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Author Topic: Review Wolverine Reels2Digital MovieMaker 8mm film digitizer
Berend De Meyer
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 140
From: Leek, The Netherlands
Registered: Apr 2017


 - posted April 05, 2017 02:17 PM      Profile for Berend De Meyer   Email Berend De Meyer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hi Robert,

I found the European version of the Wolverine, the Somikron HD-XL 8mm film scanner. Note that the resolution got a slight bump. Can the USB 2.0 port be used to transfer the raw to a PC while scanning, or is it only used to copy raw from the SD - after the scan - card to a PC?

* translated the German info at https://www.pearl.de/a-NX4294-1301.shtml?query=somikron to English with Google *

HD-XL film scanner for easy digitization of Super 8 and 8 mm films (switchable)
High-resolution 1/3 "CMOS sensor with 3.53 megapixels
Scan resolution: 1440 x 1080 pixels at 30 frames / sec.
Stand-alone recording: saves directly to SD (HC) card up to 32 GB, no PC necessary
Recording format: MP4 video, no recording of the audio track
Automatic exposure, manual correction (-2.0 to +2.0 EV), automatic white balance
Light source: LED lighting
Built-in TFT LCD display: 6 cm / 2.4 "
USB 2.0 port for data transfer to the computer
TV output: PAL / NTSC
For Super 8 and Normal 8 film coils (adapter 8/13 mm included) up to 17.8 cm / 7 "
Automatic stop at the end of the movie
Fast rewinding (requires about 2 minutes for 10 minutes of film)
Integrated carrying handle
Connections: TV-Out (3.5 mm jack), mini USB, slot for SD (HC) cards up to 32 GB, power supply
Supports Windows XP / Vista / 7/8 / 8.1 / 10, OS X from 10.7.3
Power supply: 12 V via 230 V power supply (cable length: 1.2 m)
Measurements: 32 x 18,5 x 11 cm, weight: 1,5 kg
Filmcanner including Film-Leerspule, Film-coil-adapters, spacer-rings for the film guide, power supply, video cable (3.5 mm jack to RCA, 150 cm), USB cable (mini USB to USB, 100 cm) And German instructions

Cheers

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Cheers | “I am an advocate of the "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" modus operandi!”

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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God

Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 05, 2017 04:59 PM      Profile for Winbert Hutahaean     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
It is very hard to justify the result of this transfer, if the source material is a home movie, due to shaky, coloring, lab process and shooting technique did not have the standard. Can you guys do the transfer from a packed film or trailer, if you have such material please.

--------------------
Winbert

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Tom Spielman
Master Film Handler

Posts: 339
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: Apr 2016


 - posted April 05, 2017 07:46 PM      Profile for Tom Spielman   Email Tom Spielman   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Sounds like they're selling fairly well. There are some pretty positive reviews at B&H photo, an online photography supply shop.

When my brother and I looked at the cost of digitizing our family films using a quality service, it would would cost about $1,000 and I don't think it was even HD. This is 720p for $300 and considering the quality of our family's movies, that's probably good enough. If image quality was very important to my Dad, he would have cleaned the gate and lenses a little more often. [Wink] He just wanted to capture the moments and allow them to be replayed. Right now all I have are bad VHS copies of a 1/3 of the movies with the originals sitting in Hawaii.

If you're still shooting Super 8 today, you're already investing a fair amount of money into it and probably want to get the best results you reasonably can get. In that case, the wolverine may not deliver.

Maybe if enough people get these, it will drive down the costs of more professional scanning services.

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Bill Brandenstein
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1632
From: California
Registered: Aug 2007


 - posted April 05, 2017 11:08 PM      Profile for Bill Brandenstein   Email Bill Brandenstein   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Having looked over the clips here and other stuff previously, forgive me, but I'm going to rain on this parade. I think the Wolverine is an amazing product for the price. But it's not an amazing product when compared with professional quality imaging, and I understand it doesn't claim to be. And here's the consumer-level problem: anyone with a DSLR and a variable-speed projector can get a more true and detailed transfer for free. BUT if you don't have them, you can't buy a DSLR and projector for a mere $300!

This strikes me as a case of you-get-what-you-pay-for. If you want amazingly faithful, film-like images from your movies, this is NOT the ticket. If you're merely happy to just be able to see what's on those reels, well then, shoot away! But these transfers should never be considered a replacement for the real reels.

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Trevor Adams
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 763
From: Auckland,New Zealand
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 05, 2017 11:40 PM      Profile for Trevor Adams   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Here is a bit of raw super 8mm done on my Wolverine.....
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvCveP_G_v8

Straight from the Wolverine to my computer..now!
https://youtu.be/d9fTsuAXSpc

[ April 06, 2017, 01:55 AM: Message edited by: Trevor Adams ]

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Trevor

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Tom Spielman
Master Film Handler

Posts: 339
From: Minneapolis, MN, USA
Registered: Apr 2016


 - posted April 06, 2017 12:25 AM      Profile for Tom Spielman   Email Tom Spielman   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Well I have a DSLR and a good projector but telecine is still kind of a black art. It took a lot of experimenting and researching various settings on the camera to get good results. And I was not smart enough to write down what I ended up with so next time I'll have to go through at least some of it again. [Wink]

Then there's the process of getting everything lined up and in focus.

Based on the clips I've seen I'm not sure the results from the Wolverine are any worse than what I was able to do. It's hard to know without seeing the originals.

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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God

Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 06, 2017 02:27 AM      Profile for Winbert Hutahaean     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Trevor, thanks for posting the telecine from Marketing trailers.

One question, I believe the trailer is on 24 fps, why sometimes the transfer looks faster than normal?

cheers,

--------------------
Winbert

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Graham Ritchie
Film God

Posts: 4001
From: New Zealand
Registered: Feb 2006


 - posted April 06, 2017 03:51 AM      Profile for Graham Ritchie   Email Graham Ritchie   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Very interesting topic, have a look at this on Vimeo and see what you think...he also shows the results on Vimeo which look very good indeed.

https://vimeo.com/millerandmiller/telecine

https://vimeo.com/20900718

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Berend De Meyer
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 140
From: Leek, The Netherlands
Registered: Apr 2017


 - posted April 06, 2017 04:17 AM      Profile for Berend De Meyer   Email Berend De Meyer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hi Trevor,

Thanks for your reply! Is there a way - link - to download your raw for testing purpose?

Hi Graham,

Thanks for your reply!

quote:

Very interesting topic, have a look at this on Vimeo and see what you think...he also shows the results on Vimeo which look very good indeed.
https://vimeo.com/millerandmiller/telecine
]https://vimeo.com/20900718

Our family owns the EUMIG MARK 610D, but I'm very reluctant to do so much hardware adjustments. I just ordered the Somikron HD-XL 8mm Film Scanner 1080 from PEARL.DE, it's the 1080 version of the Wolverine. When the Q is still very disappointing I may consider this DIY modifications in the near future.

Cheers

--------------------
Cheers | “I am an advocate of the "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" modus operandi!”

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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God

Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 06, 2017 05:06 AM      Profile for Winbert Hutahaean     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
quote:

Thanks for your reply! Is there a way - link - to download your raw for testing purpose?

Berend, Trevor uploaded with HD qualit,. If you set your youtube on HD quality you will get 720P, that is something Wolverine max can do right?

--------------------
Winbert

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Berend De Meyer
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 140
From: Leek, The Netherlands
Registered: Apr 2017


 - posted April 06, 2017 06:05 AM      Profile for Berend De Meyer   Email Berend De Meyer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Hi Winbert,

Thanks for your reply.

quote:

Berend, Trevor uploaded with HD qualit,. If you set your youtube on HD quality you will get 720P, that is something Wolverine max can do right?

Yes, the Wolverine brand of this machine (US-market) has a max output of 720p and I did play his Youtube video at that resolution. What I meant by downloading his RAW footage from the Wolverine, is to be able to test drive his raw in my Cyberlink Power Director v15 software.

quote:

One question, I believe the trailer is on 24 fps, why sometimes the transfer looks faster than normal?

IIRC When - like say - the original footage was filmed @18fps, the Wolverine captures @30fps so you have to slow the capture in an video editing application down by 0.6 to get the 1:1 speed of the original.

My second trial-and-error, now again back at 4:3 aspect and tuned the speed to the original @18fps.

Wolverine test footage 4:3 / speed @18fps

Cheers

--------------------
Cheers | “I am an advocate of the "if it ain't broken, don't fix it" modus operandi!”

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Trevor Adams
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 763
From: Auckland,New Zealand
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 06, 2017 06:51 AM      Profile for Trevor Adams   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks Winbert and Berend,loaded at 30fps is a bit quick.Needs to go to iMovie for edit/speed treatment. Those Marketing promos used to be sharp as tacks and beautifully coloured.MUCH better than the 1200ft digests I got them with.All gone now.I'm really only playing around with bits of old home movie.I have to learn to use the Wolfy properly and in conjunction with a site like iMovie
.....regards Trev

--------------------
Trevor

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Gary Sayers
Film Handler

Posts: 55
From: Worksop, UK
Registered: Aug 2016


 - posted April 06, 2017 08:28 AM      Profile for Gary Sayers     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Took the plunge and ordered a wolverine from Amazon.com, which worked out at £331 including postage and import duties to the UK.
They estimate the import duties and refund any overpayment but don't charge extra if they have underestimated.

I figured that at least I would have the backup of Amazon's excellent returns service if anything goes wrong with it (in the first month at least).

Not in stock at the moment but should be shipped by the middle of May.

EDIT: April 23rd - Took advantage of improved exchange rates. Cancelled my order - then re-ordered, with the total cost now coming in at £293.79!

[ April 23, 2017, 06:09 AM: Message edited by: Gary Sayers ]

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Trevor Adams
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 763
From: Auckland,New Zealand
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 06, 2017 06:50 PM      Profile for Trevor Adams   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Sent the Marketing Promo to your email Berend,regards,Trevor

--------------------
Trevor

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 06, 2017 08:40 PM      Profile for Paul Adsett     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Trev's digitized family movies look great, far better than I have yet been able to get with videoing off the screen. I am getting very tempted to purchase a Wolverine.

--------------------
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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Trevor Adams
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 763
From: Auckland,New Zealand
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 07, 2017 12:12 AM      Profile for Trevor Adams   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Paul,those kids(Daniel in swing,Lucy pushing)are now 49 and 52!

PS can I get rid of my photo? [Roll Eyes]

--------------------
Trevor

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Winbert Hutahaean
Film God

Posts: 5468
From: Nouméa, New Caledonia
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted April 07, 2017 01:42 AM      Profile for Winbert Hutahaean     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Trevor, I don't really get when you are saying:

quote:
loaded at 30fps is a bit quick.Needs to go to iMovie for edit/speed treatment.
Is Wolverine scanning frame by frame or real transfer (real time screening)?

If this is scanning frame by frame, why it is 30 fps? Cannot we order the computer to play at 24 fps instead?

cheers,

--------------------
Winbert

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Robert Hudson
Junior
Posts: 16
From: Oceanside, CA, USA
Registered: Oct 2013


 - posted April 07, 2017 02:11 AM      Profile for Robert Hudson   Email Robert Hudson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
"If this is scanning frame by frame, why it is 30 fps? Cannot we order the computer to play at 24 fps instead?"

Wolverine uses a hardware encoder that has an NTSC frame rate, 30 fps. But even fror PAL countries you do not want to change to 24fps: the movies will still look fast, so you slow them to 60% of fulll speed for 18fps films or 53% for 16fps movies. All of the movies I show at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_07k-Fk3TBA&list=PL4GkBnpUqP1ruSiEDMv7wAwvPP548HNP_ were digitized by the Wolverine and then slowed to 53% in Final Cut Pro (some of my earliest Wolverine projects were only slowed to 60% when they should have been slowed to 53%)..

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Barbara Strohl
Film Handler

Posts: 44
From: Hamilton, NJ, USA
Registered: Jan 2016


 - posted April 09, 2017 11:06 AM      Profile for Barbara Strohl   Email Barbara Strohl   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Has anyone been able to confirm that the European version, the Somikron HD-XL, does have higher resolution?

--------------------
Barb

I'm an amateur noob. Please be gentle.

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Robert Hudson
Junior
Posts: 16
From: Oceanside, CA, USA
Registered: Oct 2013


 - posted April 11, 2017 02:38 PM      Profile for Robert Hudson   Email Robert Hudson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
"Has anyone been able to confirm that the European version, the Somikron HD-XL, does have higher resolution?"

The Wolverine/Somikon machines all have a 3.53 megapixel CMOS camera chip with 2304x1536 resolution and the videos are recorded at 720p. The German retailer site seems to indicate that they are scanned at 1080 resolution, which well could be, but they are encoded to video at 720p 30fps

[ April 15, 2017, 10:19 AM: Message edited by: Robert Hudson ]

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Robert Hudson
Junior
Posts: 16
From: Oceanside, CA, USA
Registered: Oct 2013


 - posted April 22, 2017 12:34 AM      Profile for Robert Hudson   Email Robert Hudson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I have installed a cooling fan and some vents in my Wolverine - here's a short video:

COOLING FAN VIDEO

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Alan Taplow
Junior
Posts: 29
From: Plainfield VT, USA
Registered: Feb 2015


 - posted May 14, 2017 08:44 PM      Profile for Alan Taplow   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
To Robert Hudson: What kind of temperatures are you getting after installing the fan?

--------------------
Alan Taplow
ataplow@gmail.com

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Alan Taplow
Junior
Posts: 29
From: Plainfield VT, USA
Registered: Feb 2015


 - posted May 15, 2017 03:30 PM      Profile for Alan Taplow   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I just received a new Wolverine, and probably thanks to Bob Hudson, I see that it now has vent slots on both the top and bottom of the rear cover. Have a fan on order anyway, can't hurt, and now it has slots to have the air come out of without my needing to drill vent holes.

--------------------
Alan Taplow
ataplow@gmail.com

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Alan Taplow
Junior
Posts: 29
From: Plainfield VT, USA
Registered: Feb 2015


 - posted May 17, 2017 01:57 PM      Profile for Alan Taplow   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I just opened up the back of my new Wolverine in order to measure the belt & order spares as well as mount a 40mm cooling fan. Wolverine engineering has been paying attention --- the new model has no belt -- a small gear motor has replaced the belt drive. There is a little cooling fan mounted on the circuit board and vent holes on the rear cover. With nothing more to do, I closed it back up.
Happy to send pictures on request: ataplow@gmail.com

Alan Taplow
http://preserve-your-memories.info

======================================

--------------------
Alan Taplow
ataplow@gmail.com

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Robert Hudson
Junior
Posts: 16
From: Oceanside, CA, USA
Registered: Oct 2013


 - posted May 17, 2017 04:46 PM      Profile for Robert Hudson   Email Robert Hudson   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Alan: do you have a photo of the cooling fan? (By the way, these are very easy to open: remove the screws from the deep holes and that's it).

Here's the new vent holes in a photo someone brought to my attention today:

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