New Kodak super 8mm camera

[Todd Kitchen]

Graham Ritchie I watched that one two years ago, before I joined this particular forum. So it was definitely the algorithm that got me to your channel. I think I've watched that clip more than once for sure. Great stuff. The thumbnail is spectacular as a still picture--very well done, sir.

but back to the Kodak thing.....5K buys a decent Bolex body and lens. That's a substantial camera--a mechanical masterpiece. The Kodak product looks flimsy in pictures. I'd be interested in seeing some reviews....
--edit---
Just now saw the datasheet and it doesn't seem half bad...more sturdy than it looks in pictures....

Can't wait to see some real influencer reviews...someone's gonna buy one and post a video....

[Todd Kitchen]

Graham Ritchie I believe that projection in the U.S. varied pretty wildly. I remember seeing the Tim Burton Batman in 70mm and it was flawless. In a theater that seated about 1200...it's all gone now...I think the building is now a megachurch...

[Graham Ritchie]

Thanks Todd

I agree that for that for that kind of money you could probably be able to go into filming 16mm, might even have some change as well. It will be interesting to see what happens with this new Super8 camera, but its way to expensive for most. Thinking back, and correct me if I am wrong but I always thought that Kodak made mostly products for the masses. This new camera seems to be the opposite of that past way of marketing. Regarding 35mm film prints at the cinema, we did inspect every film print on make up before screening. If a print did arrive with any scratches, we filled in a inspection report which was sent straight back to that film distributor, usually asking for another print. The thing is if you did screen a scratched print and said nothing, and because those prints themselves would later make there way to other cinemas, you could be setting yourself up to get the blame for it. I remember a local multi-plex damaged a single reel of a James Bond film, they were lucky to get another reel, as prints were often hard to get and limited in number, they got another reel, but it also came with a $500 dollar bill for it as well.

So it really pays to look after those prints.... or else

[Rob Young]

I'm on the verge of buying one of these for work;

Sony FX6 | Cinema Line-camera | CVP

Hmm...might have to think about buying the Kodak camera now for the same price...😆😆😆

Don't get me wrong, I love the idea, but HOW much?? And fiddling with the gate has made it unprojectable as you will now see top and bottom of adjacent frames. For that money, could they not have provided an adjustable gate?

Crazy. I mean commendable...but crazy!

[Osi Osgood]

Gee, I hope that Kodak might have so intelligent executive reading this and taking it all in. That could make a major difference and turn things around. It would make sense to peruse your target audience

[Steve Klare]

I seem to remember that the LCD display has selectable rectangles for various aspect ratios. If so, people who want to project could choose 4x3 and see what they would on a traditional Super-8 projector. Of course there would be image on film outside what we can project, kind of like R8 where there is often image even between the sprocket holes. (I suppose somebody could also machine a projector's aperture plates: let's see if that ever happens...)

The sound on digital memory card could be usable too by someone who can stripe and record in sync (I know someone who can and does!). Filming S8 with sound is something that almost makes my bucket list! (I'd rather learn to play the piano...)

The price point is another matter. It's not enough bang for the buck, doubly so for a guy with a house, a kid in college and hopes to retire in a couple of years!

[Shane C. Collins]

The other thing I don't care for about this camera is the small LCD display. Imagine trying to get a good focus on something in bright sunlight? I much prefer using a viewfinder as found on our now vintage Super 8 cameras. The viewfinder on my Elmo Super 110 is large, and bright. It's got the nicest viewfinder of all my Super 8 cameras.

[Steve Lee]

I have just flicked through Ebay, and at this moment there are 27 Beaulieu cameras for sale, all of them have a higher spec than this offering from Kodak. This magnificent 6008S Digital is 500€, it's a no brainer. Even if you spend 500€ on having it professionally serviced, you are still onto a winner.



I think Kodak have totally lost the plot. If they wanted to help relaunch super 8 to a new audience then bring back pre striped reversal cartridges.
As Shane said the fun of shooting super 8 is being able to project it onto a screen. Having the ability to shoot with live sound was even more fun, let alone being able to remix it and adding a music track on the balance track on a projector. I have many home movies that I shot in the 80s. all of them were with live sound. To watch these movies now, and also hear people who are no longer with us is magical.

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

Sounds repetitive, which it really is...

But once again, younger generations DOES NOT project their films. They all live on social media, not on actual gathering.

Kodak probably realized this hence they spent ZERO attempt to reintroduce new super8 projectors. They're actually more than kind enough to still provide us ONE reversal super8 film stock, comparing to 3 negative film stock to choose from.

And for their new super8 camera - generally it is in the right direction, but wayyyyy off for the price point.😖 Unless they release the low cost version (sub 1K$) to attract newcomer, then I'd have no hope for that.

[Todd Kitchen]

Graham Ritchie I was a projectionist for a college film series. We projected 16mm release prints rented from houses like New Yorker Films, etc.
We were required to report bad prints. Furthermore, if we had to remove even a few frames due to torn sprockets, etc, we had to put the damaged film back in the can so the footage count stayed the same or the rental house would charge extra).

For projection in a 500-seat auditorium we used two Eiki Super Slot Load 500W Xenon equipped with changeover system. We could do Academy and Scope. Needless to say, those lamphouses were underpowered for the room. The lenses on the projectors were also "wrong" (or at the very least, not optimal) for the size of the screen, etc , but somehow we made it work.

The picture looked great from where I sat in the booth and I was fanatical about focus and framing. The booth was equipped with a binoculars so I could focus on the grain itself. But if you sat in the first 5 or 10 rows, it could be pretty grainy and soft and people would complain.

It was a great college job. I could work on homework on the film rewind table. The back of the booth had a door that opened up to a 6th floor roof overlooking campus and the town and I'd often sit out there meditating. I could do whatever I wanted as long as I nailed the reel change every 30 minutes or so. This was in the 1990s.

The quality of the prints varied from pristine (for recent 1st run movies released to the rental/college market) to horrendous (for cult films and midnight movies--stuff like "Heavy Metal," "Harold and Maude," "Rocky Horror," etc. Those prints were most likely beat to hell because the rental house didn't want to pay to get new prints struck. We could complain, but it didn't help when the 3rd reel of a midnight movie jammed in the projector in front of a sold out house full of drunken rowdy students. People sometimes threw things up at the booth. I had a sliding window next to the projectors. One time I had open it to lean in order to clean melted cheese and tomato off the glass in front of the lens after someone threw a pizza slice at it and it stuck. That got two standing ovations. One for the slice-thrower and one for me after I got the glass clean enough to resume projection. It was during Rocky Horror. For that show we had two projectionists in the booth in case anything bad happened and sure enough, we lost one of our projectors that night. We had a backup but the college A/V department had checked it out that weekend so we had to pause 5 minutes between reels and the audience was not having it at all.

Good times. We always showed a cartoon short before every feature, whether it was a recent first run or an arthouse documentary. usually WB Loony Tunes but occasionally something else. Pink Panther or perhaps something whimsical like "The Dot and the Line." The titles of the cartoons were never announced in advance because we never knew what we were going to get. The audience loved the cartoons and they'd often burst into applause at the Loony Tunes opening theme.

[Graham Ritchie]

We ran an interlock with Rocky Horror one night the print was most likely the only 35mm print in the country and it looked in a pretty bad way. It certainly had been used a lot, and should have been replaced long ago. My biggest concern that night, was the hope that the film would not break during an interlock with two projectors, that would have been terrible, but we got through the night without any drama, certainly glad to get rid of it the following day. That was the only time we were stuck with a sub-standard print. Interesting though, there no complaints about it by the folk watching it. I guess they were all in La La land

[Osi Osgood]

I wonder, what is it that makes it's cost 1,000.00? Is it made of Titanium alloy? It looks to be plastic. Could it even be manufactured on a printer? I think it's more hilarious than anything else, but I do wonder what justifies the price, beyond it being the only new super 8 camera on the market?

[Ken Finch]

We seem to be going off topic talking about the condition and sloppy projection in cinemas.
However, I would like to add that the worst offenders in the U K were the big multiplexes where the print was threaded from one screen to another. Often with one projectionist responsible for all of the the projectors all running simultaneously in 10 or more screens. I have personally witnessed this on visits organised by The Cinema Theatre Association of which I have been a member for many years.

[Todd Kitchen]

This pdf tells us that at least it's not made of plastic:
KODAK-SUPER-8-Camera-datasheet.pdf

[Todd Kitchen]

Ken Finch I forgot all about that practice. I was only a projectionist for two years. It was always 1:1 projectionist:screen. No having to manage multiple screens ever. That would be maddening.