.
6. I have made an inquiry to one of the top 2 perf conversion engineers on the planet regarding the Eclair ACL. Apparently it's doable.

I'm hoping I do not have to resort to a life of crime to feed my UP8 addictions.

[etimh]

I do not think...

Yes, we're all so grateful that you've decided to resurface again and grace us with all of your trite wisdom. :roll:

Regardless, I second the praise of Mr. Leugers--he is great and I have much respect for him. His comments about the project just seemed a little unduly deflating and I was adding my support to Nicholas.

But let's try to keep this on the subject, what do you say?

Tim

[Lunar07]

This is not a new idea. It has been around for decades. Just not many if any actual film makers using it. The stumbling block had been the projector which was a do-it-yourself proposition and not easily accomplished. Sound was also a problem. Now with HD transfer to video, this process becomes more viable.

It is very clear that whoever made the projector made it for a particular project and had resources to support him. And with the department of defense involved, who knows how much of tax payer money was spent on this machine
I agree with that with HD transfer to video, Ultra8Pan is a fun way to shoot wide screen R8.
I am going to send my camera to Jean-Louis next month for the modifiction. Can not wait to have one of those modified cameras.
My other modification has to do with modifying a 16mm camera to Ultra16. But this is a different subject!

[David M. Leugers]

Maybe I should have said more. I was not denigrating the efforts of Nicholas, on the contrary, I praise his efforts and I found his results inspiring. I merely wished to insert some historical perspective. As so often with film, there is seldom anything new under the sun. While I can not put my finger on the publication I am sure I have somewhere, weather it was a book or a magazine article, there were films made in this format by an earlier intrepid film maker somewhere in Europe. I have always thought this process was preferable to using an anamorphic lens in front to give a wide screen image. Years ago the thought of permanently modifying an expensive film camera (even a pocket 8mm Bolex was more than a week's pay for most people) like a Bolex H-8 for a system without viable projection capabilities was too dicey for most. Even today, projection is a problem, the one-of-a-kind surplus analysis projector not withstanding. I think it is great that Nicholas has started a viable path to getting a camera for shooting this process. I have had the idea to blank out either the top or bottom half of the 16mm gate in a Filmo or Bolex to give a wide screen image. No modification to the lens mount is required. The roll of film will have to be double perf and you run the film through the camera twice. Transfer via HD by running the film one way then the other. I am sure this has been thought of before...

[Nicholas Kovats]

David,

No harm done.

I am aware of the historical antecedents of UltraPan8. I believe your are referring to the excellent academic paper by Guy Edmonds detailing the efforts of the UK based Widescreen Association and others in modifying 8mm/16mm equipment, i.e.

http://academic.csuohio.edu/kneuendorf/ ... onds07.pdf

I am in direct contact with both Guy Edmonds and Tony Shapps of the former UK Widescreen Association. They are both thrilled by the emergence of UltraPan8. Tony recently published an article on UP8 in his AV Concepts email newsletter.

The proposed masking and flipping technique re: standard 16mm pulldown has been described by a few forum members. However the design intent was to eliminate these imprecise steps and produce a native UP8 camera whereby filmmakers concentrated on technique rather than mechanics.

I am looking forward to UP8 footage generated by forum members.

Cheers!

[etimh]

Hey thanks for the link to the pdf of that article--very interesting history there.

Tim

[David M. Leugers]

Yeah, thanks for the link! Very nice article, but I have not seen it before, so it must have been some other source. For some reason I think it was in some writing by Lenny Lipton... no matter.