super 8 newbie stupid question

[AMERICANWEREWOLF345]

hey im new to super 8 filming but not video filmmaking. im looking into a canon canosound 514 xl-s camera. first off, is this a good camera? also...it records sound, so what kind of film if any can i use in this camera to record the sound? if none of this has made sense im sorry...

[firestorm_bsf]

Welcome to the wonderful world of SUPER!-8.
Ok so a Canon 514 xl-s eh? Well, first off, from just looking at the specs which can be found here: http://www.city-net.com/~fodder/s8mm/cameras.html I'd say it doesn't look too bad.
As you are new to this, here's something that you should know, they haven't made sound film in a very long time. Also it's pretty much impossible to get a hold any that might be out there. With that said, it's still not useless to have a camera with sound capabilities. I've heard that it can help in the non-sync sound recording process. (But I don't know too much about that.)

You're best bet for recording sound is going to be a minidisc recorder which are relatively cheap.
Anything else, feel free to ask [img]wink.gif[/img]

<font color="#a62a2a" size="1">[ June 14, 2003 01:17 AM: Message edited by: BSF ]</font>

[rollemfilm]

The 514xl-S is one of the quieter Canon super8 cameras that are affordable. It's also one of the most reliable cameras. It runs at an almost perfect speed. I have had good luck doing wild sync with this camera. It has, if I'm correct a mangneto on switch. This can help maintain decent batteries for sound work. Like the Sony Pro-Walkman audio recorder, the camera will fail to run when the batteries are low, or will begin to cut out. I use to think that my camera was defective till I realized that the camera has an electronic governing system. I own three of these cameras, they all will cut out if the batteries are low, even though the battery test says that it's fine. The Pro-Walkman has a crystal lock and when the batteries drop below a certian point, the recorder just shuts down. The main power switch is also the weaker parts of this camera. They can get dirty and not make a good connection. This can also lead tothe camera shutting down. But keep the camera clean and away from dust and you should be fine.
The EE lock is a great feature. Canon cameras for the most part have some of the best meters. You can lock the aperture at the proper setting, and by using a rubberband around the switch, maintain that setting even after turning off the camera. The lens is very sharp but has a low zoom range. If the camera had a wider angle setting and a crystal could be added, it would be, for me, the perfect super 8 camera. Oh well, I guess I'll have to live with almost perfect.
So, yes, these are good cameras....