Super 8mm cine film converter

[Mike Velte]

I do quite a bit of film to video, but use a film projector to project the image onto a small screen…about 6 ” X 4″, then tape the image with an old VHS pro cam. Have tried the DV cam route, but the result is quite a lot of flickering.
I have heard of devices that generate an analog stream and other devices that project into a cam lens, but dont know of any.

[Bruce Rutland]

Hi Mike,

Thanks for the reply, I’ll have to keep looking.

Best regards,

Bruce.

[Christopher Walsh]

Depending on how much you want to spend there are a wide variety of ways to accomplish 8mm or Super 8mm telecine (transfer of film to tape).

I’ve used a couple of outside services for my transfers, but I’ve also looked at the machines offered on ebay, and some of the do-it-yourself guides on the web.

A couple of links:

https://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003WXX
https://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/filmtrans.html

google searches for ‘super 8 transfer how to’ or ‘super 8 telecine’ yield even more results. I’ve had the best luck searching google with my camera model + super 8 (eg. TRV900 super 8) since it gave step by step suggestions for my camera and filtered out all the third party services.

[Kevin Christopher]

Well I don’t work for them anymore, but these guys have some of the best super 8mm transfers.

https://www.posthouse.com

Kevin

[Redgum]

What you are looking for is a Videotec Universal Video Converter VT3C. This small but efficient piece of hardware allows you to project film or slides in one side through a system of mirrors on to an internal screen. With your video camera you tape the the mirrored image. Your film projector sits about 12″ from this telecine unit and your video camera is flush against the unit.
The result is superb (as good as your projector and camera)and with trial and error you can avoid sync problems (film to video) particularly in PAL countries.
Where you get one from I’m not sure because its about 20 years since they were manufactured. I got mine from the local amatuer video club and so far its generated about $20k in work. Broadcast quality – well you need to do that externally through a facilities house. For the right price I’ll ship it over to you!

Redgum Television Productions
Broadcast & Corporate Documentaries
Brisbane, Australia

[Robert Aldrich]

I have had luck in the past (when in film school) shooting the Super-8 footage off a screen or sheet on the wall and turning the projector to 15 fps rather than 18 and almost no flicker, you just have to reset the aperture on the video camera for each scene if they vary in brightness.