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OT: Kodak Super 8 Camera
Was on Facebook today and the camera is scheduled to be available for purchase this spring (actual date is unknown).
While the camera looks impressive the cost is a bit much. We are talking $2,000 in U.S. currency. Thought this might be of interest but Tim has my permission to delete this post if he deems it necessary. -
13 Replies
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I thought that was a tad hight for a film camera now. But the demand is low for it, so you can’t sell lots of units, thus why it’s pricy. Like Sapphire plugins…the user base is low, so the price is high.
And then you need to add in the cost of film, processing and telecine… And have a lot of recent camera people wondering why they can’t see the footage that night on their hard drive….
Shane
Little Frog Post
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And your iPhone or a $399 GoPro shoots circles around it…
Noah
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Small format film definitely has a look which lends itself to certain things, however its hard for small format film to do anything outside that look, which I find quite limiting. Add to that the fact that the look of the film is highly dependent on the scanner used to convert the film image to digital . I’ve seen some remarkable S8 images transferred by Kinetta scanner, but those are not in abundance so you can’t count on getting that quality. I like film and I think the bigger the negative area, the better film gets. S8 is at the bottom of the ladder- sort of similar to 1/3″ sensors on video cameras, and when you take in the elevated cost and hassle of shooting, processing and transferring film, unless it serves a very specific purpose, I have to ask why bother?
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Especially when the same money buys you a Panasonic GH5 and access to a massive variety of way better optics…
Don’t get me wrong- I shot a ton of Super 8 back in the day when it was a cheaper alternative to 16mm and looked much more cinematic than VHS. Those days are gone now that 4K+/24p and highly accessible digital grading are ubiquitous. Other than as a curio gift and an expensive one at that I see them selling very few of these.
Noah
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On Ebay, I’ve been selling old film that my dad had bought in the `60’s, `70’s and `80’s. 28 rolls of Kodachrome, Ektachrome and Tri-X went for $67.00.
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You know Super 8 film expires after a few years right?
Noah
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Oh yes, I know, but there are a lot of people buying old film. In some cases they want the artifacts and degradation. I was completely upfront about the age and the customers were happy. The Tri-X would probably actually still make a picture. I’m not sure about the color stock.
Just in the past few days there’s been a request on the Old VTRs List for the use of a 1970’s vintage video camera. They were looking for an RCA TK-45 or similar. Those things made great pictures in their day and it’s hard to faithfully recreate that look in digital.
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Wow, I would gladly unload my super 8 Minolta camera from the late 60’s for a lot less than $2k. It is molding away in the garage. Of course I think the Bolex and others from that era were a lot better. Amazingly the Kodachrome shot with it has survived reasonably well, the Ektachrome, not so much.
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Bolex still makes 16mm cameras although they are on the expensive side. I found a used one on eBay for a fairly reasonable price. Those things are built like a tank.
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I have a lot of nostalgia for Super8. The limitations of the format make it interesting — like cinematic haiku. What can you get done with a 50′ load?
David, I’m curious. What do you plan to do with your film camera?
Walter Soyka
Designer & Mad Scientist at Keen Live [link]
Motion Graphics, Widescreen Events, Presentation Design, and Consulting
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