Super 8 on a drone

[Patrick02]

Here in Australia, someone has mounted a super 8 camera to a drone. Looks like an FPV racing drone (doing some freestyle in acro mode.) Some great scenery there and what a great use of technology.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uzIcR_U0NiU

[jpolzfuss]

Thanks!

This was done before, e.g.:
https://youtu.be/oH6EC7VSPDE?feature=shared
Or:
https://youtu.be/MLqBmYWPlLk?feature=shared

BTW: You can also put a 16mm Bolex on a drone:
https://youtu.be/lsRexSiCx20?feature=shared

[Patrick02]

The footage in the first link is awesome. Great stability. Ive seen the 16mm Bolex drone clip before.

In the past, I have thought of doing the same thing myself but never got around to it. Years ago, my father used to work outdoors in a scenic bit of countryside with a view of the sea and a cliff. I had often thought about attaching a super 8 camera to something like a balloon or a parachute etc and letting it descend over the cliff while the camera runs.

Obviously, for drone mounting, you would need a super 8 camera that's very small and light weight. At first, the Minolta XL-400 seems like an ideal candidate. Small, light weight, manual exposure control and a sharp lens. Though I would prefer a camera that runs at 24fps for this type of filming. And also a very wide field of view. I guess you could always screw one of those wide angle or fisheye adapters (designed for video) on to the lens.

[jpolzfuss]

Well, you don’t have to use wide angle attachments designed for video as there are also ones designed for S8-cameras:
Canon C-8 Wide Attachment 43, Schneider UWL I-III (for all cameras with Schneider Macro lenses, e.g. most Nizos), wide angle lens for the Chinon Pocket-8, Eumig PM Aspheric Wide Angle Attachment for the Eumig Nautica, … .

But you are correct that most lightweight S8-cameras cannot do 24fps. There are Eumig Nauticas that have been converted to 24fps and only weight 600g, but they are bulky. The Nizo 116 and the Sankyo EM-40 XL weight 800g, the Elmo Super 104 is also close to 1kg, the Bauer cameras with 24fps also weight at least 900g, …

[inlieubeaulieu]

I think the ideal camera, if you could find one, would be an Elmo Album 3600. same 4.6mm super-wide angle lens as the Elmo F20S-XL, but half the weight. I bet it's relatively simple to even remove the silly zoom-element that swings away from the super-wide lens (the zoom element is very easy to remove from the f20S-XL, I removed it from my own camera), this would further reduce the weight, too

[Patrick02]

Well, you don’t have to use wide angle attachments designed for video as there are also ones designed for S8-cameras:
Canon C-8 Wide Attachment 43, Schneider UWL I-III (for all cameras with Schneider Macro lenses, e.g. most Nizos), wide angle lens for the Chinon Pocket-8, Eumig PM Aspheric Wide Angle Attachment for the Eumig Nautica, … .

Very true. I have used the Eumig Nautica with it's PMA many times for underwater filming. Though as is generally the case for super 8 accessories, it could take months to track down such items. Unless you're super lucky to come across one straight away. Wide angle adapters for video cameras are widely available and have been in production for a very long time so there would likely be more of them and more choices there.

[Patrick02]

I think the ideal camera, if you could find one, would be an Elmo Album 3600. same 4.6mm super-wide angle lens as the Elmo F20S-XL, but half the weight. I bet it's relatively simple to even remove the silly zoom-element that swings away from the super-wide lens (the zoom element is very easy to remove from the f20S-XL, I removed it from my own camera), this would further reduce the weight, too

Ive checked out the specs and overall, it looks like a great candidate. That 4.6mm wide angle sounds awesome. I also see that it offers manual exposure control which is another bonus. Alas there is no 24fps setting. Though as mentioned above, I guess it could be converted to 24fps. I did have a 24fps converted Eumig Nautica years ago but I have no idea if I still have it. A lot of things got misplaced in the move.

[jpolzfuss]

May I ask what you plan to shoot?
Some establishing shots (scenery or a bird’s eye view of the hero approaching the haunted castle)?
A large crowd (e.g. outdoor wedding party or an outdoor sports event)?
A car chase?
A simulated helicopter/ufo flight?
Or do you want to place the camera in a position where no cameraman could be placed (e.g. as the actors are too close to a cliff)?
Or are you going to use the drone as a dolly-replacement (with the camera-drone circling around the main actress or with the camera moving faster to a different location than on a dolly)?

So far, even though the S8-/16mm-drone-shots look great, I haven’t seen any real use-case other than some proof of concept shots.

[Patrick02]

I certainly wouldn't be filming a fictional story or any events. Just doing some tracking shots over scenery. Like you might see in a travelogue film. So it wouldn't be part of any big project. Just experimenting.

I used to attach a GoPro to a Syma X8C quadcopter for aerial videos. The X8C could cope with that payload but a super 8 camera could be a challenge. It might be a risk too as the weight could wear out the motors.

[jpolzfuss]

According to some websites, the attached camera shouldn’t exceed 200g in case of the x8c. When this is correct, then even a Single8 Fujica P2 would be too heavy (265g without batteries/film). The most lightweight Super8 camera is probably the Bauer Star (with and without XL) with 360g.

[inlieubeaulieu]

The Elmo camera I had mentioned earlier weighs 360g (according to filmkorn) too, and I bet you could reduce the weight by removing the outer lens elements and the collapsible handle... don't think it'd get down to 200g though