Pro-8mm...Can you guys give me some pro's and con's?

[ses_74]

Hey guys,

I'm new to this message board, and I'm quite impressed!

Anyway, I recently discovered Pro-8mm and thought I had found the holy grail of low-budget FILMmaking. But since discovering this message board, I'm a little discouraged because it seems that no one here has anything positive to say about Pro-8 at all. I've gone through several pages of posts, trying to find specifics, but can't seem to find much.

Most of the complaints about Pro-8 seem to be very general ("Customer service is horrible," etc.) Can you guys give me more specific complaints? Is the service (film, processing, transfer) generally okay?

I've seen their demo (an actual VHS tape, not the online demo), and I was quite impressed. Did the stuff on that tape look so great just because it was shot by big-shot Hollywood producers with better lighting, etc.?

Would anyone recommend their 16mm film, proc, and transfer? (I'm assuming they would treat 16mm customers a little better, since they would generally be spending more money) Are you really saving much money if you go with one of their 16mm discount packages? I'm looking around on the web and can't find any other one-stop film shops where they'll sell you the film and do your processing and transfer. If Pro-8 is really so terrible, does anyone have any recommendations?

Thanks in advance,
ses_74

[Matt Pacini]

I'd give you my whole story, but frankly, at this point I'm tired of retelling it over and over.
Go far back into the archives of this website, and you will find example after example, believe me.
And personally, I thought their demo tape looked like crap, other than the fact there were some great locations and interesting things they were shooting.
It looked to me like it was intentionally shaky-camm'ed, so you wouldn't be able to notice how grainy the "pro8mm" stocks really are.
There is a lot of better looking stuff shot on Super 8 out there.
Anyway, the most significant thing you need to know about them, being a newbie, is that they do not have a monopoly on the format.
You can get everything you need to shoot Super8 elsewhere, without ever having to use their overrated, overpriced "service".
Almost everyone on this board has done everything theyv'e done, without using "Pro8mm", including myself, having shot a feature on Super 8 without using them.

Matt Pacini