[Leica] Old movies

[jshulman at judgecrater.com (Jim Shulman)]

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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