100D + pressureplate problems

[Ukimikko]

Today I was shooting Wittnerchrome 100D with my Canon 1014 XL-S, I also used pressureplate with the cartridge. First half of the film was running fine, but on the the second half I started experiencing trouble. Suddenly the film started jamming badly and after few seconds the motor stopped.
I took the cartridge out of the camera, removed the plate, shook the cartridge slapping it couple of times against my hand and put the film back into my camera. .I thought it probably helped.
It went okay first, but soon it stopped again! Rest of the cartride went like that; ten seconds in-ten seconds out.
Is this kind of behaviour normal/familiar with the stock? Needless to say I was rather unhappy with the situation..

[christoph]

nver had problems with wittnerchrome (didnt shoot a lot of it either), but i've experienced jamming with vision2 200t and others with velvia.. seems that custom loading those cartridges is not easy.

the usual tapping and slapping of the cartridge didnt work at all in my case, but in the end we found a solution...
viewtopic.php?t=14920

hope that helps others
++ christoph ++

[Angus]

I've not had any problems with the Wittner 100D carts. Seemed to run smooth, I've tried it in my Elmo Super 110 and Nizo S560.

[MovieStuff]

Sheesh.....

I can remember a day when all you had to do was pop a cart into a Super 8 camera and shoot. Imagine how dismal DV sales would be if the instructions for loading included smacking the miniDV tape around before inserting in your video camera. :roll:

Roger

[christoph]

I can remember a day when all you had to do was pop a cart into a Super 8 camera and shoot.

shows your age ;)

i do like the tapping and winding bit, it's like a ritual...
but i really hate it when the film comes out jittery nevertheless.
++ c.

[Chris Cottrill]

Have shot 20 rolls of Wittnerchrome 100D, with and without the Andec pressure plate, and all have run through smooth as silk. Same with four rolls of Pro8's version of the same stock.
My Wittnerchrome came from some of the first they had to sell.

[Ukimikko]

Yep, it could be that it was exactly 0 celsius degrees outside and the weather was turning colder (towards minus) at the moment. I shot 24 fps. My camera has not done this before at all, so it is not the camera (or batteries-I checked, of course). I also noticed the stiffness in cart when I tried to move the film with my finger..
I hope this is not the case when I am shooting my next cart from the same batch soon. Anyway good to hear your positive comments, maybe it was an exceptional case.

[Jim Carlile]

It sounds like the cold weather, definitely. You're brave to be running a thirty-year old camera and thick film stock in that kind of temperature (easy for me to say it's 92 degrees outside this very minute...)

I've seen so many problems with older cameras being run in the cold-- noisy, seizing motors, dried out lubricants, the works-- that I only film in the spring and summer. The heat tends to smooth out all sorts of problems.

[Patrick]

Using an extremely old camera in cold weather does sound like a possible cause. Then again, I was using my Eumig Nautica in the snow fields during very windy conditions and it operated fine. Snow was blowing on the camera but I simply wiped it off.

[super8man]

Is it just me or does the turn of phrase "old super 8 camera" or "30-year-old-camera" seem a little too "trite" like blaming the victim here...sort of like branding a camera as a non-serviceable non-Beaulieu therefore sticky by gods pray it works on your next roll sort of thing? eh?

Funnily enough, I have used "old super 8" cameras in very very cold conditions (Orgeon, high plains, subzero), Canada (wet and cold), and Tahoe (cold and snow) with nary a problem... And this fellow has the newest old camera there is, the Canon 1014XLS - heck, their aint anything newer on the market...

Aw well, yes, it must be the "old super 8" never serviced since 1979 camera. Poppycock. Batteries yes. Now that is a distinct possibility.

Cheers,
Mike

[bakanosaru]

Batteries yes. Now that is a distinct possibility.

Yes there was an external battery pack for exactly this kind of filming so you could keep the alkaline cells nice and warm inside a jacket pocket.

[Ukimikko]

Brave or not, yes it could be the power supply (or motor?). The camera was outside relatively long time, -an hour/hour and a half or so. I was filming kids Cross country skiing "tournament" (the youngest competitor was 1 year old!, and no I did not catch it ) Does anyone have experience filming with Canon XL-S in minus degrees?
Then again I have shot with Leicina Super RT last winter in -10 without problems... It was K40 of course.
Thank you all for responding.