Canon Scoopic-16

Hey, hi, hello!

The lovely beast you see above is none other than the Canon Scoopic-16, a handheld 16mm camera that was produced in the 60s for use in news production (hence "scoop" ic). It is upside-down in the photo, though, because it is extremely top-heavy and I couldn't get it to sit for the picture, since I don't have a tripod that's sturdy enough to hold it. (The books behind the camera are comics by Lucy Bellwood I picked up at the Vancouver Comic Arts Fair last weekend. If you're like me, and love the ocean and tallships and nautical tales, her little comic might be for you!)

So, the Scoopic-16, which was followed soon after by the Scoopic-16M (with a macro function), and the MN and MS, was a well-loved machine that was also ideal for documentary filmmaking. This one was given to me by the film program's technician at UBC, who found out that I collect old cameras. I can only assume that it was popular with students as well!

What's the big deal, you might ask? I think that it was so popular because of its ease of use. It has a big ol' zoom lens, semi-automatic film loading and an automatic exposure setting. A beginner would be able to use it easily, but it also offers quite a bit of control. And it has four frame rates: 16, 24, 32 and 48!

Unfortunately, I don't have a battery pack or any sort of power source with which to test this guy, but I will include a youtube video of someone else's test at the bottom of this post. If you're interested in getting into filmmaking, the Scoopic-16 and its protegés are still good cameras with many fans. You can buy them from 16mm enthusiasts, and film is available from Fujifilm and Kodak (for now, at least), and you can still get 16mm processed in bigger cities. However, that probably will not be for much longer. Kodak's not the only company feeling the hurt from the shift to digital, and a lot of places won't be doing 16mm processing or telecine any more.

In other words... if you want in on the 16mm train, now's the time to do it.

Now, enjoy these images!





xoxo, C.