Super 8 buying and developing question

[aeoteora]

I would like to buy a super 8 camera and I would like to know if this camera ( http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll...825406507&rd=1 ) is good enough (and if it's too expensive).

Also, how expensive is it to develop a super 8 cartridge? I was told that it must be sent to Switzerland (??) for developing.

any other advice for a novice super 8 film maker??

[BolexPlusx]

Ah!, the Minolta XL-400! Actually quite a nice camera if you can get one in good working order. They have a lot of neat features and are relatively compact. The down side is they tend to have a lubrication problem which shows up as a squealing sound.

The opening price is a little high, but worth it if the camera is truly OK. If you have some agreement with the seller that it can come back if it's not right, I'd say go for it.

You can get Kodachrome-40 (the stuff 90% of us use 90% of the time) with processing included for $13.31 per roll direct from Kodak. ( Call 1-800-621-FILM and ask for Catalog #505 3335) Are you a student? You can get a discount off that.

It is one of the enduring myths about Super-8 that Kodachrome has to be sent to Switzerland for processing. (So enduring that some people at Kodak actually believe it!) It is a lie! I (and many thousands of others in North America) send my K-40 to Kodak in Fairlawn, New Jersey. We have no troubles, and neither will you!

You can also get two varieties of black and white and two negative color stocks, but K-40 is an excellent place to start.

Welcome aboard, and enjoy!

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 06, 2004 11:11 PM: Message edited by: BolexPlusx ]</font>

[aeoteora]

thank you so much for the advice!!

a couple other questions about the camera:

does it use AA batteries?

can I use B&W film?

about this lubrication problem; you said it would make a screeching sound but I thought the camera wasn't a super 8 sound camera. Does the sound effct the film?

[BolexPlusx]

Hi,

This camera uses two AA batteries

It can use Tri-X Black and white film without any problems whatsoever. For the new Plus-X you either have to use a light meter and set the exposure manually or trick the camera into thinking it's 50 ASA film and get it processed as 50 ASA. This camera doesn't have an autoexposure settings for 80/100ASA film. I am working out the details of this for my very similar Minolta XL-401.

http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/super8/film.shtml

Tri-X is the faster film generally used indoors, Plus-X is the slower film generally used outdoors.

The problem with the squeal is it means the film transport is not lubed right and will operate roughly. This can affect the steadyness of the image and ultimately the camera may grind to a halt completely. It's very tough to find someone to fix these cameras today.

By the way, If you do encounter a squealer, let it run for a couple of minutes. Sometimes a camera that's been sitting a long time needs to re-distribute it's lubrication, and it will get better. If it keeps squealing it's probably headed for the Big Tripod in the Sky!

[aeoteora]

what about re-lubrication? it seems to me that something like that woudln't be all that complicated.

(thanks again for the advice)

[BolexPlusx]

A super-8 camera has a lot going on inside and is pretty complicated. You can take at a shot at it, but try to take as little of it apart as you can get away with. It's important to keep the lube only where it belongs. If it gets on stuff like the optics it can make for other trouble.

Of course, we're getting ahead of ourselves here. You don't have the camera yet and can't be sure it has the problem anyway.

Here's an important tip: If the auction gets vicious, let it go. There will be others. Somebody paid over $200 for a projector last week that most people wouldn't have paid $50 for. Why? They got their heart set on it and bid it up through the roof. Well, at least the seller had a good day.

Sometimes it pays to look at past auctions to get a feel for how common something is and how much you should be willing to pay. Minolta XL-400s are pretty common.

[aeoteora]

oh I certainly know what you mean. It turns out that I found an auction ending before the $29.99 XL-400 auction. I got the camera for $10.49 (w/out shipping). The whole auction ran me about $25. This one didn't have a "100% money-back guarantee" but I figure I can't be sure the other seller was dependable for that, since I can't exactly get it in writing. This camera is insured, so if something goes wrong with it, I can always say it was damaged in shipping- UPS is usually pretty laid back about those things.

[Actor]

Kokak does not process B&W film even though you can buy it directly from them. You have to find another lab. Fortunately there are quite a few. Here's a link to a list:

http://www.8mm.filmshooting.com/thelab/labs.php

There are only two labs in the world that process S8 K40. One is in Switzerland. That's where Kodak's New Jersey facility forwards your film to. The other is in Parson's, Kansas.

http://www.k14movies.com/

You can drop your film off at Wal-Mart and they will send it to Parsons. They charge $4.88

The cheapest S8 film is K40 w/processing at $13.54 (plus tax and shipping) bought directly from Kodak.

You can buy K40 from Kodak w/o processing for about $11 and have it processed via Wal-Mart for a total cost of about $16 plus tx,s&h.

Or you can ship it to Dwayne's yourself and pay $9 for processing.

B&W costs about $10 from Kodak. Processing costs about $10 from most labs. The last time I used them (I don't shoot much B&W), Film and Video Services in Minneapolis charged $7.50 for processing.

K40 can be processed as B&W but you have to overexpose it by one or two stops and the processing is more expensive. I think F&VS does this for about $12. Rocky Mountain Labs can also do it.

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 08, 2004 04:16 AM: Message edited by: Actor ]</font>

[BolexPlusx]

Actually the New Jersey film goes to Dwayne's as well. We semi-proved this on the other forum. A couple of years ago everybody, everywhere that got Kodak processing got their film back on black plastic reels with a snap-on cover, and people that went to Dwayne's got a white plastic reel in a cardboard box.

At the same time that Kodak started to sell the film process-paid in the US, people in North America started getting Kodak processed film back in white cardboard boxes (like Dwayne's uses), but people in Europe kept getting black reels with snap on covers. The logical conclusion is that North American film is getting done in a new lab, and the only choice left is Dwayne's.

Apparently Kodak subcontracted Dwayne's to do North American Kodachrome. Sometimes people at Dwayne's admit it, sometimes they deny it. I guess the reasoning there is that Dwayne's offers processing for $9.00 under their own name, so why would they admit they are also doing it for less than half that much in the case of the Kodak Process paid or Walmart? It's a little like brand name clothing manufacturers ripping their tags off the clothing before they send it to a discount house; they just don't want their name associated with the lower price.

There is a web of secrecy surrounding this that would do the CIA proud!

[Actor]

With me the idea that the New Jersey film goes to Dwayne's has the status of an urban legend. Maybe it's so. Maybe it's not.

All the film I've sent to New Jersey has come back in a white box. I've gotten only one back with a black snap-on cover and that one was from Dwayne's.

I've also heard that there are K40 labs in Australia and Japan. Maybe there are. Maybe there aren't.

<font color="#a62a2a"><font size="1">[ July 08, 2004 09:49 PM: Message edited by: Actor ]</font></font>

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ July 09, 2004 01:35 AM: Message edited by: Actor ]</font>