What we can do in 2021 to help grow our super 8 hobby

[Lee Mannering]

Well the first thing to do is thank Steve O at REEL IMAGE and Dave for the excellent new S8 releases and trying to keep prices as affordable as possible.
That's a five ***** for growing our hobby with NEW PRODUCT and the future.

Various people have tooled up to offer a quality striping service and Stereo dubbing which is going on behind the scenes.

Other are also putting in with brand new Walton Films art boxes from John on here and they are really superbly cut and lithographic printed in both styles no less.

Spare parts are being manufactured which is a great thing also.

I've heard so many people asking for Derann style feature film boxes for the last 9 years we splashed out to have suitable boxes made so these will be massed up in 2021. You will find the remainder of the first batch springing up on wifeys UK ebay.

We all love film and the magic of it and are blessed with dedicated people to bring us new Super 8 films which no other gauge offers for our home screens.
I was watching the new Curse of the Werewolf release only today and the image quality is razor sharp along with a good quality of sound. Incidentally it has 2 short sneak peek trailers at the start as well so a great reel.

I know more new releases will be forthcoming and its not for me to hint at the tiles but if you are able to support them do as it is the Super 8 future for sure. The quality the lab is producing now is pretty amazing and well worth topping up your collection.

Have a think next time your project some 8mm at home and see if you can use your own skills to make our hobby grow..
Keep well and enjoy the magic of the movies.

[Adrian Winchester]

I know this may sound extremely fanciful as it may be practically impossible to achieve without vast expenditure, but the one thing I'd particularly like to do is invest and/or collaborate in an initiative that would establish a lab in the UK that would be Super 8 and 16mm orientated, that placed some emphasis on providing services available to anyone producing new releases. However good the results are from Germany, it's never good that there's absolutely no alternative anywhere in the world, and that puts the hobby in a vulnerable position, if they ever decided to shut or cease to provide Super 8 services. The cost of producing releases has risen considerably during the last 10 years or so and although I'm sure that's to some extent unavoidable, I don't think some healthy competition would be a bad thing. I appreciate it's a very small market, but there might be potential for it to grow, and the German lab's range of services may mean that Super 8 releases don't tend to be a priority. I of course wouldn't view any such venture as a means of becoming rich!

Maybe I should have thought about this years ago as I expect one or two 8/16mm printers have become available and then probably ended up on a dump. Having said that, I know the exact nature of the Super 8 stock Kodak produces would be of key significance, so any usable printer would have to be compatible with this.

[Lee Mannering]

True yes competition is a good thing. No idea what happend to the uk Buck lab stuff or skilled staff so it's probably a better bet to embrace what's already functioning on offer. Film has never really been a low cost hobby has it but we are fortunate to have around us a dedicated team making magic happen mostly for the love of film. Hats off to them that actually stump up and make things happen.
I would encourage all film collectors to live in the now rather than what might have been in a dream land. Plenty of dreamers and critic's around but far less volunteer doers.

[Steve Klare]

Support Your Local Convention!
Wherever you are, be it big or small, be it famous or not.
Exchange ideas, make connections, learn, teach, discover!
Put faces behind names on discussion forums.
Give sellers an idea where to find their customers, and who and how many there are.
-give others positive reasons to engage in the hobby and find some of your own too!

A few years ago a fellow who had gone full video came to CineSea for old time's sake.
Not only did he have a good time, he drove home with a couple of films and a projector in his car!

(What would that kind of reinforcement do for you?)

[Osi Osgood]

I would suggest that, to anyone who knows of super 8 film lab equipment in the U.S. and they have the money, it would be advantageous to set up a lab in the U.S.! For those in the U.K. a film lab in the U.S. would mean less cost per feature for you guys, what with the pound doing better than the dollar, as usual.

[Lee Mannering]

I wonder where the USA labs were for movie film printing?
Know some printing was made for the USA over here as well back in el day.

Indeed film events are a must reely.
My own uk film fair is still planned with a twist. It's going to be on our undercover outdoor market all being well central to the town probably end of June. All tables have power and costs to dealers will be very low. It would be a mistake to undertake a indoor convention in 2021 with two virus strains doing the rounds.
There will be no entrance fee to visitors and we will be flying the film flag to the public.
Will see how new year pans out.

[Brian Fretwell]

I wonder what happened to the printing/processing lab that Perry's had. Though Ged has said that he couldn't stand the smell of the chemicals when he and Derek visited obviously their staff (my mind has gone blind for names) managed to get used to it.

[Dave Groves]

Lee, that sounds a great idea. Where are you actually located?

[Nick Regan]

Lee, could you send me details of your film fair please, I have a container full of Cine and Photography equipment some of it going back a century in age. There is all sorts including 16mm developing tanks, back projection cases, projectors & screens, cine film cameras, 35 mm cine film cabinets etc etc.... Is is something that would fit in on a stall at your fair?

Nick

[Lee Mannering]

Thank you all. I'm making notes once confirmed I will contact you directly but traders tables with power should be no more than £15 for the day.
It's entirely non profit making for my part and a FOR THE LOVE OF THE HOBBY event.

I will update final news in Feb 21 but do spread the word a Lancashire UK event is likely on Sunday June end.

Anyone travelling in via Manchester the X41 bus from piccadilly comes direct 50 minutes. Firm detail will follow later.

[Nick Regan]

With all this talk of "Printing" film I have a few questions. In the depths of my past I was a darkroom technician working in the army processing and printing colour and Black & white still films & diapositives of differing formats.5 x 4 , 2 1/4 x 2 1/4 , 35 mm etcetera etcetera.

Now, leaving sound aside for the moment, and just looking at the basics, is developing an 8 mm or 16 mm film not the same process as say a 35 mm camera film. For instance, Could I not take my 16mm film camera out and produce some blockbusting work of art type documentary about the fairies at the end of my garden, which I then take home and load the exposed film into my 16mm hand processing tank and process as I would a photographic negative leaving me with a filmstock ready to edit ?

If so then the next logical step would be to rig up some sort of copying system to produce film prints of videos DVDs etc. Yes I am aware of copyright rules etc its just it seems I am missing something when people talk about the difficulty of getting stuff done?

Nick

[Brian Fretwell]

Yes, exactly the same.

I have home processed colour and B&W reversal cine film (Mainly Standard 8, which is developed as 16mm then slit). I would think the main problem now is getting small quantities for the chemicals.

As for printing from negative to positive it would need a print head and exposure system which might be more complicated, though these were sold in the late 1960's and early 1970's and it was suggested by one firm selling surplus B&H projector parts that they could be adapted into a contact printer.

[Lee Mannering]

This I would love to see you succeed with hope you can make it happen. Film is one of those things that with enough dedication many things are possible.

I also managed a darkroom machine processing a long time ago now which I really loved. I tied to find a compact E6 processor but many were skipped. Also offered to take on the Group 9-5 machine and do the service but I dont think it wanted to come north. That's now rotting away I should think as the tanks dont like being left alone think that's a travesty in itself and me qualified! Grrrr
Itll happen one day

[Nick Regan]

Forgive me, I am still thinking out loud about all this which I never bothered to before, so much we take for granted. So I may come out with something really stupid as my brain ticks over, I tend towards the mechanics of film, projectors and other hardware equipment rather than the actual watching

However, Is there a difference in the types of cine film (as in, are there Black and White Emulsions, Colour Emulsions or Panchromatic Emulsions available?) I would have thought colour cine film would actually be a diapositive emulsion such as a photographic slide not a negative. This would the allow for a single process?

Nick

[Brian Fretwell]

Kodak make colour reversal, colour negative and B&W reversal stock.

Here's the stock sold by the Widescreen Centre https://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/super-8-film.html