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Topic: Polavision

Paul Adsett
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From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted February 18, 2011 07:00 PM

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Thanks for posting that most interesting article Doug. I wonder how many tens of million dollars Polaroid sunk into Polavision. They must have known almost right after its launch that it was a complete failure. The positives of the instant playback were totally overshadowed by the many negative aspects of the system.

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David Michael Leugers
Master Film Handler

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From: Fairfield, OH, USA
Registered: Feb 2004

posted February 18, 2011 11:41 PM

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To me one of the sadder aspects of the loss of Eumig was that their last few S-8mm projectors (except for the 926 IMHO) were
fabulous but since people were bailing out of film, not many
were made. Would have been nice for us today if they had gone out of business due to making too many unsaleable S-8mm projectors rather than a boat load of, well, boat anchors called Polavision
cameras and projectors...

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Live Free or Die

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Lee Mannering
Film God

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From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006

posted February 19, 2011 03:14 AM

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More priceless memories captured on film
www.youtube.com/watch?v=WU2neB3YTRM

[ August 24, 2013, 02:07 PM: Message edited by: Lee Mannering ]

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Lee Mannering
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posted August 24, 2013 02:09 PM

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Well its over it must be over 30 years since I last loaded a film in a Polavision cine camera and a project I have been putting off some time is to dig a film out of the fridge and see if we can get a result from a film dated 1983 which is also 30 years old. Yes I know we were pushing our luck a bit but some things you just have to do don’t you. Nearby to us is a steam railway so an ideal moving subject to rattle off a film and also meet with a few friends there. I loaded up the Polavision camera with my oldest dated film although I do have more recent dates but this project was more about does the outfit still fully work more than anything and away we went tripod and all. Having just popped the cassette in the player for it to process itself I eagerly waited under 2 minutes for it to do its stuff. Would the chemicals still be OK 30 years on within the film cassette, would the film still be up to recording images? During filming the camera worked perfectly and also film processing afterwards was fine, but as you would expect the actual film has lost its vitality although it did capture images. The 1977 system is still working even with film 30 years out of date so the next step will be to try more recently dated film on another shoot. I’ll keep Polavision fans posted on filming day 2.

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Paul Adsett
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From: USA
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posted August 24, 2013 02:17 PM

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Just amazing Lee! [Cool]

[Cool]

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Douglas Meltzer
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From: New York, NY, USA
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posted August 24, 2013 04:06 PM

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Lee,

Remaking a certain Lumière Brothers' film?

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Steve Klare
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From: Long Island, NY, USA
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posted August 24, 2013 04:09 PM

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Lee,

Which museum is this railway?

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Lee Mannering
Film God

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From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006

posted August 26, 2013 03:41 AM

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Interesting couple of days filming and was really surprising was that a few people came up to me asking about the camera which one guy asked ‘that is either an old camera or some bang up to date technology’, I suppose you could look at it both ways.

By the end of the second day there were three of us holding Polavision cameras and this particular steam railway was the Ribble at Preston filming at the steam gala weekend. The whole filming thing was extremely nostalgic for me and along time since I last loaded a film into a Pola cine camera although I fairly regularly used the player. Doug hit the nail on the head about the Lumière filming as although the films did process the end results with very aged films are flat looking with limited contrast, but it was still an interesting experiment as we all had lots of fun doing it. Returning home the biggest thrill was reliving the excitement of the film processing itself and the end to a perfect weekend.

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Dominique De Bast
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posted August 26, 2013 08:22 AM

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For those not familliar with 1895's films, Doug was refering to one of the very first films ever shoot "L'arrivée d'un train en gare de La Ciotat" (Arrival Of A Train In The La Ciotat Station). [Wink]

[Wink]

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Dominique

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Maurice Leakey
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From: Bristol. United Kingdom
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posted August 26, 2013 09:47 AM

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Lee
Are you going to the Ealing Convention in October?
If you are, I am sure that we would all like to see the amazing Polavision camera.

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Maurice

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Lee Mannering
Film God

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From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006

posted August 27, 2013 12:11 PM

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Polavision is another fascinating part of amateur film making for sure and for those of us who love 8mm it is an important part of cinematic history. Although quite understandable many have had films removed from cassettes and transferred onto dvd to relive family memories. The down side is the original format of presentation is gradually being eroded as exposed films are opened up for some sort of transfer which for me is a great shame. BUT!! There is a small but healthy movement which are preserving Polavision a bit like the 9.5mm baby film collectors around the world which are many.

Sent you PM Maurice.

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Dominique De Bast
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posted August 27, 2013 12:57 PM

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I agree with Lee, it's a part of the super 8 history and there is no doubt that if it has had more response from the public it would have been improved. Usually you read negative comments about Polavision but they come from people who didn't use it. It was obviousely not so bad as it is written on many places when you hear what users say about it, even if nobody can deny that Polavision could not compete the classical super 8 that reached high quality when Polavision appeared. And, yes, the 9,5 gauge is alive !

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Dominique

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Steve Klare
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posted August 27, 2013 01:13 PM

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Its problem was timing. The main selling point was instant viewing, then right around the same time early consumer video cameras came out and offered instant viewing, and sound, and longer play, and lower cost.

Ten years earlier this could have found a niche market and sustained production, maybe the second generation would have sound or a big screen projector. There was only one generation, so we'll never know.

I'm really surprised how much used gear is available on E-bay. I've never seen Polavison in person anywhere.

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Dominique De Bast
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posted August 27, 2013 07:10 PM

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Video was not so cheap at it's beginning (even the tapes) and was heavy. But History shows us that it won on Polavision. More surprising, the video "gauge" which became the most popular was the less quality one. We all know that Betamax and V2000 were better than VHS. You can even turn the V2000 cassettes like audiotapes which means half the room needed for transport and stockage. But whatever, the Betamax, V2000 and VHS survived less than the four main film gauges. How many working videoplayers will there be in 2050 ?

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Dominique

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Paul Adsett
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posted August 27, 2013 07:30 PM

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quote:
How many working videoplayers will there be in 2050 ?

None!

[Frown]

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Lee Mannering
Film God

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From: The Projection Box
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posted August 28, 2013 12:30 PM

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Have to confess I purchased the last new set of Video 2000 heads from Philips some years ago at possibly a weak moment although looking back it was providence. Those of us who specialise (as a job) in what are now regarded as obscure video/film formats being transferred to dvd/blu-ray have come to love the old tackle so although I’ll probably retire before your deadline I'm betting my kit will see me out… just about. Getting away from the topic a bit but I do find it fascinating transferring the old video formats and cine as well as you just never know what you will see revealed on the monitor screen. Over the years I’ve seen all sorts of things as you can expect, everything from Princess Diana to baby on the lawn stuff which is lovely to see even more so when you present it to a customer hoping to see something special or perhaps lost love ones. I think looked after vintage video machines will be here for a few years yet..

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Robert Crewdson
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posted August 28, 2013 04:22 PM

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Dominique, after VHS was being phased out you could buy DVD players that were also capable of playing video tapes, now it seems they have been discontinued, at least I haven't seen any in a major retail catalogue I was looking through. I have boxes upon boxes of tapes in my attic and wonder how long my VHS player will last.

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Thomas Dafnides
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posted August 28, 2013 06:30 PM

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All my local department and electronics stores carry new dvd/vhs combo machines and I would not expect them to cease availability anytime soon, considering the hundreds of millions of vhs tapes in homes today. You can still purchase new LP record players.

[ August 29, 2013, 07:38 PM: Message edited by: Thomas Dafnides ]

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Paul Adsett
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posted August 28, 2013 08:14 PM

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Wal Mart in the USA currently sells DVD recording/VHS combo machines for about $130.00. Might be worth picking one up.

--------------------
The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj

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Dominique De Bast
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From: Brussels, Belgium
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posted August 29, 2013 12:37 AM

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Dvd players are currently no longer available in Belgium. An American would not work due to the difference between the television systems. Even in Europe there was a different color system, France, our neighboor used Secam while Belgium uses Pal, so a French videotape played in a Pal video player can only be see in black and white. It is no longer the cas with dvds which, if there were not zoned could be view everywhere in the world. I know that the old tv sets were not compatible between America and Europe but I don't know with the new ones. The vinyl players (and vinyl records) have although made a come back in the shops.

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Dominique

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Robert Crewdson
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posted August 29, 2013 04:06 AM

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It was nice to see the return of the 78rpm speed on record players.

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Maurice Leakey
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posted August 29, 2013 04:55 AM

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For anyone in the UK who wants to run or record VHS tapes I can recommend the Panasonic Combi available at Argos.
http://www.argos.co.uk/static/Product/partNumber/5339006.htm
I use mine a lot, you can also transfer either way.

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Maurice

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Lee Mannering
Film God

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From: The Projection Box
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posted August 29, 2013 06:09 AM

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And Toshiba also do a good range of combo machines.

On another tack I have been looking for a Digital VHS (D-VHS)machine for quite a time but so many seem to have faults which I have viewed.

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Lee Mannering
Film God

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From: The Projection Box
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posted August 30, 2013 10:50 AM

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Just awaiting a Blu-Ray to make itself so have just packed the Polavision away for another 30 years…or perhaps not. Been fun playing with that again and I still find it quite a bit of high tech for 1977. Better get back to the Blu-Ray thing whatever that is……

Long live Polavision!

With 3 of us filming Polavision it could have almost been Cinerama sort of.

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Dominique De Bast
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posted November 01, 2013 05:40 PM

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A polavision camera (stated to have been tested) on sale at 25 euros (it's a buy it now price). http://www.ebay.fr/itm/Camera-Polaroid-polavision-Land-/190919860384?pt=FR_JG_Photo_Camescopes_Cameras&hash=item2c73b5e0a0

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Dominique

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