This is topic Polavision time in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.


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Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on December 14, 2012, 12:29 AM:
 
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
 
Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on December 14, 2012, 01:09 AM:
 
I had only heard about Polavision...never actually saw it in action...glad the player was still working. Definitely a fascinating process.
 
Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on December 14, 2012, 02:53 AM:
 
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
 
Posted by Jerome Sutter (Member # 2346) on December 14, 2012, 10:08 AM:
 
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.
 
Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on December 14, 2012, 11:49 AM:
 
What did the camera look like?
 
Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on December 14, 2012, 12:13 PM:
 
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.
 
Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on December 14, 2012, 12:32 PM:
 
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.
 
Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on December 14, 2012, 12:38 PM:
 
Dino,

Thanks! Just fascinating to watch.

Janice,

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

Doug
 
Posted by Jerome Sutter (Member # 2346) on December 15, 2012, 11:45 AM:
 
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!
 
Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on December 15, 2012, 11:54 AM:
 
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
 
Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on December 15, 2012, 12:38 PM:
 
Didn't these cassettes terribly scratch the film within?
 
Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on December 15, 2012, 08:31 PM:
 
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
 
Posted by Lee Mannering (Member # 728) on December 16, 2012, 03:18 AM:
 
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.
 
Posted by Dino Everette (Member # 1378) on December 16, 2012, 04:05 AM:
 
Lee thanks again for the link to your polavision footage. great stuff....
 
Posted by Scott Alexander (Member # 6306) on January 29, 2018, 06:15 PM:
 
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 ]
 
Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on January 30, 2018, 11:47 AM:
 
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.
 
Posted by Scott Alexander (Member # 6306) on January 30, 2018, 06:09 PM:
 
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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