hello i am new to super 8!

[bubbleman380]

i just bought myself a super 8 camera and was wondering about different film types.

i have been looking at Kodak's site and have become very confused, i am not understanding the terminology.

This is what i was looking at:

KODACHROME 40 Movie Film is a low speed (ASA 40)

what is the difference between low and high speeds? what is ASA? and on average how many minutes to feet of film? or is that even possible to figure?

also if i am interested in B & W film. any suggestions on what kind i should get? and where to develop it?

any other tips would be great! i have been doing the high 8 for awhile but never the super 8 and am very anxious to start filming with my camera.

aaron

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Aaron Soots

[Matt Pacini]

These are very basic photography questions, and you will be able to find a wealth of info on the internet and in books on this subject.
I'll give you a couple really oversimplified explanations here, but you should really do some serious study on your own:

ASA, ISO or "speed" of film is based on how sensitive it is to light.
The easiest way to understand this, is to think about it in terms of the more sensitive a film is (FAST), it requires a shorter length of time for the shutter to be open for it to get a given exposure.
The opposite is true: slow speed flim, requires a longer shutter opening, OR more light at a given shutter speed, for proper exposure.
In cinematography, you're not really dealing with different shutter speeds (much) because you're usually shooting at 24 frames per second, so you have to add more light for slow speed film, or use less light for fast speed stock.

So ASA40 is really slow film, so you need more light, and I mean a lot of light.

At 24fps, you get 2.5 minutes per Super 8 cartridge.
Read through the archives in this forum.
There's a wealth of information, and almost certainly all your questions have already been asked and answered at some point, so spend a couple hours reading.
It will be a good education.

Matt Pacini

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