Beaulieu 4008 ZM II first time user

[istfan]

I´m getting the abovementioned camera in a week (hopefully), and I have to shoot straight away with it without having time to shoot tests. It´s also the first time I shoot on Super-8 (having done mainly video and some 16mm before). So I´m wondering about a few things: What is the inherent filter in these cameras? Daylight filter? Or artificial light filter? I´m planning to shoot on kodak vision 200 T: Do you know if Beaulieu 4008 ZM IIs run on 25 fps? And if they don´t, how is telecine affected by having run on 24 fps? Is it gonna screw up in editing? And if you have any other general tips for using this camera (it has a Schnaider-Optivaron 6-66 lens), don´t hesitate to let me know!

Best regards,
Istfan

[Paul L.]

I _HIGHLY_ recommend that you shoot some tests with the camera first. You're dealing with a 20+ year old piece of machinery.... the film and processing is too expensive to simply start running film through it without tests. Are you sure that the 4008 battery is in working order? Very rarely are 4008s sold with good batteries. They almost always need to be recelled.

[Old Uncle Barry]

8O
Yes I must endorse the previous correspondents views that it is IMPERATIVE that you shoot a test reel first.You stand to lose too much whichever way you look at it if you dont.
Nice camera,but they still get sick,and if you are to shoot something important,well.........need I say more?
Best of luck.

[istfan]

Thanks for your replys!
I´ve bought the camera with a new battery and charger from Bavaria Films Munich, where it´s also been checked and all functions are running. So I might have to shoot without having checked it myself, although I´d hate to do so; but my subject matter won´t wait... Still; does anyone know about the filter thing or the telecine thing? (view top)
Istfan

[cameraguy]

You should be fine about the camera running correctly if came from Bavaria.

The filters inside (if they have not been removed, better check) are the 85 daylight filter and a clear UV filter. The 85 filter is in position normally for outdoor shooting with tungsten film (Kodachrome 40). Inserting the filter key will move the 85 out of the way replacing it with the UV for indoor shooting with lights.

[Guest]

Do you know if Beaulieu 4008 ZM IIs run on 25 fps? And if they don´t, how is telecine affected by having run on 24 fps? Is it gonna screw up in editing?

The 4008 is not a crystal-sync camera, so the actual running speed is really only a good estimate, not a guarantee. I had a Chinon Pacific 200, one of the mega-top-of-the-line cameras, which offered running speeds of 24 and TV, where "TV" meant 25 for PAL systems. I timed it and counted the frames: on "24" it was actually churning through at 26fps, faster than the so-called "TV" mode.

So there's no guarantee whatsoever that your camera will run at precisely 24fps, or precisely 25fps, unless you get it crystal-sync'd. And yes, it will cause you some editing difficulties if you're recording sound and sync'ing it up. There's no reason to discuss that in this post though, because sync'ing sound to S8 has got to be *the* most-discussed topic in this and other forums. Good luck, it's a great camera!