i know nothing about 8 mm

[Shannon]

Hi! I don't own an 8 mm or a Super 8 as of yet but am thinking of perhaps buying one. I have no prior experience with them and so I have some questions. Approximately how much does the film cost in US dollars? It's sold by the foot right? So how many minutes of footage would 100 feet provide? Is the film readily available, or can it at least be bought online? About how much does it cost to develop? Once developed it has to be viewed on a projector, right? And then you can watch it on like a white wall or white sheet or something? I feel really stupid asking that last question but I am a complete novice... Thanks for any and all of your help! You can e-mail me at fdez@gte.net or post here

[paul]

Well Shannon, there is a lot you need to know. First, super 8mm film is sold in 50 feet cartridges. They cost around 22 usd (developing included), and you can just put them in your camera and start filming. You can project your film on a white surface but also transfer it to video and show it on a television set.

Filming with super 8 is absolutelu great!

Paul

[mike]

8mm cameras use 25 foot lenghts of 8mm roll film, actually 16mm wide but double perforated (sproket holes.) The film is run throught the camera and then the take up and supple reels are swapped and the other half of the film is exposed. When developed, the 16mm wide film is split in two, revealing two 8mm strands, which are spliced together. 50 feet of film will be available. When projected at 16fps, 3 and 1/2 minutes of film will be available.

There are a number of cameras out there. Some use a reloadable magazine, but most 8mm cameras use the roll film. Film is available in color and B+w for about $10 roll, processing extra, from $5-10 per roll.

Search for the "8mm metadirectory" for more info. It has a list of links on where to get film, etc.

[Actor]

Prices are subject to change but if you order direct from Kodak at 1-800-621-FILM...

• Kodachrome 40 costs $13.54 with processing, $10.83 w/o processing.
• Plus-X and Tri-X are B&W films. Both cost $9.90
• Ektachrome 125 costs $13.63
• Vision 200T costs $13.77

Kodak does not offer processing for anything other than K-40. Labs charge from $7.50 to process B&W stock to $16 for Vision 200T.

If you buy K-40 w/processing from Kodak then there is a mailer inside the box. You put the film inside the mailer and send it to Kodak at Fairlawn, New Jersey. They forward it to Japan or Austrailia. Kodak's Swiss lab no longer processes K-40.

Except for the Vision 200T, all the films are reversal, i.e., you can project the camera original. The Vision 200T is a negative stock that is usually transferred to video for viewing. You might be able to get a 16mm print made but no one is making 8mm prints from negative stock.

It takes about a month to get your K-40 back from Kodak. If that's not fast enough for you then Dwayne's is your only alternative. They charge $9.

[Actor]

Regular 8mm film cannot be bought from Kodak unless you buy a minimum of 8000 feet. You have to go to a re-spooler like John Schwind who buys the large quanitites and then re-spools them on smaller reels. Films available are:

• Cine-X, a B&W film. The same as super 8 Plus-X
• CineColor, the same as super 8 Ektachrome 125
• Kodachrome 25, similar to super 8 K-40 but slower and balanced for daylight instead of tungsten. Kodak has discontinued it but some re-spoolers may still have some. There are rumors that Kodak will replace it with Kodachrome 40 or Kodachrome 64.
• FomaPan, a B&W film made somewhere in Europe. Low cost. Not made by Kodak.

[studiocarter]

The new film transfer methods make Regular 8mm just as good a source format as any other. R8 has 80 frames per foot to the 40 frames per foot 16mm has. R8 is split in half as well. So, a 100 foot reel of Regular 8mm in a Bolex H8/rx yields the same as a 400 foot reel of 16mm film.

Just a neat comparison.

There are a lot of R8 H8 cameras but very few S8 H8 ones.

My Bolex book has a 9.5 H camera listed. Has anyone ever seen one?

Michael

[Patrick]

Actor, can you definitely confirm that K40 is sent to Australia for developing? I live in Australia myself and if this is indeed true, this is incredible news.

[Actor]

I emailed Kodak asking whether I should send my PK-59 mailer to New Jersey or to Switzerland and got the following reply:

We received your email regarding Kodachrome film for processing and
appreciate the opportunity to be of assistance.

Movie film mailers carry the designation of PK59. PK59 mailers should
be sent to the Fair Lawn, NJ, lab. They would then forward this
overseas. (Return postage is covered.) Please contact them directly
for more information:

Kodak Picture Processing
Fair Lawn, NJ
(800) 345-6973

It may be of interest to learn that the lab in Switzerland no longer
processes this film. The overseas labs that work with Kodachrome films
follow:

Kodak Photo Services
30 Heathcote Road
Moorebank, 2270
New South Wales, AUSTRALIA
Phone: (61) (2) 8778-1300
F A X : (61) (2) 8778-1360

Horiuchi Color Lab, Co, Ltd.
1-6-7, Wada Suginami-Ku
Tokyo 166
JAPAN
Phone: (81) 03-3383-3321
Fax: (81) 03-3382-7493

KODAK IMAGEX
~lP:561-0841
1-9-1 Meishinguchi, Toyonaki-shi
Osaka, JAPAN
Phone: (81) (06) 6864-9453
Fax: (81) (06) 6864-9457

Thank you for visiting the Kodak website. If you should have future
questions on Kodak products or services, please be sure to revisit our
site as we are continually adding information to enhance our service.

Sincerely,

Suzanne K
Kodak Information and Technical Support

[Patrick]

I contacted the lab in NSW, Australia and they said that they do NOT develop K40 but send it over to Switzerland. They were absolutley definite about this. Maybe Suzanne K was misinformed.

[Actor]

I don't think that would be the first time that Kodak's right hand did not know what its left hand was doing.