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Author Topic: Polavision time
Dino Everette
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1535
From: Long Beach, CA USA
Registered: Dec 2008


 - posted December 14, 2012 12:29 AM      Profile for Dino Everette     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I just did a couple of presentations in Seattle on the specifics of home movie formats (I projected both 9.5 notched films and 28mm films) so when I got back to work i thought I would see how well the polavision player still worked.

Polavision in Action

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"You're too Far Out Miss Lawrence"

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Janice Glesser
Film Goddess

Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011


 - posted December 14, 2012 01:09 AM      Profile for Janice Glesser     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I had only heard about Polavision...never actually saw it in action...glad the player was still working. Definitely a fascinating process.

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Janice

"I'm having a very good day!"
Richard Dreyfuss - Let It Ride (1989).

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Lee Mannering
Film God

Posts: 3216
From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006


 - posted December 14, 2012 02:53 AM      Profile for Lee Mannering     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Polavision has always fascinated me since 1977 where I rushed down to Dixons and collected the outfit and strapped it on the back of my moped which must have been quite a sight on the road. Today the old instant system does still have something of a following within the UK and I bumped into a guy who was still filming it. I did try to buy a couple of unexposed films off him but he obviously wanted to use them himself. People do complain about the films blistering but it seems to be more to do with the cartridges being stored in hot conditions more than anything I found over the years. Sadly the thing that killed the system was in 1977 it was about 5 years late as video cameras with sound were happening.

Nice to see you having a look at the system Dino and just in case you missed it here is my own little video.

http://youtu.be/G3Ql_ZzMeIo

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Jerome Sutter
Film Handler

Posts: 92
From: Bellwood, IL USA
Registered: Dec 2010


 - posted December 14, 2012 10:08 AM      Profile for Jerome Sutter   Email Jerome Sutter   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I remember this quite well, because I had to go to a Polaroid presentation of this product when it first came out. I remember the fanfare quite well, that finally we could develop our own movies and show them. Boy where we wrong! After the presentation, we couldn't take the film out of the cartridge, used this "7 inch Screen Projector," which could wake up the dead, and film was expense. Both the manager of the store and myself decided it would not sell, so we decline not to place any orders. If only the film could have been removed from the cartridge, it may have worked.

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Janice Glesser
Film Goddess

Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011


 - posted December 14, 2012 11:49 AM      Profile for Janice Glesser     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
What did the camera look like?

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Janice

"I'm having a very good day!"
Richard Dreyfuss - Let It Ride (1989).

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Bryan Chernick
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 654
From: Bothell, WA, USA
Registered: Mar 2010


 - posted December 14, 2012 12:13 PM      Profile for Bryan Chernick   Email Bryan Chernick   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
So there was no way to edit the film? You just got a cartridge of what you shot and that was it?

Dino, did you make it to the Home Movie Day event in Seattle? They had it on December 8th to coincide with the AMIA convention. Unfortunately I was out of town and couldn't make it.

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted December 14, 2012 12:32 PM      Profile for Paul Adsett     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Thanks Dino- first time I have seen Polavision in action. Amazing that it still works. At least the colors have not faded! [Big Grin]
If Polavision marketing people had talked to any of us in the design concept stage, we could have told them ahead of time that the system was doomed unless it could be shown on a big screen with a normal 8mm projector.
Incredible that they thought they could sell such a flawed system, and as you noted, this was the system that bankrupted Eumig and eventually Polaroid.

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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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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted December 14, 2012 12:38 PM      Profile for Douglas Meltzer   Email Douglas Meltzer   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Dino,

Thanks! Just fascinating to watch.

Janice,

Here's a previous thread that shows the Polavision camera.

Doug

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

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Jerome Sutter
Film Handler

Posts: 92
From: Bellwood, IL USA
Registered: Dec 2010


 - posted December 15, 2012 11:45 AM      Profile for Jerome Sutter   Email Jerome Sutter   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
That is correct, there is no way to edit the film. Also, when your purchased a film cassette, it held 38.5 ft of film, not 50. Second you are only shooting 15 frames a second, not 18 (for silent film). The only way to get the film out of the cartridge w/o breaking it or else you'll get the chemicals on yourself, was to break the film at the end of the movie, and rewinds the film unto a 50 ft reel, and of course, you will have to buy leader. The film did run through a super 8 projector, but I was more worried about any left over chemicals that could stick unto the projector, and that would be a mess to clean up. No the concept was interesting, but it was a complete failure!

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Janice Glesser
Film Goddess

Posts: 3468
From: Sunnyvale, CA USA
Registered: Sep 2011


 - posted December 15, 2012 11:54 AM      Profile for Janice Glesser     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
John Meyer is one of my DIY telecine heros :)Here's a video he made demonstrating how to remove the film from the Polavision case...transfer ...and restore the super8 images:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfFj3dEw_nI

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Janice

"I'm having a very good day!"
Richard Dreyfuss - Let It Ride (1989).

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005


 - posted December 15, 2012 12:38 PM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Didn't these cassettes terribly scratch the film within?

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003


 - posted December 15, 2012 08:31 PM      Profile for Paul Adsett     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Here is Ed McMahon in a Polavision commercial from 1979:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zJZpqZ05BnI

And from 1978:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QLXfhMI7B5Q

--------------------
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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Lee Mannering
Film God

Posts: 3216
From: The Projection Box
Registered: Nov 2006


 - posted December 16, 2012 03:18 AM      Profile for Lee Mannering     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
The system was very handy for filming test footage to view quickly prior to filming of Kodachrome. We used to use it at the cine club quite a bit.

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Dino Everette
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1535
From: Long Beach, CA USA
Registered: Dec 2008


 - posted December 16, 2012 04:05 AM      Profile for Dino Everette     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Lee thanks again for the link to your polavision footage. great stuff....

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"You're too Far Out Miss Lawrence"

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Scott Alexander
Junior
Posts: 4
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2018


 - posted January 29, 2018 06:15 PM      Profile for Scott Alexander   Email Scott Alexander   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
For any Polavision fanatics, you might enjoy my post under "Polavision Revival, Impossible." I shot some this weekend.

[ January 30, 2018, 06:04 PM: Message edited by: Scott Alexander ]

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Osi Osgood
Film God

Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005


 - posted January 30, 2018 11:47 AM      Profile for Osi Osgood   Author's Homepage     Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
Were any "package films" ever released in Polavision cassettes?

It looks like this might have been done to kind of make the viewing experience more like a TV situation. I'm not surprised to see that it was disastrous.

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"All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "

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Scott Alexander
Junior
Posts: 4
From: Los Angeles, CA, USA
Registered: Jan 2018


 - posted January 30, 2018 06:09 PM      Profile for Scott Alexander   Email Scott Alexander   Send New Private Message       Edit/Delete Post 
I can't imagine anybody would bother. The cartridge held less than three minutes and was silent. I've been playing with the projector, and you can only see the image if you're straight on. It really would not have been worth the trouble!

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