My Favourite Filmstock For Years 2 Come Fuji 500T

[S8 Booster]

after examining all of my film material ever shot one film stock stands out as extremely sharp and contrasty from the highes light level to under exposure and that is the custom made nov obsolete Fuji F500T by Pro8mm so i will go for thr Reala 500T Vivid from now. Ill buy Kodak to to support them just for reference.

I have re-posted a clip here: the Fuji is from about 0:50.
http://vimeo.com/34859729
This clip is no reference clip due to all the processes it had gone through to end here but look how sharp and contrasty it appears in the window details. the reason for posting this is that it holds on magification very well and detals is revealed so well.

here is the total process it has ben thru - it will be upgraded later:

edited the clip a bit to remove too long parts of less interest, tidied it up a bit. Also "converted" from m4v to HD and back to m4v for upload. originally SD DV scan.

Despite the many conversions an lack of initial HD scan it appears that a lot more details were visualised - espacially with the Fuji F500T.

shoot flime-O.....

[carllooper]

Thanks for sharing S8 Booster.

The 500T does indeed come up extremely well. If one were forced to use only one filmstock then I'd very much choose 500T.

Regarding grain, obviously 500T gives you more of it, but that's part of what's involved in being able to see in the dark. There is a similar effect when observing a dark scene with your own eyes (eg. when you wake up in the middle of the night). Random photons hit your retina from which your brain then synthesises an image, not too unlike 500T in the dark.

Compared to video noise, the residual effect of film grain is really quite relaxing on the eye. Film grain varies (in an infinite way), in both size and position. And this helps to produce an infinitely better statistical relationship between objects and the rendered image. Much of this relationship transfers to the digital domain, even on the poorest of transfers.

When editing a film one can sometimes forget how film grain works. Looking at a single image on the editing deck, an image can appear to represent a shot as more noisy than it actually is. A frame of film, on it's own, is out of context. When you play the shot the images interact with each other, integrating into a pleasant motion picture.

I look forward to the day when it becomes routine to scan Super8 at very high definition with a large dynamic range and we can more fully appreciate and distribute to others those beautiful qualities we otherwise see on our film projectors.

[Will2]

Picking a favorite stock is like picking a favorite child. I wouldn't want the other stocks to hear for fear of them running away.

I've found the Vivid stocks to be much more punchy in the color as the name suggests. Whereas the Reala and F series always seemed a little flat to me which can be good too of course. The Vivid 160 is a great stock in Super 8 since it works with all cameras.

I'm shooting a ton of Fuji F-64D I've had for a while and love the results.

Strangely my favorite stock is still Double-X negative.

http://vimeo.com/16430701

[Will2]

I look forward to the day when it becomes routine to scan Super8 at very high definition with a large dynamic range and we can more fully appreciate and distribute to others those beautiful qualities we otherwise see on our film projectors.

With Spirit Telecine selling for $29,500 on eBay (only with a 35mm gate) we should see prices of really high quality film scans go down although those Super 8 gates are really hard to find.

[carllooper]

Picking a favorite stock is like picking a favorite child. I wouldn't want the other stocks to hear for fear of them running away.

Or worse: Sophies Choice.

From the film's synopsis:

Stingo and Sophie flee and check into a hotel. Stingo insists that they start a family, but Sophie has yet to tell him her final secret - her choice. She recounts the night she arrived at Auschwitz with her children, and of how a Nazi officer forced her to choose life for one child, and death for the other.

Despite her plea of "Don't make me choose. I can't choose", Sophie's words fall on deaf ears. When a young Nazi is told to take both children away, she releases her daughter, shouting "Take my little girl!". Sophie can only watch as the screaming little girl is carried away to die, her guilt and despair all too clear.

[S8 Booster]

that BW looks fab Will.

for me it is not about picking 1 film stock but if i had to make a non Sofie single choice only it would be the Fuji 500.
based on all the footage of the above clip - to be posted soon it performs so incredibly well in low light conditions, the grain seem less apparent than in sunny conditions and it holds high contrast, colour and resolution way below he camera´s reading, actually as long as it samples an image or part of, i mean WAY below and the grain does seemingly not increase noticeably from measurable light conditions.

on the original DV file it is possible to see subtle nuances and details in shadows on the Wannsee building in a way which i have never have with the other film stocks used. i am sure the 160T is a better choice when the light conditions suits and ill check that out as well but i like to piss off many folks by demonstrating the grain to show that I SHOOT FILM FOR HEAVES AKE... ;)

unlike the Kodak Vision Negs it seems to me that the F500 performs best when exposed exactly at its E.I rating. over exposing makes it look flatter especially under daylight condition.

ill post quite some more of the 500 later at the beast quality i can get on the net but there is always a loss in quality from the original file,

in the meantime you may want to check out this V200T extended footage at reasonable quality:
http://vimeo.com/34971839 or
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5YdPE5zgA1Y
on my machinery the vimeo looks better colour wise.
original upload file is a full quality .mov file on the tube and .m4v on Vimeo

shoot.......

[Will2]

i like to piss off many folks by demonstrating the grain to show that I SHOOT FILM FOR HEAVES AKE... ;)

But isn't there an APP for that? :lol:

Now that I have a full range of cameras from 8mm to 35mm (except 9.5) I keep going back and forth on what I like the best.

- If I want people to see grain and really get the "home movie" feel I still love Regular 8mm (thank you John S!).

- If I want to make it really easy to shoot I love Super 8.

- If I want people to know its film but want it sharper I shoot 16mm. Ektachrome in 16mm gives that "movie star" home movie look from the 50's.

- If I want it to look like a real movie or high-end TV production I shoot 35mm.

[S8 Booster]

Updated longer clip including not intensjonal V200T but it gives a better view on both film stocks.
http://vimeo.com/35006469

SD scan DV m4v upload.

Shoot.....

[S8 Booster]

This film stock the Fuji F500T is incredible - i wish i could share it 1:1 with you , but there is no site on the net offering RQ playback option.

meanwhile you may suffer the degration version here; https://vimeo.com/35142252
the grainage on the original is so smooth, consistent and pleasant - this version is POS but you may still get an impression:
https://vimeo.com/35142252
incredibly sharp and beautifully colour balanced down to no-no light....

at this stage it is incrdibly much better than the 1980 VHS performane (at normal daylight) - ill give you comparisations later.....

shoot... film... ever heard Everlasting Love with Love Affair....?......