8mm Forum: Super 8 to MP4

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Posted by Dave Groves (Member # 4685) on August 15, 2019, 10:43 AM:

Just looking through 'Coopers of Stortford' household catalogue and found a gadget looking like an editor viewer that transfers Standard and Super 8 to an SD card. The film can be watched on the 2.4 screen or played back directly to the t.v. via a supplied cable. It retails at £299. Anyone know anything about it or actually used one?

Posted by Brian Fretwell (Member # 4302) on August 15, 2019, 10:53 AM:

Had trouble finding it under categories on their web site but putting in Super 8 brought up something that looks very much like the Wolverine. Here's the picture from Coopers.

Posted by Mike Spice (Member # 5957) on August 15, 2019, 01:47 PM:

the wolverine review thread runs to some 30 pages, as I type, the thread is just below your post.

There are several versions of this machine but all basically the same apart from the Wolverine Pro which was released recently.

The thread is called: Review Wolverine Reels2Digital MovieMaker 8mm film digitizer

buy with caution, these machines have problems

I have been using one for two years, with some success but you should have a read through the main wolverine review thread before you proceed to buy one.

many users report all kinds of problems, least of all the quality of the video and the fact that the video produced runs at 30fps so you will need extra software and skills to get around that.

Some report quite serious film damage using this machine, the take up reel causes problems with frame stability during a scan.

I went through three take up motors in the first six months.

Have a look at my youtube page if you would like to see some results.

I would also search 'wolverine cine film scanner' at youtube and watch videos from other users.

Wolverine cine film scan

[ August 16, 2019, 04:43 AM: Message edited by: Mike Spice ]

Posted by Nantawat Kittiwarakul (Member # 6050) on August 15, 2019, 11:51 PM:

I just had a good chance to play with this toy (re-branded as Reflecta, but essentially identical). It seems to be a pretty recent production with some refinements, 1080p resolution instead of 720p, 20 fps output instead of that 30fps nonsense [Roll Eyes]

Here's my thought.
1. Yes it is very,very convenient. Being standalone unit means I can let it run nearby while I'm doing something else. No need to babysit it throughout the process.
2. 20 fps is pretty close, but still NOT 18 fps or 16 fps. Still see no reason behind this odd frame rate. That would be better to choose 17 fps as a compromise.
3. Although I'd found out that the pressure of that so called "film gate" is rather high, almost to the point of being dangerous to your film. To my surprise it still doesn't help stabilizing the film frame at all [Frown]

. Unfortunately I had no return that scanner to its owner before I have enough time to do any further investigation on this issue.
4. Resolution wise it is DEFINITELY NOT 1080p, not even sure if it is actually up to 720p or not?
5. Exposure latitude is so narrow. Barely enough for negative films. No hope for high contrast reversal such as Kodachrome [Mad]

.
6. No manual color balance [Frown]

. Its AWB may bring you close to, but not right at the target. That will cause problem if you want to do further color correction, since the color will "shift" around throughout the reel.

In summary, if you prefer a little quick&convenient tool to transfer loads of your 8mm memories - this is a good choice. Considering the price it will give you exactly what you can expect. Otherwise you may have to consider another option.

PS this is my customer's scanner who already bought it, but have ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA how to play with it [Roll Eyes]

. So he asked me to have a look. I'm glad I didn't invest into this toy [Wink]

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