8mm Forum: New Kodak Super8 service.

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Posted by Daniel Dematio (Member # 5594) on October 01, 2016, 03:02 PM:

Hello folks,

I was wondering now that Kodak will be releasing their new hybrid Super8, does this mean that if you expose a currently available Kodak S8 cartridge in any existing S8 camera, you can send it back to Kodak for process/scan and upload to their cloud servers? Is there anything special about the new camera that requires you shoot super 8 in it first, before it can avail of the new Kodak service? It would be very nice to think that I will be able to buy fresh S8 stock and shoot with any of my existing S8 cameras and avail of the new cloud based Kodak service. I can't see that the cartridges will be any different, so in theory one should be able to shoot with any S8 camera. I'm guessing that their process/scan service will initally only be available in USA. Hard to find clear answers on the Kodak site, so if anybody knows the answer and availability date for the process/scan service it would be very interesting. Chance to breath life back into my old S8's. :-). Thanks to all.

Posted by Bryan Chernick (Member # 1998) on October 01, 2016, 03:43 PM:

I'm sure it's not limited to that camera. They are probably selling the processing/scanning with the Super 8 cartridges like Pro 8 does.

Posted by Peter Harrison (Member # 5290) on October 02, 2016, 07:09 AM:

If they limited the processing and scanning to their own camera there would be quite a backlash, I imagine.

I'm curious to see if they distinguish "process and scanning paid" film (if they do go that path) from the stock that people already have in there freezers and that which Kodak itself has just begun selling online (which no mention of process or scanning).

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on October 02, 2016, 12:32 PM:

Let us see if this venture actual happens.

Honestly, it isn't looking promising.

Posted by John Hourigan (Member # 111) on October 02, 2016, 05:57 PM:

Agree with Rob. Setting all wishful thinking aside and looking at it from strictly a business perspective (which it ultimately boils down to), this entire venture has a "trial balloon" feeling to it at this point.

Posted by Rob Young. (Member # 131) on October 03, 2016, 03:08 AM:

Rumour central is that the cameras shown at trade fairs were nothing more than non-working props, sadly.

And Kodak's own press on this venture can be politely described as messy.

And the camera has not appeared when promised...

I think what Kodak failed miserably to address at the start was the cost of shooting a few minutes of film.

So 2 minutes 40 seconds (or 3minutes 20 seconds) will cost around $60 - 80

I think that will put a lot of people off, but at least if they'd been upfront with it they could have truly gauged the potential market?

Some journalists even had the 50ft cartridge running for 15 minutes...gosh... [Frown]

Personally, I would love to see it still happen, but...

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on October 03, 2016, 03:38 AM:

It was announced that it would be put on the market in autumn so if Koddak is still willing to make it happen I guess the company would communicate soon about it. The fact that it has not been heard about this new camera since the beginning of the year is certainly not a good sign.

Posted by Daniel Dematio (Member # 5594) on October 03, 2016, 07:20 PM:

I have to admit, when you look at the lack of movement from Kodak, it's a real possibility the camera and service will never happen. Technically it's relatively straightforward to manufacture the camera. Logistically speaking the postal/process/scan/upload service is a much bigger challenge and costly business if got wrong. Given the interest from the Hollywood director brigade and the obvious link with educational/film schools, the idea of a cine camera shooting 2 1/2 mins for around $80 is not that outlandish. How many new kids out there might want to try costly film over HD video is hard to answer. Kodak might find their scanning service can't keep up or won't even break even in the first 6 months! One point to consider for example is, although I shoot high end digital stills, I still shoot large format film. I do this because the analogue working method leads me along a totally different and rewarding creative path. There hopefully will be lots of new people out there prepared to pay the extra to see the beauty of Super 8 film. We can only hope that Kodak have experienced people behind this thing, otherwise we may all be very disappointed.

Posted by Tom Spielman (Member # 5352) on October 03, 2016, 08:24 PM:

I think that in spite of the logistics the processing service is a more manageable problem. There are already companies doing similar stuff that Kodak can learn from. There are rumors that Kodak will have an additional film processing facility ready in December. Whether that means that that Super 8 processing and scanning will be part of what that facility does is an open question.

On the other hand, Kodak hasn't made a super 8 camera in 30 plus years. I know there is still one company producing new cameras but those are professional models (Logmar) costing over $5,000. They have a unique drive mechanism that I'm sure would be too expensive to incorporate into what Kodak has proposed. Are there other companies still making cameras?

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