8mm Forum: Max 8 or Not?

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Posted by William Mouroukas (Member # 2764) on November 13, 2011, 04:57 PM:

I will appreciate the views of forum members as at this point I'm undecided which path to take.
The real superiority of viewing home movies as projected film hit home recently as after years I screened many of my old family treasures.
My old Canon 514XL-S became inoperable around the year 2000 and I haven’t shot any Super 8 since. I recently bought a Beaulieu 4008ZMII Super 8 Camera on eBay and sent it to Pro8mm in Burbank California for an estimate on servicing and modifications. I'm confident they do great work but the cost is proving to be a hurdle, at least for my circumstances. On the other hand there's no escaping the long lasting quality you only get with film so for me the ability to shoot Super 8 in the 21st Century is very desirable.
I'd like the camera modified to include a crystal sync speed control for sync sound. There is also the option to have the gate expanded so the area reserved for audio is included in the picture area, just as in Super 16. They call this Max 8 and it's also known as Super-Duper 8.
I'm very attracted to the idea of Max 8 but it comes at the cost of losing the ability to add the audio later. I know there are methods of syncing computer files with a projector and this would enable high quality audio playback. To have the film striped means sending it away and a risk of loss, also it's becoming harder and harder to find film stripe services. Any Max 8 movies would need to be projected on a gate expanded machine but I don't see that as a huge problem. At some point soon all my 8mm home movies are going to be backed up as High-def scans and sound will be locked to any new footage but occasionally I'll continue to project.
So the question is, should I go for the larger visual area of Max 8 and for projection use some form of sync or should I stick with the classic Super 8 format and stripe for audio?
Whatcha think?

Posted by Christian Bjorgen (Member # 1780) on November 13, 2011, 06:17 PM:

I'd go for the classic Super 8. Super 8 is Super 8, shouldnt be tampered with.

My two cents ;-)

Posted by Bill Brandenstein (Member # 892) on November 14, 2011, 08:32 PM:

I agree.

How important is actual projection to you? That is actually the crux of the matter. The wider image is certainly lovely, however, making your footage incompatible with all projectors isn't too cool if you really want it projected. On the other hand, you can shoot with better clarity and in much less light if you shoot Super 8 negative. But you can only telecine that, or get a one-light positive made (Widescreen Centre in London will still do this, I believe). So if telecine is your preference, then go with Max 8.

I would never send irreplacable camera footage out for striping at this point. Digital sync is reasonable enough to achieve these days, plus it sounds better, and in the end the viewers won't know that the film didn't have the sound actually on it if everything works correctly.

Posted by William Mouroukas (Member # 2764) on November 14, 2011, 11:11 PM:

Thank you Christian and Bill.
Projection of my home movies is very important to me. I have always projected my films on my own projectors so if I were to go the Max 8 path I'd be quite happy to adapt a machine for Max 8 projection.
Bill, I share your concern about sending the film to be striped. Your view on Digital Sync is reassuring as I've expected this to be a viable solution and with that in mind, Max 8/Super-Duper8 remains a consideration.

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