8mm Forum: 8mm Test Film Needed

This is topic 8mm Test Film Needed in forum 8mm equipment for sale/trade at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Mike McCord (Member # 3767) on July 22, 2013, 08:36 PM:

I need a small reel of clean color standard 8 mm film. It can be just about anything, but prefer people, homes, street/store signs, store fronts - anything without a lot of jerking.

I am attempting to telecine some old 8mm films for an old friend, and the films are not in very good condition. Too many years, too much time in the attic...etc.

I need this to calibrate my projector/box/camera. I also need to know if my lens are clean. The words in this film will allow me to set and watch focus, white balance, etc. The ones I have are pretty old and the camera man was a quick jerky type.

Yes, I know the forum's advice about NOT doing this conversion yourself, but I am an old retired tech and love to tackle the difficult.

I am willing to pay (PayPal ?) a reasonable fee plus shipping - USA only.

I find this forum to be most informative about subjects I never knew existed, even though 8MM film was part of my childhood.

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on July 23, 2013, 03:33 AM:

I doubt that anyone would sell you a precious home movie to make tests. I would advise to buy a 50 (or 200) feet extract reel of a professional film. It should not be hard to find on ebay at reasonnable price. If you really want to see films on a tv or computer screen instead of a real one...

Posted by John Yapp (Member # 2873) on July 23, 2013, 04:38 AM:

Mike,
I too practice the art of telecine at home and have transferred many reels from different sources. Some of them look absolutely perfect, while others, especially those that are jerky, with wild panning shots etc will always look terrible. Film stock also makes a big difference, and the transfer seems to highlight the flaws more than when projecting onto a screen. Remember, you can't polish a turd, but you can roll it in glitter, so using a film-restoring script after transfer may help to correct some flaws in the film,but ultimately, you are limited by the quality of your source material.

Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on July 23, 2013, 01:22 PM:

quote:
you can't polish a turd

Oh how true [Eek!]

Posted by Richard Bock (Member # 1926) on July 24, 2013, 09:40 AM:

janice- i have a large library of my families old home movies etc. pm me if you want to get them for your test

Posted by Mike McCord (Member # 3767) on July 24, 2013, 01:22 PM:

Thanks for the responses.

Dominique - I did not think of that, I took your advice and ordered one from eBay.

John - Good advice. Later on, I'd like to pick your brain about telecine'ing. Let me get further into it. Right now, I do not know what "I do not know"...

Posted by Dominique De Bast (Member # 3798) on July 24, 2013, 01:36 PM:

I hope that you will enjoy watching a real film and, who knows, keep on projecting a real screen with a real projector [Wink]

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