[Leica] Old movies

[Jim Shulman]

Yes, Kodak did introduce a Super 8 camera that also can record digitally,
and can record sound in synchronization with the Super 8 film.  The film is
packed in the traditional 1965-type plastic cartridges, but is now color
negative film.  Since Super 8 is mainly used today for special effects,
Kodak doesn't expect the user to project the film.  For that reason the
film's sold with processing and scanning included; the film is returned
along with a digital image file.

Ironically, this is the first time that Kodak has sold movie film inclusive
of processing since 1955, which they were forced to separate film from
processing services (or face an antitrust action).  The special Kodak
mailers you could buy for processing were a result of that legal action.

Jim

-----Original Message-----
From: LUG [mailto:lug-bounces+jshulman=judgecrater.com at leica-users.org] On
Behalf Of Robert Meier
Sent: Sunday, March 6, 2016 7:36 PM
To: Leica Users Group
Subject: Re: [Leica] Old movies

Didn’t Kodak just introduce a new Super-8 camera and film and processing for
it?


> On Mar 6, 2016, at 7:23 PM, Jim Shulman <jshulman at judgecrater.com> wrote:
>
> Under ideal conditions with vintage Kodachrome, 8mm movies can be
> really terrific.  The transfer quality also has some major
> bearing--many conversion services just aim a video camera at the screen as
> the film is projected.
>
> I agree wholeheartedly about the magic of old 8mm movies.  A few years
> ago my father's best friend found a ten-minute film shot during a
> business conference in 1958, when my parents had been married for four
> months.  A frame from that film, showing my mother lounging by the
> pool with white sunglasses and ruby red lipstick, is now my cell phone
> screen image.
>
> The Bolex D8-LA is my all-time favorite Bolex camera.  Small, precise,
> with the ability to do fades and lap dissolves.  It also had a behind
> the lens selenium meter with a match-needle system, which was far
> better than most of the competition, which used crummy adaptor lenses
> over a fixed-focus lens with a two-blade aperture.  Bolex only did
> things first class.  I use mine from time to time, most recently this past
> Summer, and get great results.
> Unfortunately, these days Double 8 is only available in black and
> white, and costs about $40-50 for the film plus processing.
>
> Incidentally, the D8-LA was introduced in 1961, superseding the 1959
> D-8L (which had a different meter design, no backwind capability, and
> lacked the built-in 5.5mm lens mask).  In 1954 you could have
> purchased a C-8 (single
> lens) or B-8 (twin lens) camera.  They were the same body size as the
> later D8-LA, but lacked a meter and the variable shutter.
>
> Best,
> Jim
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: LUG
> [mailto:lug-bounces+jshulman=judgecrater.com at leica-users.org] On
> Behalf Of Larry Zeitlin via LUG
> Sent: Sunday, March 6, 2016 6:54 PM
> To: lug at leica-users.org
> Subject: [Leica] Old movies
>
> In 1954, just about the time I bought my first M series Leica, I also
> bought a Bolex D8-LA 8mm movie camera. If any camera could match the
> Leica in precision, it was the little Bolex. My wife and I got married
> at about the same time. While I used the Leica for serious work, I
> filmed our travels, our children, our hobbies, and our misadventures
> with the Bolex. After we viewed the short films a few times I spliced
> them to the end of a long roll and put them in a closet. Recently I
> bit the bullet and had 2400 feet of 8 mm film transferred to video
> discs. Last summer my wife suffered a mild stroke that affected her
> walking ability. This was a serious blow for a lifelong dancer and
> skier. As therapy she walks on a treadmill for an hour each day. To
> keep her from going batty I put some of the old movie discs on a TV set
> visible from the treadmill. And, of course, I watch them with her.
>
> I’ve got to say that old movies are magic. While it is nice to look at
> vintage still pictures, nothing beats seeing images move, laugh and play.
> Compared with modern videos, old 8 mm films are grainy and have low
> definition. They are only 4.5 mm wide images on aged film. Colors have
> faded and autofocus and auto exposure was a dream of the futire. But
> the pictures move. It’s almost like being there.
>
> Larry Z
>
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