8mm Forum: New member with Wolverine scanner

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Posted by Bill Sherren (Member # 6743) on December 11, 2018, 10:07 AM:

Hi,
Just joined this forum. Getting back into Standard 8mm and added a second H8RX camera earlier this year. Took quite a few films in the 70's through to mid 80's. And my dad started the hobby in mid 60's!
My Bolex 18-5 projector still works great and I have now added a wolverine Pro scanner to my setup. Having browsed this forum and seen various YouTube videos I knew in advance the scanner might prove frustrating and fussy. And indeed that has been the case! So far up to 16 on the counter and only tried to do two 50 foot Standard 8mm reels. Just about got one half of each film moderately steady. But the other is still unstable. First scan produced loud knocking sound from scanner in addition to the more correct sounding noises from the scanner. As half expected all that scan was unsteady across the whole picture. Next scan done in reverse with less knocking sound better but only on first half. Second half was jumping at top of the picture. A second reel again needed to be run in reverse to get any success but again after several attempts just one half ok.
I also notice that after running both films through scanner there is now a small notch in the middle of the sprocket presumably from the scanners claw!
Doesn't like any of the splices which are original Kodak cement splices. And need usually to unlace the film and advance beyond them and rethread to film and restart the scan. Not tried the paper trick or altering the exit path from the scanner yet. Or indeed using a box to collect and possibly feed the film yet.

Looking at the footage it is sharper than my attempts at filming the footage using my Bolex and Panasonic GH2. But as mentioned before is noisy with lots of artefacts. Reds and blues seems quite good but greens in grass look awful and mushy! Also got strobing and flashing where exposure kept changing on a darker subject with white sky. It's a pity you can't tell as it's scanning whether it's going to be ok or not. 30 minutes for a 50 foot reel and them need to do it all again and again to get half ok. Dreading running a 400 reel through!

You need a scanner built like a Bolex with the same precision! Even if it would cost the earth!
Has anyone else noticed the small damage to the sprocket holes after running through the scanner. As damaging the film is discouraging me from running any other through particularly if it's unwatchable afterwards because of unstable image!
Cheers bill

Posted by Mike Spice (Member # 5957) on December 11, 2018, 01:36 PM:

I can honestly say my Wolverine (720p) has never damaged a single peice of film in 18 months of use, and I have now scanned many many thousands of feet of film.

It copes with 90% of all the splices thrown at it.

Some cement fall apart, one or two splice tapes have got stuck but overall it has been fine.

I wonder if your machine may need to be returned.

Posted by Bill Sherren (Member # 6743) on December 11, 2018, 03:59 PM:

I will see if I can take a photo of the damage. But it certainly only appeared after running the film through the scanner. Not that keen running any more films through as the damage will most likely still occur. When you run your films into a box do you still use the roller path or do you just have the film coming straight out the gate and into the box? Do you scan both Standard and Super 8?
I got my scanner from B&H in the states so sending it back will be expensive and I wonder how customs duty work with repaired or replaced equipment? Could be expensive! Though I did realise the risk I was taking by buying it and thought it worth a gamble!

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on December 11, 2018, 11:17 PM:

I've sad it before -IMO this scanner has no business being on the market. It is clearly an undeveloped product with a host of problems and does not work as advertised, and it costs more than a 4K TV. And now the final straw- it damages the sprocket holes!

Posted by Werner Ruotsalainen (Member # 6217) on December 12, 2018, 01:09 AM:

The problem is caused by the standard (double) 8mm slicing not exactly being 8mm but fluctuating between about 7.8mm and 8.2mm (at least here in Europe - I've scanned a lot of GDR, BDR, Bulgarian, Hungarian etc. stock). The solution is widening the film slot by about 0.2 cm.

This will make scanning S8 footage much more troublesome because of horizontal wobbling. My only solution was purchasing a second Wolverine for dedicated S8 scanning, while keeping my widened, first scanner strictly for Std8 scans.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on December 12, 2018, 01:24 PM:

No, the correct solution is the one used in all projectors - a spring loaded edge guide. Nothing less is going to work.

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on December 12, 2018, 04:11 PM:

I would add I was seriously looking into buying one of these units (or similar) but have now totally gone off the idea due to all the problems. It seems crazy that the unit comes with a take up spool but its recommended to have the film going into a box!!

I think for now I will stick with my usual method of using a camcorder filming the image off a white card.

Graham S

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on December 12, 2018, 08:14 PM:

Me too Graham. But if Wolverine ever get all these problems really eliminated, by major redesign, I would certainly be in the market for one. Right now it seems more like a toy than a serious piece of cine equipment.

Posted by Werner Ruotsalainen (Member # 6217) on December 14, 2018, 03:34 PM:

quote:
"No, the correct solution is the one used in all projectors - a spring loaded edge guide. Nothing less is going to work."

The loud "knocking" issue and the perforation destruction is caused by the film, at the given position, being too wide for the film channel. The film just gets stuck and doesn't advance - hence the "knocking" and the evetual shutdown after some seconds OR the perforation destruction.

This is a very common issue with any 16->8mm film type (Std8, Double Super8) cut down the centre. This is why I had to widen the channel in my (now) dedicated Std8 scanner. After the widening to around 8.2mm, I never had the issue any more.

Posted by Nantawat Kittiwarakul (Member # 6050) on December 16, 2018, 06:30 PM:

Buying this Wolverine Scanner seems like a lucky draw.

You might be lucky with a no-problem whatsoever unit,or keep pulling your hairs off with the busted ones. [Eek!]

Posted by Trevor Adams (Member # 42) on December 21, 2018, 03:20 AM:

The luck of the draw sounds right.My scanner has given no trouble-save for being slow as a wet week!I guess I'm glad I bought it from BH.Trevor

Posted by Ken Abruzzo (Member # 6188) on December 21, 2018, 07:18 AM:

I have the Pro. Most of my film went through fine. I did have a few that would have trouble and show the sprocket damage. It was always the film of questionable quality. My grandfather was notorious for buying cheap stuff. Never had it get stuck with Kodak film, unless it was a thicker splice. Kodak press tapes go through without trouble. Some of the other brands are thicker and get stuck in the gate (they also sometimes have trouble threading through the pegs).

I think the condition of the film also plays a role. If it's worn to begin with, it's more likely to end up with sprocket damage.

I wasn't all that concerned about the damage. I likely will never run any of it through a projector. I just wanted to get a scan of everything done so I could have a digital copy of it before it broke down completely. I have about 14,000 feet of film. My mom got to see it all before she passed. She was thrilled.

Posted by Bill Sherren (Member # 6743) on December 21, 2018, 07:33 AM:

The damaged film was Kodachrome and the last films I took in 1987. And only run through my Bolex half a dozen or so times. Took some photos of damage and sent to Wolverine and B&H no replies yet. Scanner boxed up as have no appetite to damage only more priceless (to me and my family) films.

Posted by Mike Spice (Member # 5957) on December 21, 2018, 02:34 PM:

I would think you are unlikely to hear anything for some days with the holiday season about to kick in.

I think you have done the right thing Bill.

If the scanner damaged my priceless feet of film I would be highly irritated to say the least.

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