8mm cine film self-processing

matvogel · 2011-05-27T10:13:25+00:00

Hallo Forenten, vielleicht ist das Ganze ja eine blöde Idee, aber ich habe eine schöne 8mm Filmkamera geerbt. Es ist eine Neva-2 Kamera von Lomo, inkl. Filt...

matvogel

Hello forum members, This might be a daft idea, but I’ve inherited a lovely 8mm film camera. It’s a Neva-2 camera by Lomo, complete with filter sets. The thing is built like a tank and looks brand new. I’ve already found out that it’s probably a Double-8 camera, meaning I can perform half an exposure on a roll of film, then flip the reel and perform another exposure on the other half, giving me a total of 16 metres of exposed film. I’m considering using Foma 100R black-and-white film. The only question is – should I do the development myself or have it done externally? I already have experience with the film itself (the KB film) using Foma’s reversal development kit. But how do I develop the narrow 8mm films and, above all, how do I cut them exactly in half? That probably isn’t worth the effort, is it? Which specialist lab still develops Double-8 black-and-white films? I’m sure I’ll find projectors cheap on eBay – does anyone have a tip on which one is worth recommending? Also, another question about the Neva-2. It has a built-in selenium light meter, doesn’t it? I wonder if it still works? I haven’t managed to figure out how to activate it yet. Does anyone know the camera and could possibly help me? Is there a user manual for it anywhere? Do you have any other tips on whether there’s a specialist forum on this topic? Thanks and best regards Matthias

Wolfgg

Hello Mathias, Here is a general collection of links for your studies: http://www.schmalfilm.de/ http://www.super8.de/ http://www.kahlfilm.de/index.php http://www.peaceman.de/blog/index.php/weitergeführt-super-8-selbstentwickeln http://www.peaceman.de/blog/index.php/super8-selbstgemacht http://www.peaceman.de/blog/index.php/inexpensive-super-8-home-processing-tank http://www.marriottcameras.co.uk/instruct3/morse_tank/with_pictures.htm http://www.super8camera.com/processing.php http://www.echolot-online.de/Echolot/development.html Best regards, Wolfgang

matvogel

Hi Wolfgang, Thanks! That’s a good start, at any rate. I probably won’t become a professional photographer straight away, but I’ll definitely order a few rolls of film to get started and have them developed first, before I get more seriously involved and buy a daylight tank and so on. Best regards, Matthias

Gucker

Hi Matthias! For the development of your Foma film externally, I can recommend the Super8 Reversal Lab in The Hague. The price is great, it’s quick, and the quality is spot on too. I’ve developed Foma 8mm myself a few times as well; I find it really fascinating. You’ll need a bit of kit, though, which you should be able to find using the links above. Test the light meter on your film camera using another light meter, for example the one built into a stills camera: if you assume an exposure time of 1/30 s on the film camera, that will give you a good starting point. Have fun Alexander

matvogel

Thanks for the tip about the lab in The Hague. However, my camera’s selenium light meter is most likely dead. It hasn’t made a sound in ages – so the whole project is up in the air for now. As far as I know, the Neva-2 doesn’t have a way of setting the exposure time manually. Or am I mistaken? Best regards, Matthias

Urnes

Thanks for the tip about the lab in The Hague. However, my camera’s selenium light meter is almost certainly dead. It hasn’t made a sound for ages – so the whole project is up in the air for now. As far as I know, the Neva-2 doesn’t have a way of setting the exposure time manually. Or am I mistaken? Best regards, Matthias

You don’t actually set the shutter speed. It should be set to 1/30. That’s 30 frames per second. Otherwise, the film will run too fast or in slow motion. That’s why eagles can’t go to the cinema, by the way. You need to control the light via the aperture. So either use a light meter or measure the aperture on the SLR at 1/30 and transfer it to the Neva. If that’s possible, and it doesn’t run fully automatically. Regards, Sven. PS. I can see a ring for the aperture setting in the bottom of the picture. So it should work.

matvogel

Hi Sven, So does that mean the shutter speed is always 1/30s on all 8mm film cameras? I didn’t know that – sorry, I’m a photographer, not a filmmaker. But as for slow motion and time-lapse, surely that’s set via the frame rate, isn’t it? On my camera, the options are 8, 16, 24 or 48 fps. So does that mean the shutter opens for 1/30s for every single frame? But how do I get to 48 fps then? I’m still not quite clear on that. That would mean filmmakers have virtually no freedom to use depth of field creatively, and it would also be quite tricky to keep the focus sharp in low light when shooting wide open. What frame rates are actually standard for 8mm film? Is 16fps enough to achieve decent quality? 16fps looks a bit like a flipbook, doesn’t it? As you can see, question after question... Best regards Matthias

cfb_de

Hi Sven, So does that mean the shutter speed is always 1/30s on all 8mm film cameras? I didn’t know that – sorry, I’m a photographer, not a filmmaker. But as for slow motion and time-lapse, surely that’s set via the frame rate, isn’t it? On my camera, the options are 8, 16, 24 or 48 fps. So does that mean the shutter opens for 1/30s for every single frame? But how do I get to 48 fps then? I’m still a bit confused about that. That would mean filmmakers have virtually no freedom to use depth of field creatively, and it would also be quite tricky to keep the focus sharp in low light when shooting wide open. What frame rates are actually common for 8mm film? Is 16fps enough to achieve decent quality? 16fps looks a bit like a flipbook, doesn’t it? As you can see, question after question... Best regards Matthias

Hello Matthias, A film camera shutter is explained here: http://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Umlaufverschluss And in the Wikipedia article on film cameras, there is the following passage on exposure time:

The angle of opening of the shutter determines the exposure time depending on the frame rate. At a frame rate of 25 per second, the exposure time with a 180° opening is 1/50 of a second. The ability to adjust the light sector of a specially designed shutter results in different exposure times. Film is generally exposed at 24 frames per second. This applies to cinema films and is the international standard in this field. The aperture of the light sector is usually 172.8 degrees. For initial broadcast on television, however, filming is carried out at 25 frames per second (light sector 180 degrees). The latest development in film camera design is a mechanism with a gear ratio of 24 to 1, which, at 24 frames per second, results in an exposure time of one twenty-fifth of a second. This corresponds to an aperture angle of 345.6 degrees in the revolving shutter, double the aforementioned 172.8 degrees.

In fact, filmmakers are more restricted in terms of exposure control than we still-life photographers. Best regards, Franz

Wolfgg

For comparison, here are the frame rates and corresponding exposure times for a Nizo 6080, taken from the user manual: 9 fps: 1/16 sec 18 fps: 1/32 sec 24 fps: 1/43 sec 54 fps: 1/96 sec Best regards, Wolfgang

matvogel

Thank you all very much for your replies. I’ve now managed to get hold of a copy of the English user manual. I should now be able to start experimenting with filming. I just need to find a projector on eBay... Best regards, Matthias