Super 8 Film cameras

[Lincoln Thorn]

Would anyone have any suggestions on good Super 8 film cameras? I’m looking to buy one, but wanted to hear about which were better quality to find and buy.

Thanks everyone!

[Maurice Leakey]

Lincoln

I can't suggest a particular model, but it is important not to buy a "simple" camera, by that I mean one with auto exposure control selected by the notch on the film cartridge. These were excellent in their day, but things have moved on.

It is important to be able to set the exposure completely manually with the aid of an external exposure meter, also the built in coloured filter must also be able to be manually operated.

If these comments are not followed you may buy something which is entirely unsuitable for modern Super 8 film stock.


Maurice

[Shane C. Collins]

A lot of what Maurice says is correct, but I'll give you some of my experiences shooting current color reversal film. If your looking to project Super 8 film then I would like to recommend you shoot Kodak's latest stock Ektachrome 100D (7294) color reversal. This film is absolutely beautiful projected, and I've shot enough of this to know first hand. OK so here's what you should know concerning this film. The film is rated at 100 ASA, that's the box speed. However, in my experience, and many others, this new stock needs more light. It seems to expose better between 64-80 ASA. You may ask why is this the case? Well a few of us have concluded the stock is less sensitive and this is why slight overexposure is needed.
OK so where does this lead into suggesting cameras? If your plan is to only use reversal, and the only color reversal around is the one I mentioned above here's what I suggest. Find a camera that only exposes at the 40/160 ASA film entice. These were cameras made in the 70's into the 80's. Many of these cameras include a back-light control. A back-light control allows you to open the aperture by 1 f-stop. Now with this in mind you would be metering the film using the auto-exposure in the camera and at the 160 ASA setting. Once you had a reading you would then increase one stop. Perfect exposure for this new color reversal film! That's how I do it and I get perfect results projected every time! You can of course use this same method with cameras that do expose 7294 correctly. In that case you would only need to open the camera by about a 1/2 stop exposure wise. Any camera that offers manual and auto exposure can do this, in most cases.
Some cameras I can recommend: The following cameras run on double A batteries only. No need to use separate batteries for the light meter.
Braun Nizo 561 Macro or any of the later Nizo's with back-light control and manual exposure.
Bauer S 204 XL, Bauer S 2035 XL. These have back-light control and meter 7294 as 160 ASA.
Also remember all these cameras are old so it's best to find out if the auto-exposure is working. I've found over the years most of my cameras are very accurate when used with the auto-exposure setting. But it's also a good idea to understand f stops and what your looking at when filming.

[Brian Fretwell]

Also with some the button cell powering the exposure system may not now be in production and not have a modern equivalent.