Please help!!!

Post by **daveyboy** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 8:17 pm

hiya i'm a novice when it comes to super 8 cameras. I just brought one of ebay. It's a Bell and Howell MS45 Super 8 Camera.
I was wondering if anyone knows anything about this Camera as i don't know if or where a counter of how much film has been used etc etc.
I've got a time lapse delay on here, but i don't know how to use it. The guy i brought it off on ebay doesn't know either as he never used it.
If you know where i can get a free online manual, that'd be great.
Just any info to help would be welcome as i don't know much about it.
Thanks a lot, please help!!!! - i've asked this question before but no one replied. So sorry for asking it again, but i really could do with some help
Cheers
Dave

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Sat Mar 20, 2004 8:54 pm

Can you share the auction link so we can see if it comes with the super special digital side panel?

Post by **daveyboy** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 1:33 pm

yeah sure it's
http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.dll? ... %3AIT&rd=1

Thanks

Post by **christoph** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 1:44 pm

i've never used bell and howell, seem to be rare on this side of the lake, but if you can post some high resolution photos i'm sure we can pretty much give you details on every little switch you need to know ;)

++ christoph ++

Post by **Lucas Lightfeat** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 2:02 pm

Yeah that's true - Did Bell and Howell never hear about exporting? I've never seen one in the flesh, but it seems lots of them are kicking around in the U.S. of A. Are they any good?

Lucas

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 3:20 pm

Those cameras are coveted by some. The side panel modular attachment was ahead of it's time. The good news is it's relatively easy to figure out the camera by simply reading the modular panel and flipping the switches to the desired position.

Post by **Franko8** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 9:58 pm

I had the MS45 some time ago, It had two modules that could be attached to it, one was more advanced with slow mo, intervalometer and rewind, however, the rewind function according to the manual could only be used on sound carts. I do have a couple of pics which I will post, but they may not be of much use. In my opinion the camera was very plasticky and not well balanced, the lens was not a great performer, B+H were not renowned for this.

Post by **Franko8** » Sun Mar 21, 2004 10:18 pm

Post by **daveyboy** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:27 am

hiya thanks for posting the pics, i don't have a digi cam or anything to take any. i'\m not sure if the bottom bit shows what the numbers are for and how they work etc - but the bottom bit of the picture is covered with weird colours and stuff.
I think mine differed a bit to yours, i have a Audio, Exposure, and Effects display on it.
The Effects has; Delay 10 or 20 does any1 no what this means
SF, 9, 24, 18 (in yellow) i'm guessing that should be frames a minute- so it should be 24?
However beneath it there's a F/min nxt to toggle which has 1, 6, 12, 30, 60 - is this frames per minute. If so which one do i set it too????
Also do i need something extra to set it for time lapse as it doesn't just take a single frame picture for itself - does it - when i set it for single frame and then delay???
also there's a wide and tele buttons at the top which don't seem to do anything when i press them.
If anyone can help me further, that'd be great.
Thanks
dave

Post by **filmbuff** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 12:54 am

daveyboy wrote:The Effects has; Delay 10 or 20 does any1 no what this means

This is likely a self timer feature. Meaning you put camera on a tripod, set it to delay then you have 10 seconds to run into the picture to have yourself filmed for 10 or 20 seconds.

Post by **Patrick** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 1:17 am

The 9, 24 and 18 are your running speeds, expressed in frames per second. 1, 6, 12, 30, 60 sound like the typical settings for an interval timer. Normally, these would be the number of seconds that you can select as a length of time between frames when doing time lapse. SF simply stands for single frame - the camera must be set to this position when using the interval timer. If you want some tips on doing time lapse, I would recommend the '1' setting for pedestrians and traffic, anywhere from '6' to '12' would be suitable for clouds (depending on their speed), '60' can be useful for the opening and closing of flowers and recording movements of shadows.

Post by **christoph** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 1:48 am

daveyboy wrote:also there's a wide and tele buttons at the top which don't seem to do anything when i press them.

on some super8 cameras you have to slightly tip on the trigger for the power to activate and therefor for the motorzoom to work.. and on some others you even have to *press* the trigger and start filming before you can zoom. rather stupid, but that's cos the same motor that advances the film also powers the motorzoom (for example in the canon 310xl). i would suggest you just zoom manually anyway ;)

++ christoph ++

Post by **matt5791** » Mon Mar 22, 2004 2:23 pm

Lucas Lightfeat wrote:Yeah that's true - Did Bell and Howell never hear about exporting? I've never seen one in the flesh, but it seems lots of them are kicking around in the U.S. of A. Are they any good?

Lucas

My father had one new in 1981. It was a very basic model with only 18fps, and the same sort of look to the one in the ebay link above, just less switches.

Now I have to say I have always been very impressed with the quality of footage, considering he was only shooting amateur home movies. The images are always really steady and it seems the lens performs well too.

Unfortunately the camera no longer works having been in a cupboard until I found it in about 1999. The last footage had been shot in 1991 when we went on a family holiday to Florida.

I think my father was one of the last people using super8 for amateur home movies rather than switching to video.

Matt
Birmingham UK

Post by **daveyboy** » Tue Mar 23, 2004 8:42 pm

hi thanks for everyones help. I've finally figured out how to use the delay and time lapse which is wicked.
There doesn't however seem to be a counter on my Camera, I've been told that all cameras have them, but there doesn't seem to be any on the Camera!!!!
Also i wonna check to make sure everythings alright - as i brought it off ebay, so is there any way to check to see if there's an image on the negative without using a projector - as i don't have one -(i no on 16mm you can see it, but 8 seems to have a really small negative. ) this is because i need to tell the guy soon whether or not it's OK and works. do you think that if it runs - althogh it sounds jarring, (but i've been told this is normal) that the camera is fine and the film image will be captured?\
Thanks a lot
dave

Post by **matt5791** » Wed Mar 24, 2004 9:15 am

Only real test is to shoot a roll of film, get a projector (or borrow one?), and have a look.

Quickest film processing turnaround in the UK is pro8mm.

Matt

Filmshooting

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