Super 8 film camera  

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A Super 8mm camera is a motion picture camera specifically manufactured to utilise the Super 8mm motion picture format. Super 8mm film cameras were first manufactured in 1965 by Kodak for their newly introduced amateur film format, which replaced the Standard 8 mm film format. Manufacture continued until the popularity of video cameras in the early 1980s. The cameras are no longer professionally manufactured (although used cameras may be restored and sold) and most cameras readily available are used from the 1960s and 1970s.

Currently five Super-8 cameras are being sold in the United States. All five are sold by Pro8mm, and are updated versions of older Super-8 cameras.

The cameras are:

  • Pro814 (based on the Canon Auto Zoom 814);
  • Pro1014 (based on the Canon 1014XL-S);
  • Classic Pro (based on the Beaulieu 4008);
  • the RHONDACam (based on the Canon 310XL);
  • and the RHONDACam Deluxe (based on the Canon 514XL. This model, introduced in March of 2013, is the company's most recent offering.)

The company also offered the 7008 Pro II, a rebadged version of Beaulieu's popular 7008 camera that was their first camera to be modified to work with the company's then-exclusive negative filmstocks. The camera was discontinued in the mid-90's.

The cameras are generally modified in the following ways:

--If the camera has an internal #85 filter, it is removed. The company states that the majority of sharpness problems with Super-8 stem from the filter, which in many cases is made out of cheap plastic and can deteriorate over time.

--The camera motor is lubricated and its torque adjusted to compensate for the increased thickness of negative film.

--The camera's exposure system is recalibrated to correspond with Pro8mm's film speed notching of their cartridges. The notching is compliant with Kodak's own standards for Super-8, which went unimplemented in most cameras due to the lack of camera films that took advantage of speeds faster than ISO 200.

Contents

Super 8mm Cameras

The first camera to be formatted for the new film was the Kodak M2. During the late 1960s cameras were only formatted to film at 18 frames per second, but as technology improved, Frame speeds such as 24 frame/s (The motion picture standard) and faster speeds (for slow motion filming) were incorporated into camera mechanics.

Super 8mm film stock

Super 8mm film cameras do not need to use the Super 8mm film produced by Kodak, but other film stocks produced by companies such as Fujifilm and independents (in the form of re-packaged film) are compatible. The only difference to the films is the cartridge used to insert them into the camera. All lengths of film sold are of Template:Convert lengths. Kodak did produce Template:Convert and sound cartridges, but these have since been discontinued. Most stocks are reversal film (for simple projection) but some negative stocks have been produced.

In 1965, the original emulsion released was Kodachrome II colour film. However in 2005, Kodak announced it would stop manufacturing Kodachrome stock. The discontinuation was due to the steps K-14 development used. Nowadays, Kodak Super 8mm film cartridges are sold as either Ektachrome colour reversal film,Tri-X black and white reversal film or Vision 3 colour negative film (in 200 ISO and 500 ISO speeds). Fuji Velvia 50 and a number of other stocks are also available.

Super 8mm brands

Many companies manufactured cameras and equipment for use with the format. Many well-known brands such as Kodak, Canon and Agfa made cameras, projectors and stock for use with the cameras.

List of camera manufacturers

Note: Many companies (Such as Kmart's Focal range) used re-branded products, these have not been included into the list.





Unless indicated otherwise, the text in this article is either based on Wikipedia article "Super 8 film camera" or another language Wikipedia page thereof used under the terms of the GNU Free Documentation License; or on research by Jahsonic and friends. See Art and Popular Culture's copyright notice.

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