New Kodak Super 8 Camera Preview

[Terry_USA]

I talked to some of the younger generation today at Church about Super 8mm film. Basically in their 20's. There was an absolutely not all-around consensus. They want nothing to do with 8mm. And it wasn't like "Hey that's pretty cool retro". It was a firm "no".

[Will2]

I talked to some of the younger generation today at Church about Super 8mm film. Basically in their 20's. There was an absolutely not all-around consensus. They want nothing to do with 8mm. And it wasn't like "Hey that's pretty cool retro". It was a firm "no".

When people get the real prices that will be a "hell no."

[slashmaster]

I talked to some of the younger generation today at Church about Super 8mm film. Basically in their 20's. There was an absolutely not all-around consensus. They want nothing to do with 8mm. And it wasn't like "Hey that's pretty cool retro". It was a firm "no".

And these guys are probably content with big grimy cellphones with cracked up screens. Ask these guys if they're looking to get a VR-headset and see what they say..

[kuparikettu]

Update from Kodak
https://www.kodak.com/corp/blog/blog_po ... _listennow

[philipms]

How exciting... my Kodak email newsletter says..

Super 8 – Like You've Never Seen Before
We know many of you are eagerly awaiting the new KODAK Super 8 Camera. We are as eager to ship it as you are to shoot with it!

Kodak made its last Super 8 Camera in 1981. By introducing an updated, mechanically intricate film camera that's augmented with the convenience of digital features, we are also breathing new life into the manufacturing ecosystem that makes a premium creative tool like this possible. Meanwhile, we're making sure that the KODAK Super 8 Camera delivers the same outstanding, professional-level quality and performance worthy of the Kodak name. The bar is high, because we know you expect it to be.

To give you a sense of the journey we've been on to create the only motion picture film camera ever to combine analog capture with digital tools, we invite you to listen to an update about the status of the KODAK Super 8 Camera.
Listen now

The KODAK Super 8 Camera and processing ecosystem will be available in 2018 for approximately $2500-$3000.

P.S. If you'll be at CES 2018 in Las Vegas, Nevada, stop by the Kodak Booth #20612 in South Hall Tech East to see a working prototype of the camera and get a demo of the KODAK Darkroom, your soon-to-be online destination for Super 8 storytelling.

[Will2]

So the price is a little tough considering a really good Super 8 camera & lens can be had for $500 or less, BUT...a good DSL can be in the $2500 range pretty easily and considering the work and tech going into it, its not unreasonable.

Where they can redeem themselves is on the processing and transfer. Do a quality job at a reasonable price and I will use them.

[Angus]

Yeah isn't that price about 10x what they quoted at CES in 2016?

I wish Kodak every success but I'm no longer in the market at those prices....I might have been at $400.

The relaunched Ektachrome and possibly the processing are still of interest...depending on price and quality.

[c-stand]

Price is way too high to get the general public interested. Heck, even an enthusiast. Not interested in this camera, but rather the film and processing.

[c-stand]

I talked to some of the younger generation today at Church about Super 8mm film. Basically in their 20's. There was an absolutely not all-around consensus. They want nothing to do with 8mm. And it wasn't like "Hey that's pretty cool retro". It was a firm "no".

In Kalamazoo, MI? I’m not surprised. This will be of more interest in urban creative centers like New York, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and the like.

Ask those same kids if they are interested in Vinyl. I bet you get the same answer. But Vinyl is selling at a 25 year high.

[Andreas Wideroe]

Any news on the new Kodak Super8 camera? Is it ever going to happen?

In my opinion they missed their timeslot. Too much delay, all the media fuzz has gone, no hype, just more delays and another price jump.

What do you think?

[Silverdream]

Any news on the new Kodak Super8 camera? Is it ever going to happen?

In my opinion they missed their timeslot. Too much delay, all the media fuzz has gone, no hype, just more delays and another price jump.

What do you think?

The camera is way too expensive and it's huge. I don't know if Kodak invested money into this project, but I wonder if the film cost increase is to cover their losses on the camera project if it fails to turn a profit.
In my opinion Kodak would have been better off to bring back the sound cartridges.
I remember when they discontinued the sound cartridges, many film makers in an amateur movie club that I belonged to, stopped using Super 8.
The claim from Kodak at the time was they sold 4 times as many silent cartridges compared to sound cartridges so it wasn't economical to reformulate the magnetic stripe to be more environmentally friendly.
I believe if they had continued sound cartridge production there would be more buyers of reversal film today.

[Mmechanic]

They have shot themselves in both feet, can’t walk now, I mean the amateur motion-picture film department. Took Kodachrome away and Ektachrome. The Super-8 camera debacle isn’t so bad in my opinion. Only embarassing

Kodak is a film manufacturer. They even have a burnt butt and can’t sit down therefore: too few good and affordable black-and-white movie stocks. The reversal ones are a cheap solution on a grey base instead of a film with an anti-halo undercoat on a colourless base. Black and white films are always needed for experiments. That’s the reason why Foma Bohemia still sells Fomapan R in various formats. People buy it. I believe Foma Bohemia could sell ten times as much with a carefully enhanced marketing.

Kodak did have true black-and-white reversal films, remember Panatomic-X or the first Ciné-Kodak panchromatic safety film of 1932, and others. Kodak misses the point of 16mm film perforated both edges and Kodak misses the point of direct positive duplicating stocks such as the discontinued x360 and x361. They were alone on the market with those products, could have been educating their clients and shaping the business.

[doug]

Silverdream...You have a point. Sound cartridges were a good idea and when recorded well gave quality results. Many would-be super-8 people today are a little put off by the lack of sound. True there are now so many small devices to record sound, but a sync track is a perfect way to do it, if only as a guide for editing later. Many sound cameras are very quiet-running, maybe needing a small blimp. And I recall that sound cartridges tended to give a steadier picture in the gate, as well as protecting the film emulsion from scratches because of the magnetic stripe's rail effect.

[pip]

I would agree about sound cartridges - they are sorely missed. I remember when Kodak discontinued them, I naively supposed that I could simply start using Fuji single 8 sound cartridges, only to find when I turned up at Lee's Cameras in Holborn to purchase some that Fuji had made the same decision as Kodak.

I also agree that Foma seem to be servicing the market very well with their R 100 film and reversal processing kits. If only they would provide pre-striped film!

[Andreas Wideroe]

On the contrary, I don't miss sound cartridges at all. Having sound striped on film is so 1970s. ;) Much better to use an external digital recorder today.

I got into Super8 around 1995. Only a few years with sound, but the sound was not good imho. Instead I used the format for the images only and I think it created stunning images.

The external SD card recorder in the Kodak camera is one of the features I like the most.

/Andreas