I've done a little research myself, but decided it would be better to ask people who know. What is the best place online to buy super 8mm film? I'm wanting to shoot in color. I currently have a canon 814(the non sound one) Also about how much footage will you get out of a 50' tape/roll? I myself have not shot on film before and am really wanting to learn. Any tips? thanks a bunch guys!!
questions about super 8 Film
- Thread starter spankydoesfilm
- Start date
4 minutes
. So its going to cost a boatload to shoot on this stuff... Owell 
Thanks for the info!!
I recently had an exceptional shopping experience (both buying stock and having them process) with
http://www.yalefilmandvideo.com/S8_and_R8.htm
http://www.yalefilmandvideo.com/S8_and_R8.htm
50' is about 2 1/2 minutes (at 24fps). You can extend it to roughly 3 1/3 by changing to 18fps.
You may as well buy your film direct from Kodak. You won't end up with old/dated filmstock, and odds are if you buy anywhere else they'll have had to mark it up a bit, anyway.
Make sure you decide where you'll be having your film developed & transfered, besfore shooting.
Yake Film & Video (linked above) are very good (nice people, too). They no longer process Colour-Negative S8, though. Even if I get film developed elsewhere, it always ends up at Yale for the transfer to mini-DV.
Shooting in colour, you can either use the Colour Reversal (Ektachrome, atm) or Colour Negative. All have their benefits. You should look 'em up.
Make sure all your ducks are lined up, before starting. It's not really that tricky (the order in which things get done), but it can be a little overwhelming initially. All kinds of things to keep in mind.
Oh yah, read up on how/why/when to use the daylight-filter built into your camera.
Have fun with it. Same camera as mine, if it's the AZ.
You may as well buy your film direct from Kodak. You won't end up with old/dated filmstock, and odds are if you buy anywhere else they'll have had to mark it up a bit, anyway.
Make sure you decide where you'll be having your film developed & transfered, besfore shooting.
Yake Film & Video (linked above) are very good (nice people, too). They no longer process Colour-Negative S8, though. Even if I get film developed elsewhere, it always ends up at Yale for the transfer to mini-DV.
Shooting in colour, you can either use the Colour Reversal (Ektachrome, atm) or Colour Negative. All have their benefits. You should look 'em up.
Make sure all your ducks are lined up, before starting. It's not really that tricky (the order in which things get done), but it can be a little overwhelming initially. All kinds of things to keep in mind.
Oh yah, read up on how/why/when to use the daylight-filter built into your camera.
Have fun with it. Same camera as mine, if it's the AZ.
50' is about 2 1/2 minutes (at 24fps). You can extend it to roughly 3 1/3 by changing to 18fps.
You may as well buy your film direct from Kodak. You won't end up with old/dated filmstock, and odds are if you buy anywhere else they'll have had to mark it up a bit, anyway.
Make sure you decide where you'll be having your film developed & transfered, besfore shooting.
Yake Film & Video (linked above) are very good (nice people, too). They no longer process Colour-Negative S8, though. Even if I get film developed elsewhere, it always ends up at Yale for the transfer to mini-DV.
Shooting in colour, you can either use the Colour Reversal (Ektachrome, atm) or Colour Negative. All have their benefits. You should look 'em up.
Make sure all your ducks are lined up, before starting. It's not really that tricky (the order in which things get done), but it can be a little overwhelming initially. All kinds of things to keep in mind.
Oh yah, read up on how/why/when to use the daylight-filter built into your camera.
Have fun with it. Same camera as mine, if it's the AZ.
yea i have the auto zoom
. Other than the built in daylight filter, any other filters i would need? if not I think im going to order some film and test this out 
I second Yale Film and Video.
I've never had anything but professional treatment from them in all
the years I've bought and processed film from them an done telecine
with them.
I've never had anything but professional treatment from them in all
the years I've bought and processed film from them an done telecine
with them.
Have you guys heard of Pro8mm? It's in Burbank and they will provide you with negative film stock that is actually cut from 35mm to Super 8mm. Again, this is negative color stock and not reversal. And you have to get it processed through them. But it might be fun to check out.
Yup, as was said 2.5 minutes at 24 Frames Per Second run time per 50 foot roll.
PRO8MM is one of the best, but their customer service is not great. Their telecine and negative film stocks.
As for just telecine, I think www.thetransferstation.com, film & video transfers - > they have been my favorite transfer house for Super 8 film. They do particularly well with reversal film stocks.
And TIPS -> make sure you get a LOT of light for Super 8 film. The lower the ASA rating on the film stock, the more light you'll need, but the less grain.
ok guys first off thanks for all the help! You guys are awesome
. and for seconds, so I'll need to buy the film, pay to get it processed and then pay to get it put on digital correct? Most of the sites ive looked at for transfer to digital have a minimum fee. So to get my moneys worth i would need to shoot about 8 tapes. Being that this will be my first time is there a way i can tell that my film is turning out ok before i waste all 8? If not thats ok as well i just want to learn film 
.
. and for seconds, so I'll need to buy the film, pay to get it processed and then pay to get it put on digital correct? Most of the sites ive looked at for transfer to digital have a minimum fee. So to get my moneys worth i would need to shoot about 8 tapes. Being that this will be my first time is there a way i can tell that my film is turning out ok before i waste all 8? If not thats ok as well i just want to learn film .ok guys first off thanks for all the help! You guys are awesome
PRO8MM has a package deal for a "sampler" that gets you a couple roles of film, developing, and telecine transfer to tape all for one decent price. Use that to shoot some tests of various lighting conditions and setups, then you'll have some idea if you're in the ball park without wasting too much $$$.
Welcome to the world of shooting film.
This is what we ALL had to go through. The first five or so rolls of
super 8 I ever shoot were under exposed, over exposed or just
plain horribly lit. and I didn't know until I had paid for everything
and looked at it.
I learned, but it was very expensive.
At minimum, a UV filter - and that's just to protect the camera lens. Much better for a random flying stone to break a $10 screw-on filter than the actual camera glass. Aside from that, you should be good to go for now.
Most places have a 1/2-hour minumum. However, that's telecine time - not film-footage time. The telecine process is about 3x slower than real time, so you can hit the minimum with 4 cartridges. (10 mins footage, taking 30 minutes to run through machine)
No, but you can keep the odds in your favour by buying a lightmeter.
You can get a new (older-style, with a needle) one for about $70. Bonus points if it has "cine-scale" on the ring; you can then dial in your fps, too.
Your camera's internal exposure meter may (or may not be) accurate. It's over 40 years old, remember.
Knowing how to manually set exposure gets important, too, when using some of the newer filmstocks. The auto-detect in the camera (those metal spikes inside the cartridge housing) were designed to recognise the notches on cartridges from way back then. Depending on camera model, it may (or may not) recognise the new film types.
For example, your 814AZ should recognise the T500 stock as a T250. If you set camera for auto-exposure, it will read it wrong. (Pretty sure that's right; Kodak has a correction list on their site, for many camera models & film types) So it helps to know how to do it manually, anyway.
Yah, they have the full packages (film stock, process, telecine, preset-price). Convenient, I 'spose, but if you're willing to shop around for each stage separately it will be cheaper. Up to you to decide how much that "all in one" is worth, with the additional convenience cost.
I'm just cheap, so it's no biggie to send it to where I can save the most. (Helps that these places are local, too, I guess. No additional mailing costs)