Elmo 350SL

[ulrichsd]

Sound film is discontinued and hard to find. From what I've heard, the sound quality is not that good, and if you are doing anything more than home movies, you are better off doing sound seperate and synchronizing sound and video in post production.

I don't know much about that camera. A good site to start with is http://www.kolumbus.fi/puistot/list.htm
a site with the specs of just about every camera ever made.
Key functions people tend to look for are:

1)18 and 24 FPS
(24 is better when there is camera movement and if you ever plan to transfer to a larger format (16 or 35mm) most tend to be in 24 FPS.

2)lens type - zoom ratio

3)single frame filming - used for animation

4)intervalometer - very slow filming that appears sped up at normal projection. (clouds moving, flower budding, etc)

5)slow motion

6)manual exposure - fades, disolves, etc.

Obviously, what kind of features you need depend on what you plan on shooting. Only a few cameras tend to have all of these features, such as the upper-end Nizo, Canon, and Beaulieu cameras. These will usually cost you anywhere from $300 + if you buy from Ebay. If you do buy from Ebay you have to make sure that the cameras have all of the necesary parts, for instance, the beaulieus have weird rechargeable batteries that cost about $50-100 to buy if they don't come with the camera. The Nizos have a battery compartment case that AA batteries go in and I've seen cameras on Ebay that are missing that part. I suggest you start a new thread asking people to describe what camera they have, why they use that particular one, etc. I recently bought a Canon Autozoom 1014 because it has the features I wanted and the batteries and the lenses are a little simpler than a Beaulieu, so I'll just take learning Super8 one step at a time. It is also more in my price range at $255 than mostof the Bealieus.

Hope this helps,
scott u.

[Sundance]

Thanks for the info. What type of equipment is needed to do a seperate sound recording? In your opinion would it be better to just buy a silent camera?

Thanks for the response
Jonathan

[ulrichsd]

You can buy either a silent or a sound camera, both will play silent film cartridges (like kodachrome 40). Since sound didn't come till after silent, most sound cameras tend be newer with more features and they also tend to run quieter than silent cameras, which can be loud if you're recording near the camera. All that said, I only have silent cameras, because they are usually cheaper in price. I haven't tried but I don't think the sound from the camera should leak into my recording if I use a boom mic.

As for sound, I'd be interested to hear what others use. Optimally I guess you would want a DAT (digital audio tape?) but when I checked out the prices on those they were around $2000 USD. I guess people use analog tape recorders and sync the sound in post production, but without crystal sync, dialog scenes will probably only stay synced for 2-5 seconds max? When Rodriguez filmed "El Mariachi" he used 16mm and an analog cassette player so you notice all the dialog scenes cut away every few seconds so he can keep it in sync. I also have heard of people recording to computer or laptop, that way you get digital sound. I have also heard of people that shot to super 8 but also filmed with a digital camcorder, just to use the dig for a sound track. I guess its mostly hat works best for you, as I'm sure there are many more ways people do sound.

Later,
scott u.

[Sundance]

I have found an Elmo 350SL on Ebay. I am looking to get into Super 8. Is this a pretty decent place to start? Or, should I bite the bullet and pay a little more for a Canon, Nikon, etc.? Also, how hard is it to find super 8 sound film? I know I can find silent, but is sound pretty rare?

Thanks
Jonathan

[#Pedro]

Hi!
You better check out our discussions about double system sound and synchronisation. THere is a way between wild sync and crystal sync, that allows you to finish a production without abandoning film and going to video. You need a (silent) camera with a flash jack, a digital-to-1000Hz converter and a sound recorder with at least two tracks (stereo). The recorder will record 1 1000 Hz burst each frame. This enables you to do several things in post production.

1. sound track editing on PC: you can cut the soundtrack according to the film, counting the visible bursts and deleting the exact number of frames.

2. multiplay sound track editing on perfo tape (the prof. linear way). The 1000 bursts allow a synchron sound transfer to perfo tape. Once transfered to perfo, you have all sound options and creativity you can imagine. Depending on the tape machine, you can record and mix 3 to 7 additional sound tracks and run a viewer with your footage in sync with the tape, also after rewinding or fast forwarding the tape. It is as quick and as comfortable as nle, if you have the right equipment. I know several professionals, who prefer that method to computer editing of a film.

3. 1:1 transfer of field sound to sound stripe, sound track editing afterwards with the projector.
The 1000Hz bursts can be used to control either the speed of the tape itself or the speed of the projector (f.e. Elmo GS1200) in order to transfer the extern sound to the sound stripe. As the tape bears only pulses where the camera was shooting, a projector like the Elmo GS1200 will autoslate and autosync in a very simple way.

Pedro

[Alex]

I seem to recall someone mentioning they sold their Elmo 350 and did it grudgingly...

I think it was even a header post, so you might find it on pages 2-5 somewhere.

Well I found it, and as of right now, May 03, 2001, it is the lead post, just two above this one...hope this helps.

The model number is slightly different, however.

Alex

[This message has been edited by Alex (edited May 03, 2001).]