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Topic: Review Wolverine Reels2Digital MovieMaker 8mm film digitizer
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Werner Ruotsalainen
Film Handler
Posts: 97
From: Helsinki, Finland
Registered: Dec 2017
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posted December 31, 2018 12:55 PM
quote:
Super 8 film has a maximum horizontal resolution of around 900 lines.
Yup; in practice, however, even the best-quality stuff I've bought off eBay and scanned can just surpass the DVD WRT resolution. It's a long way away from 720p. (Of course, it's way better than anything consumer low-band analogue video (VHS / Beta / V8 etc.), and better than even high-band consumer formats like Hi8 or S-VHS, particularly because of the very high color resolution.)
(I don't list the stuff I've shot myself because, back in the day, I shot on AgfaColor Super8 and (because of their very low price) ORWO/Fortepan Std8. AgfaColor is trash compared to Kodachrome (too bad Agfa was more widely available here in Europe than Kodak and, consequently, I shot Agfa back then). And while ORWO produced way better quality than most people think, the format - Std8 - just doesn't have much resolution.)
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Werner Ruotsalainen
Film Handler
Posts: 97
From: Helsinki, Finland
Registered: Dec 2017
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posted January 01, 2019 03:49 AM
Yup, it uses the same tech as Agfa - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gevacolor
Interestingly, Agfa's earlier color tech ages much better than the one they produced in the 50...80's. For example, I have several rolls of East-German Std8 Agfa films shot in 1955 and 1956. (GDR used the "Agfa" trademark up until 1964 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ORWO -, when they switched to "ORWO".) Those films still use Agfa's 40's color technology and show no color swifts. (Of course, their resolution is significantly worse than B/W film produced by the same factory.) ORWO, fortunately (as, back in the day, I shot a lot of color Std8 rolls on ORWO), later has always produced decently-aging film.
Some examples of these GDR films (look for the 1955/1956 films; about half of them are color): https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL4_1cuziVtq9GS95obZZnNCfD7ol_M8XM
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Gary Schreffler
Film Handler
Posts: 33
From: North Potomac, MD, USA
Registered: Jun 2017
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posted January 01, 2019 11:55 AM
I have the Pro model. I only convert home movies filmed aboard Navy ships. A LOT! I do all conversions with the exposure (shutter/f-stop) set to the minimum -2.0, and sharpness set to low. That seems to largely minimize the artifacts discussed elsewhere. The only issue I have experienced is a flicker effect, as scenes go from dark to bright, or worse, dark foreground with bright background.
I discussed this at length with the Wolverine technical support folks, and we came up with an idea that has 100% eliminated the flicker problem; shining a light at the camera. Not directly, but enough to trick the sensor.
I am attaching a photo, demonstrating this. I simply use my iPhone (while plugged in!). I haven't seen any other comments on the flicker issue, also maybe strobing, but decided to chime in anyway, in case it helps someone else...
Gary
PS:.I can't seem to load a photo. Contact me directly, and I'll happily provide one.
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My God; It's Full Of Stars!
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Gary Schreffler
Film Handler
Posts: 33
From: North Potomac, MD, USA
Registered: Jun 2017
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posted January 02, 2019 09:29 AM
Bill,
Yes, I keep the light on for the entire run. For my purposes (i.e., amateur films constantly panning from dark to light, etc, with the bright ocean as a backdrop), that works best. As for skipping the pegs, yes; that seems to eliminate the hurky-jerky issue.
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My God; It's Full Of Stars!
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Gary Schreffler
Film Handler
Posts: 33
From: North Potomac, MD, USA
Registered: Jun 2017
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posted January 02, 2019 01:51 PM
Bill, that's interesting; that third tab could be very useful with film suffering from vinegar syndrome, where it is wavy, but salvageable.
I also own a Moviestuff RetroScan. Surprisingly, as is, my Wolverine handles wavy film better than the RetroScan. I like the Wolverine mostly because it isn't tied to a computer. And since I only deal with home movies filmed by sailors, the difference between the two scanners is negligible. I do use the RetroScan for films showing unique or historic events, or scenes filmed in very low light.
I have seen a lot of posts bashing the Wolverine, but I haven't experienced the issues. But I also know not to expect broadcast quality video from 8mm film!!!
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My God; It's Full Of Stars!
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Werner Ruotsalainen
Film Handler
Posts: 97
From: Helsinki, Finland
Registered: Dec 2017
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posted January 06, 2019 12:33 AM
Yup, sharpening MUST be dialed down. BTW, if it's the 20fps firmware, it might have a non-working sharpening setting. (No matter what you set, it captures with the default sharpness.)
BTW, your footage seems to overcapture between the sprocket holes - something pretty common, with, for example, the Kodak Brownies. This essentially makes the footage "widescreen". This is why I scan footage like this fully zoomed out (W=0) so that I can also include the "overcapture" area in the scanned footage too.
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