Finding and testing a super 8 camera
I am working on a project about history and tourism and decided that super 8 was a really interesting format to use because of its association with nostalgia, home movies and vacation Elizabeth Czach's thesis Home Movies Then and Now has provocative examples of how super 8 has been used and marketed. The old Wonder Years intro scene is another interesting touchstone (it looks like simulated super 8). This post is about some of the research and thought process behind using this format and then finding and testing a camera.
I filmed with super 8 many years ago but forgot to leave myself notes and had to do a lot of research to catch up. I vaguely remembered compatibility issues with certain film stocks and troubles with built in internal filters. I used a variety of resources, blogs and forums to get caught up which I'll try and link to throughout.
From a director's perspective, the automated aspects and imperfections of the super 8 format are an important part of its qualities and appeal. As a cinematographer, relinquishing control of exposure and metering and lenses is challenging after working with manual still and movie cameras.
My wish list for a Super 8 camera involved a Goldilocks-esque list of factors:
Overall reputation of camera and lens quality
Compatibility with a variety of modern film stocks
Manual exposure controls - Many super 8 cameras can't meter for higher ASA film stocks but manual control can help override that. This is helpful also in case the internal meter is inaccurate or broken. Analog Resurgence has a good video explainer of this. Or read Shoot It With Film's What You Need to Know Before Buying a Super 8 Camera.
Expense and ease of batteries - Cameras like the Beaulieus have custom batteries that either require re-celling or expensive or DIY modernized battery packs. Many other cameras require button cell batteries for the light meter which aren't too hard to find but not as easy as AAs.
Cost and condition - While I love fixing things and DIY projects, I was hoping to find something that would work pretty well off the bat because the project is coming up soon. But a camera that has a guarantee of having been tested and professionally maintained costs a lot more. What can I test for to feel comfortable with the risks?
Locally available - I'd had a tragedy of shipping a super 8 camera before another project years ago that meant I had to buy a 2nd, less desirable camera last minute. Avoiding shipping and getting to hold a camera and test it in person ranked highly for me in terms of risk assessment.
I found a great local seller of a Nizo Professional who was able to walk me through the camera and let me test things out before committing. The Nizo Pro only needs AA batteries and while it's limited to only automatically metering for film stocks up to 160T, it does have the ability to manually adjust the iris. It will meter Kodak 500T as if were 160T, overexposing the film. But I can stop down by 1 & 2/3 of a stop to compensate. It would meter 250D as 100D so stop down 1 & 1/3rd stop. (Here's a chart of ASAs in 1/3rds stops increments)
The seller helped me check the following things in person before purchasing:
Initial Super 8 camera purchasing checklist
Powered on and ran (no film inside but motors sounded good, only do this at low speeds!)
No major battery corrosion
Viewfinder and lens were clear of fungus and scratches and all barrels turned smoothly
Meter activated (not testing for exposure accuracy, just that it responds to light at all). It responded both in Auto and Manual modes.
That was enough for me to feel like it was worth it. He also threw in 7 cartridges of 200t, which, might be super expired and totally unusable but they also might be ok! They are useful for making sure film transports through the camera if nothing else.
I had a lot of questions still and wanted to run more tests at home.
Motorized zoom test - Buttons work and speed responds to varying pressure.
2. Is the iris / aperture actually moving along with the meter needle?
I check this by looking through the gate while running the camera and seeing the iris expand and contract in automatic mode by pointing the camera at bright and darker spots and seeing it respond to the manual dial also. This doesn't establish accuracy of the stops indicated in the viewfinder but confirms that the iris at least works in some capacity.
3. What's going on with the internal filter, color temperature and ASA settings?
TLDR; The metering and internal filter activation pins and switches are interconnected and all worked as designed.
I tested this by looking through the gate and pressing on the ASA and color temperature pins and flipping the filter switch. The filter engaged (looked orange) and disengaged appropriately with the switch and color temperature pin.
The iris opened and closed with the ASA measuring wedge being pressed in.
For accurate exposure reading, heed the manual's instructions on daylight and b&w film always being set to the sun symbol on the filter switch. Daylight film + lamp symbol will mean underexposure by 2/3rds of a stop.
Conclusion on internal filter: If I have daylight film, I'll listen to the manual and put the switch on the sun symbol mode. If I have tungsten film but I want to use a fancy glass 85 filter instead of the internal 85 filter, I'll put the switch on the light bulb symbol so that I don't double filter (the metering is done through the lens).
Final test: A roll of film!
The last test I did was putting in a 200T cartridge in and filming with it. I haven't gotten the footage back yet but I can confirm it made it to the end of the roll where it says Exposed. I know the shutter was working and the iris moved. So these are all good signs.
I tested filming with and without the internal filter engaged to see what the quality differences might be.
I filmed a color chart as well.
The test should give me an idea if the meter is exposing film at all in the ball park. Of course, 200t is more sensitive than the 160 it is being read at, so it should be overexposed by 1/3rd of a stop which I didn't bother to accommodate for manually.
I noticed a lot of flaring so I picked up a rubber hood (after the fact). I also used a variable ND because 200t is quite sensitive!
There could be other issues revealed by the test, so we shall see!
Long version of notching and internal filter testing:
Super 8 cameras were designed to take a lot of guesswork out of filming. The cartridges of film have notches that correspond to mechanisms inside the camera that tells it what sensitivity and color temperature the film stock is. There is also usually a switch that you flip to tell the camera whether it is outside or inside. All of these factors impact the metering and whether or not an internal orange filter engages.
It's easy to get into the weeds on this subject so I recommend the Analog Resurgence video How Does My Camera Detect Film?, reading Pro8mm's blog about the filter and Friedemann Wachsmuth's blog post about his Super 8 notch ruler that helps measure a cartridge and camera. http://www.peaceman.de/blog/index.php/super-8-notch-ruler-new-and-improved
Above is a photo from Wachsmuth's ruler which shows the measurements and locations of the notches in a super 8 cartridge and below is a photo of the inside of the Nizo Pro where you can see the gate, the ASA notch reader and the tungsten / daylight reader.
I ultimately wanted to see if the notch readers and filter switch were working as designed (and also I needed to test things out to fully comprehend the concepts and design)
Super 8 cameras mostly expected tungsten (~3200 kelvin) balanced film and have a built in 85 / orange filter to correct (~5600k) daylight to tungsten so outdoor footage didn't look blue. Many experts suggest not using these built in filters because they are probably deteriorating or dirty.
I only ever want an 85 filter if I'm using tungsten film outdoors or under 5600k balanced movie lights.
Below is a photo of the Nizo's Outdoor / Indoor setting switch. It's not a simply a filter switch, it also impacts exposure!
Setting the switch to the daylight sun symbol extends the internal pin and engages the internal 85 filter *if* it has a tungsten cartridge loaded or is totally empty.
Tungsten cartridges have a notch cut out at the bottom which gives the pin room to extend into.
A daylight cartridge has no notch so it won't allow the pin to be extended. It pushes that back pin in. Pushing back on the pin disengages the 85 filter and tells the camera this is daylight film.
*When the switch is set to the sun symbol, the meter reading does not change whether the pin is pressed in or extended out* - this is because an 85 filter on 160 cuts 2/3rds of a stop of light which the light needed equivalent to 100ASA.
Setting the switch to the tungsten light bulb symbol
Turning the filter switch on the Nizo Pro to the light bulb symbol does many things: 1. retracts the pin 2. disengages the 85 filter 3. lights up a light bulb symbol in the viewfinder and 4. stops down the iris to accommodate for the extra light being let in now that there isn't a filter. I got the following readings
Sun symbol (filter engaged) f. 4 1/3
Light bulb symbol (no filter) f. 5.6
This is a good sign since 85 filters cut 2/3rds of a stop of light.
*When the switch is set to the light bulb symbol, the meter reading changes by 2/3rds of a stop (less light is let in)*
The light bulb warning light on the top right is there to remind you that you have no filter engaged in case you walk outdoors.
So what if we have daylight balanced film and put the switch to the light bulb symbol?
The manual tells us not to do this and cautions the user to always have the switch on the sun symbol when using daylight or black and white film.
What will happen if we do it anyway?
We are going to underexpose our daylight or black and white film by 2/3rds of a stop. The pin that can tell the difference between daylight and tungsten film has been retracted by the switch and can't tell the difference between 100D and 160T now (which have the same top notch cutout measurement). The camera just assumes you have tungsten film that's unfiltered and stops down to compensate. But hey, the manual tried to warn us!
