hello all,
im relitavly new to Super 8 so i have a few quick tech questions if you guys dont mind...
first of all what will happen if i shoot any film without the lightmeter batteries in the camera? i shot about half a roll this way(stupid i know) :?
on my nizo, i do not understand how the variable shutter interacts with the rest of the camera when you have it set halfway and fully open. how does this affect the interlovmeter settings also?
can i use the reverse function to superimpose film if i half the shutter partially open?
what would i need the NC accumulator box charger for?
what is the function of the nizo remote release (built in solenoid)?
where do i get a flash gun? how would i use it to illuminate slow tie lapse shots (this is one thing that im really interested in doing)?
lastly, i do not understand at all what the oscillator can be used for... a brief explanation would help alot..im lost.
i know this is alot of stuff, and i probably went way over my head from going to to a Vivtar 84p Super8 camera to a NIzo 800, but i gotta start getting serious sometime.
thanks
jordan
NIzo s800 Tech jIve
Moderator: Andreas Wideroe
Some of your questions I can probably answer, others not, because I am not a Nizo owner.
First, the variable shutter. In OPEN position it probably matches with the setting of the exposure meter, giving you correct film exposure. In all other positions, the exposure will become darker. F.e. in 1/2 position, the shutter time per image is twice as fast as in open position and the exposure will become 1 stop under exposed.
The variable shutter usually is not coupled with the exposure meter setting, because the normal use of it is to realize fade in and fade out. In half positon, you can make double exposure, exposuring the film to the half each time. Closing the shutter slowly before stopping a scene, then backwinding the film and opening it slowly before starting the next scene will enable you to perfom lap dissolve. It is important to rewind only the number of frames that had been faded out and to fade in with the same velocity as you had faded out. If not, you will have black gaps in your film.
The NC charger you probably use for charging NC batteries you can use instead of alkaline batteries.
The remote release can take a longer electrical cable to start and stop the camera from distance or when it is on a camera stand. Good for watching animals, children or for titles and animation.
A fash gun probably is a standard electronic foto flash. You connect the sync cable of the flash to the sync socket of the camera (a chinc-like socket, but only 4 mm diameter, with one centre pin and a flash symbol close to it). With every frame you advance, the flash will light up. Be shure to adjust the iris according to the flash power and distance.
The oscillator is a very practical feature when shooting sound film with silent stock. It produces one beep-sound per frame, or, in ETS-position, one beep-sound each 4th frame. (Don´t use the ETS position, only historical meaning. ) Furthermore, the very same socket provides contacts for automated start/stop of tape recorders.
You can connect the oscillator outlet to one input (left or right) of a tape deck and a microfone to the other input of the tape deck. Each time, when you shoot a scene, the tape will record the camera behavior (one beep per frame) in parallel to the microfone signal (the dialogs). Later on, after striping the film, you can transfer the dialogs to the magnetic strip in perfect sync.
For this, you need a projector or system, that allows to control the projector speed, projector start and stop according to 1:1 pulses.
The Elmo GS1200MO has this system integrated from factory, only an external pulse amplifyer/converter is neccessary (I could supply this).
Other projectors with DC-motor, like Braun Visacustic (any model)
or Bauer Studio Class (T610, T525, T510, T502) can be connected to external sync systems that enables them to follow that 1:1 pulses produced by the camera. (I could supply this, too).
So you have got a very universal and good camera. But don´t run it without meter batteries! THe stop will keep or totally open or totally closed, I don´t know.
Pedro
First, the variable shutter. In OPEN position it probably matches with the setting of the exposure meter, giving you correct film exposure. In all other positions, the exposure will become darker. F.e. in 1/2 position, the shutter time per image is twice as fast as in open position and the exposure will become 1 stop under exposed.
The variable shutter usually is not coupled with the exposure meter setting, because the normal use of it is to realize fade in and fade out. In half positon, you can make double exposure, exposuring the film to the half each time. Closing the shutter slowly before stopping a scene, then backwinding the film and opening it slowly before starting the next scene will enable you to perfom lap dissolve. It is important to rewind only the number of frames that had been faded out and to fade in with the same velocity as you had faded out. If not, you will have black gaps in your film.
The NC charger you probably use for charging NC batteries you can use instead of alkaline batteries.
The remote release can take a longer electrical cable to start and stop the camera from distance or when it is on a camera stand. Good for watching animals, children or for titles and animation.
A fash gun probably is a standard electronic foto flash. You connect the sync cable of the flash to the sync socket of the camera (a chinc-like socket, but only 4 mm diameter, with one centre pin and a flash symbol close to it). With every frame you advance, the flash will light up. Be shure to adjust the iris according to the flash power and distance.
The oscillator is a very practical feature when shooting sound film with silent stock. It produces one beep-sound per frame, or, in ETS-position, one beep-sound each 4th frame. (Don´t use the ETS position, only historical meaning. ) Furthermore, the very same socket provides contacts for automated start/stop of tape recorders.
You can connect the oscillator outlet to one input (left or right) of a tape deck and a microfone to the other input of the tape deck. Each time, when you shoot a scene, the tape will record the camera behavior (one beep per frame) in parallel to the microfone signal (the dialogs). Later on, after striping the film, you can transfer the dialogs to the magnetic strip in perfect sync.
For this, you need a projector or system, that allows to control the projector speed, projector start and stop according to 1:1 pulses.
The Elmo GS1200MO has this system integrated from factory, only an external pulse amplifyer/converter is neccessary (I could supply this).
Other projectors with DC-motor, like Braun Visacustic (any model)
or Bauer Studio Class (T610, T525, T510, T502) can be connected to external sync systems that enables them to follow that 1:1 pulses produced by the camera. (I could supply this, too).
So you have got a very universal and good camera. But don´t run it without meter batteries! THe stop will keep or totally open or totally closed, I don´t know.
Pedro
I believe I can clarify some of Pedro's observations, as I have a nizo s800 and (i think) i've figured out most of the features.
First of all, the Nizo uses it's variable shutter (not the aperture) to perform fades, so the same lever that does the fade is the one that does the half-shutter operation. To use the half-shutter mode, you pull down the lever at the correct spot, and it locks into place. The metering DOES correct for the half shutter when you pull the lever into the half-shutter position, EVEN IN MANUAL APERTURE MODE. the same applies for the daylight filter and slow-motion as well, so you shouldn't have to compensate for any of these changes by shifting the f-stop, the camera does it for you.
The Half-shutter basically drops your exposure time for each frame in half, or one stop. The aperture then opens the same amount, so that exposure is maintained. The half shutter is useful for achieving a wider aperture for shallow depth of field, etc. and also captures motion better, more crisply.
As for the intervalometer mode, I'm not sure if the half-shutter works or not. I haven't tested the effects of the half shutter or filming speeds and their effect on single shot mode. One neat thing about the nizo's intervalometer is that pulling the fade lever all the way back past full fade and locking it with the little button will make the shutter stay open for the whole interval, thus allowing low-light time-lapse photography. You just have to calculate your shutter speeds and f-stops manually. ex. at one frame per second, your frames will be exposed for (nearly) one second, which is approx. six stops more light than 24 fps operation (about 1/60 sec each frame) Just remember that locking the lever back will open the shutter whether or not you are filming, so do it after you start your time-lapse, and release it before finishing the shot, or white frames will result.
Now the rewind button... the rewind is only for in-camera lap-dissolves, and is performed in two parts. First, the R button is depressed at the end of the first shot, and the camera performs a 3 second fade, then rewinds the film to the beginning of the fade. At this point, there will be an R in the little window top rear on the side panel. To complete the lap-dissolve, the user must press the shutter release AND the R button at the same time, or the camera will not resume filming. Once they have peen pressed, the camera fades in over the previously faded out shot, and the window returns to "0" or normal. Remember to keep your finger on the shutter to keep filming past the lap. As far as I know, you cannot use the R button any other way, like to rewind arbitrary amounts of film, anything like that.
I suspect that having the camera in half-shutter mode will disrupt the normal lap dissolve routine, I'm afraid to try it.
As for the flash socket, cable release, and the sync socket, the flash socket is simply a PC socket, which is the same found on any manual camera. Plug any flash (including big studio strobes, my speedotron unit works fine) into the camera and every frame the camera shoots will trigger the flash. Just make sure your flash can recharge fully within the alloted interval, or you may damage your flash unit. The cable release socket is also the same as most manual SLR's, it is a mechanical release that screws into the socket and triggers the shutter with a small pin, five bucks at fine photo stores everywhere. I use mine for telephoto tripod shots where I don't want to jerk the camera squeezing the trigger. The sound sync socket is as Pedro described it, it will put down a beep for every frame(I think). I've seen these cords on e-bay. As for photo strobes, vivitar makes a cheap unit, the 283, for which you can buy a power cord and a sync cord that fits a PC socket. I wouldnt use batteries, as the many flashes you are going to need would drain them too quickly. I think four AA calls gives you approx. 150 flashes at full power, optimistically, that's about eight seconds in movie time.
One word of caution, the manual says not to use the half-shutter during 54 fps operation (slo-mo) as the shutter can't keep up or something...
Hope this helps,
Wells
First of all, the Nizo uses it's variable shutter (not the aperture) to perform fades, so the same lever that does the fade is the one that does the half-shutter operation. To use the half-shutter mode, you pull down the lever at the correct spot, and it locks into place. The metering DOES correct for the half shutter when you pull the lever into the half-shutter position, EVEN IN MANUAL APERTURE MODE. the same applies for the daylight filter and slow-motion as well, so you shouldn't have to compensate for any of these changes by shifting the f-stop, the camera does it for you.
The Half-shutter basically drops your exposure time for each frame in half, or one stop. The aperture then opens the same amount, so that exposure is maintained. The half shutter is useful for achieving a wider aperture for shallow depth of field, etc. and also captures motion better, more crisply.
As for the intervalometer mode, I'm not sure if the half-shutter works or not. I haven't tested the effects of the half shutter or filming speeds and their effect on single shot mode. One neat thing about the nizo's intervalometer is that pulling the fade lever all the way back past full fade and locking it with the little button will make the shutter stay open for the whole interval, thus allowing low-light time-lapse photography. You just have to calculate your shutter speeds and f-stops manually. ex. at one frame per second, your frames will be exposed for (nearly) one second, which is approx. six stops more light than 24 fps operation (about 1/60 sec each frame) Just remember that locking the lever back will open the shutter whether or not you are filming, so do it after you start your time-lapse, and release it before finishing the shot, or white frames will result.
Now the rewind button... the rewind is only for in-camera lap-dissolves, and is performed in two parts. First, the R button is depressed at the end of the first shot, and the camera performs a 3 second fade, then rewinds the film to the beginning of the fade. At this point, there will be an R in the little window top rear on the side panel. To complete the lap-dissolve, the user must press the shutter release AND the R button at the same time, or the camera will not resume filming. Once they have peen pressed, the camera fades in over the previously faded out shot, and the window returns to "0" or normal. Remember to keep your finger on the shutter to keep filming past the lap. As far as I know, you cannot use the R button any other way, like to rewind arbitrary amounts of film, anything like that.
I suspect that having the camera in half-shutter mode will disrupt the normal lap dissolve routine, I'm afraid to try it.
As for the flash socket, cable release, and the sync socket, the flash socket is simply a PC socket, which is the same found on any manual camera. Plug any flash (including big studio strobes, my speedotron unit works fine) into the camera and every frame the camera shoots will trigger the flash. Just make sure your flash can recharge fully within the alloted interval, or you may damage your flash unit. The cable release socket is also the same as most manual SLR's, it is a mechanical release that screws into the socket and triggers the shutter with a small pin, five bucks at fine photo stores everywhere. I use mine for telephoto tripod shots where I don't want to jerk the camera squeezing the trigger. The sound sync socket is as Pedro described it, it will put down a beep for every frame(I think). I've seen these cords on e-bay. As for photo strobes, vivitar makes a cheap unit, the 283, for which you can buy a power cord and a sync cord that fits a PC socket. I wouldnt use batteries, as the many flashes you are going to need would drain them too quickly. I think four AA calls gives you approx. 150 flashes at full power, optimistically, that's about eight seconds in movie time.
One word of caution, the manual says not to use the half-shutter during 54 fps operation (slo-mo) as the shutter can't keep up or something...
Hope this helps,
Wells
-
Santo
I love my Nizo S 800. Yes, never use 1.5v alkalines in the light meter.
I simply use 1.4v Energizer 675 zinc air hearing aid batteries for the light meter compartment. Real cheap. Available in any drug store (in north america, anyways). It's been two and a half months now since I replaced the last pair and they still work correctly and "test" perfectly with the camera's light meter battery test. Unlike most old 35mm SLR cameras that draw a constant current from the batteries, the Nizo (and most super 8 cameras) has an on and off switch. And a nearly air tight compartment for them.
I took a few of the pictures in the Plus-X section of this site with my S 800 using the hearing aid batteries. Came out exactly as I intended.
Like most things in super 8 cinematography, I've studied and tested and found most every solution is as easy as it would seem to be, and actual results reflect actual data and technical specifications for film, cameras, batteries et al. Sometimes that seems to upset some people or they don't want to hear about it. Don't know why that is.
I simply use 1.4v Energizer 675 zinc air hearing aid batteries for the light meter compartment. Real cheap. Available in any drug store (in north america, anyways). It's been two and a half months now since I replaced the last pair and they still work correctly and "test" perfectly with the camera's light meter battery test. Unlike most old 35mm SLR cameras that draw a constant current from the batteries, the Nizo (and most super 8 cameras) has an on and off switch. And a nearly air tight compartment for them.
I took a few of the pictures in the Plus-X section of this site with my S 800 using the hearing aid batteries. Came out exactly as I intended.
Like most things in super 8 cinematography, I've studied and tested and found most every solution is as easy as it would seem to be, and actual results reflect actual data and technical specifications for film, cameras, batteries et al. Sometimes that seems to upset some people or they don't want to hear about it. Don't know why that is.