Pin Registered Super 8 Camera

[King Ghidorah]

Noticed reading on one of these topics about a pin registered super 8 camera. Which make and model is that?

[Alex]

It's not a major brand.

These were made one at a time back in the late 70's and early 80's. About 110 cameras were made in total.

I have two. Still in the testing stages however.
A film loop is pulled out of the film cartridge and threaded around a large spindle.

The camera takes C-mount lenses and goes up to 250 frames per second. Actually, it can go to 300 frames per second however the film can actually melt the plastic cartridge as it exits the supply side of the film cartridge so the top speed was downgraded to 250 frames per second.

I saw some rare footage shot with the camera in it's hey day at a horse track. The footage, as seen on my movie viewer, is frickin amazing and blows away the action sequences shot in Sea Biscuit.

It's amazing stuff. I mean, Sea Biscuit should have used this super-8 camera for some amazing close-up wide angle super-slow motion action shots.

But hey, let the dimwits mull over using a mini-dv camera when they could have been using a kodachrome 40, 250 frame per second C-mount pin registered Super-8 camera instead. [img]tongue.gif[/img]

[MovieStuff]

Originally posted by Alex:
It's not a major brand.

These were made one at a time back in the late 70's and early 80's. About 110 cameras were made in total.

I have two.

<font size="2" face="verdana, sans-serif">The only company that I ever heard of that considered making a true pin-registered camera was Panavision as an aquisition format for the then new and struggling HBO channel. However, they never made one.

What is the brand of the camera you have that's pin registered? Why not post some photos? I'm sure we'd all like to see it. Specifically, I'd like to see the mechanism where the film is pulled from the cart. I'm curious how they can do that and not scratch the film.

Roger

[Alex]

In an effort to try and give some credit to another Super-8 poster I looked on Brantley's forum trying to find the proposed threading diagram that was a dead ringer for the camera I have.

Maybe it was on the Shooting 8mm forum where I saw it. Someone posted the drawing/diagram in the last 6 months, but I can't find it!

It might have been crimsonson, Rollem Film, or Roxics. I did an extensive search on Brantley's forum and could not find the post, maybe it was on shooting 8mm?

[MovieStuff]

Originally posted by Alex:
In an effort to try and give some credit to another Super-8 poster I looked on Brantley's forum trying to find the proposed threading diagram that was a dead ringer for the camera I have.

<font size="2" face="verdana, sans-serif">Actually, I would rather see photos of your camera. What is the model and who made it?

[Alex]

Actually, I'm trying not to divulge too much information at this time because the people who made the camera have not dealt with it in over 10 years and if a bunch of people were to find them and call them about it it would ruin the bigger picture.

This person generously spent a day with me and in general they fry much bigger fish on a daily basis.

An article about the camera can be found in the American Cinematographer Magazine, October 1973.

My goal is to try and find more of the cameras before they are accidentally thrown away and I'm looking at the possibility of doing a documentary on the history of the camera and how it was used.

[MovieStuff]

Originally posted by Alex:
Actually, I'm trying not to divulge too much information at this time because the people who made the camera have not dealt with it in over 10 years and if a bunch of people were to find them and call them about it it would ruin the bigger picture.

<font size="2" face="verdana, sans-serif">Okay, so cover the name of the camera with electrical tape or use Photoshop to mask it. Just show a photo of the outside and the inside. No one will know who made it or who to contact about it unless you tell us so there's no risk.

Post some photos.

[Alex]

Ok dokie.

Just so you know, Ebay has several American Cinematographer auctions going on, and they even had one issue from August of 1973!

Only off by two months!

It's just a matter of time before the magical October 1973 issue becomes available via auction.

[Nigel]

Alex--

Just show some pics to back up what you are saying......

People aren't beating down the door in numbers like you think when it comes to Super8. If this company would be overwhelmed by demand for such a camera they can't be doing to much business.

[Cranium]

Good lord...

So, again, what's the point of witholding this, but still touting it?
"I've got something YOU don't"
"What's that?"
"Not tellin"

Yeah, I'm sure the company wouldn't want 5 emails bombing their inboxes.

Oh well.. Honestly, I'll probably never have one, and since the only two I've heard of will likely collect dust for the next several years, what do I care? It's simply a matter of expanding the knowledge base of a small but die-hard community.
Oh, wait, that's right... it's about almighty power.