Help with Camera Purchase

Mp405 · Post by **Mp405** » Mon Nov 04, 2002 9:29 pm

My boyfriend shoots video, but wants to get into film. I want to buy him a used Super8 Camera for his birthday (probably on Ebay, unless anyone else has a suggestion). I don't want to spend too much money...but I could go up to $200 if I could get a pretty cool one. Does anyone have any suggestions about models I should look for? I especially like cool looking vintage ones, from an aesthetic point of view. Is there any site that sells used cameras other than ebay?

Guest · Post by **Guest** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 1:24 pm

ebay is as good a place to start as any, just ask as many questions about condition, a lot of people find this stuff in their attic and claim not to know if it's working so if u don't know too much about it yourself go for one where the seller says it is working for sure. by the nature of ebay though u are always taking a risk. still, it's where i got all my cams. u could start off with something like a Sankyo, or a Chinon. some are better than others, if u have a model number you can check out the features on http://www.kolumbus.fi/puistot/, a great camera database. if u want to go for something better you could look at Nizo cameras, spend a bit of time seeing what prices things go for on ebay and after a while u will know when something looks like a bargain. But if your bf is just getting into Super8 he will probably be just as charmed by a good Sankyo as by a good Nizo, a good Sankyo should set u back as little as $10-20. there are loads of old posts on this subject if you go back the pages.... good luck.

YouTube · Post by **Andreas Wideroe** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 2:15 pm

If you can spend up to $200 I would suggest a Canon 514XL, 814XL or 1014XL, depending on the price. These cameras are robust and very good. Other high end cameras are the Beaulieu 4008 series and Nizo cameras, however these needs regular maintenance work.

I've also had VERY good experience with Minolta cameras, especially my Minolta Autopak-8 K11 which I bought for aprox. $20.

Good luck!

/Andreas

Post by **paul** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 2:45 pm

absolutely worth considering is the Bauer A512, very versatile and very good camera. They mostly go for a bit less then 200 Euro. For less money you will get a Bauer Royal 10e Macro (round 60 Euro) or the very compact bauer 107XLM or 700 XLM (not all these 107XLm models have 24fps; check that) Nizo and Canon are very popular and have a very good reputation. Bauer somehow is not that popular as the Nizo, Canons an Beaulieus. But the advantage is that you dont pay for it''s popularity; you just pay good, reliable, superb quality.

Paul

Post by **paul** » Wed Nov 06, 2002 2:52 pm

http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 1394503589

http://cgi.ebay.nl/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vie ... 1395262491

Post by **Pedro** » Thu Nov 07, 2002 4:39 pm

Last week I bought a Beaulieu 4008ZMII at ebay, for € / $ 150 only!
That cameras has the advantage of a real reflex viewfinder as used to at 35 mm SRL cameras. Specially the 4008 go for cheap and have a gigantig big and bright viewfinder with ground glass for exact focussing.
The drawback of most "cheap" S8 cams is always the viewfinder system and an unreliable focusing with split image, airial image etc. Who comes from the video world, donÃ‚Â´t know anymore what focusing means and will be shocked when having again to mess around with that problems and un sharp results, so often associated as "typical S8".
Besides of that, this camera for me has the coolest design IÃ‚Â´ve ever seen. ItÃ‚Â´s like a weapon!
Pedro

mIke · Post by **mIke** » Mon Nov 11, 2002 7:44 pm

And what kind of distance metering do we have at those high-end-cheapos from e.g. Canon, Nikon or Nizo?
Split image ' can actually be very precise. I would not say that cheap or "cheap" cameras have this.

Post by **Pedro** » Wed Nov 13, 2002 12:14 pm

most have split image, because the beam divider technology does not provide the sufficient amount of light for using ground glass. But you must try the difference, f.e. focussing with a relatively cheap Beaulieu 4008 and compare it to the split image! Split image CAN or COULD be precise, if you always had regular lines of high contrast in your picture and you have enough time to focus. The point is, that shooting film often donÃ‚Â´t give you much time for camera settings, and with ground glass you can focus any structure at any place on the screen. Airial image focussing with split indicator shows the same behaviour when focussing the lens or focussing the eyepiece. So the slightes off-position of the eyepiece damages all focussing results. Only the ground glass prevents your eye to accomodate wrong viewfinder settings and will certainly increase your output of sharp footage significantly.
THe other point is, that the centered measuring field indirectly influences the picture composition. There is always the risc to focus the centre and then shoot, without moving the camera back to the "photographic" correct position. ThatÃ‚Â´s why most fotos show the persons without legs and with a lot of wall behind!
Pedro