So last week I shared my Admira 8F with you all – in other words, my few friends who read this and my mysterious Malaysian fans/spambots. When I bought that I became totally obsessed with figuring out how to use it, but I found regular 8 just too frustrating! I couldn't load it with light so I had no clue how I was going to ever use it.
So of course, I turned by obsession to Super 8. It's readily available and you just pop in a cartridge to load your camera!
I bought my film from B&H. I tried to go directly to Kodak but was directed to a 1-800 number in Hollywood and the lovely lady on the other side said they didn't have the stock I wanted. The experience was very strange. They expected me to call this Hollywood number every week to see if they had my stock in the Burnaby office so they could set it aside for me. She seemed to think that ordering some in for me was out of the question, so I bought it from B&H instead. And... it was cheaper! Although the high Canadian dollar is screwing Vancouver's film industry, it put me ahead in this circumstance!
And now, the camera...
I cruised craigslist for a while before stumbling on this guy for $30. There are a lot of similar cameras on craigslist so it's quite easy to get set up with Super 8 if you don't require much from your camera.
The Bell & Howell 670/XL has automatic exposure only, and an 8.8mm fixed-focus lens (which sounds wide but remember 8mm is approximately 1/4 the size of 35mm, so this is a standard focal length for this format).
(15/2/2012 Edit: Just kidding! I've learned since this post that that just ain't true. The diagonal of the film frame is what determines the difference in lens sizes. So, in case you're curious, a 8.8mm lens on Super 8 is approximately the same angle of view as a 50-55mm lens on 35mm film.)
It takes 160/40 ASA film in order for the automatic exposure to work. It's extremely simple and straight-forward so it's really great for beginners.
I used the camera for shooting B-roll for my short doc, "Whiskey Days", and I found the camera a lot of fun to use and the footage I got was very evocative. It really added to my piece. "Added what?" you might ask. I can't say.
If you're interested in taking up Super 8, here is my advice:
Know what you want! Cameras like this are easy to use but they can severely limit you. You'll see in the video below that the automatic exposure can cause a shot to change in brightness by itself, which isn't good if you want your work to look professional. The fixed focus and built-in prime lens mean that you have very little artistic control over your shots. You're going to end up with a home video esthetic, but that can be a good thing. It all depends on what you're looking for.
Here is some test footage!
I used Kodak Ektachrome 100D (which the 670/XL reads as 160 so everything is around 1/2 a stop underexposed). I disabled the blue filter since I was using daylight film but everything still looks really blue, and there is a lot of weird bright colour artifacting. This is probably due to the cheap scan, which is another factor to consider if you want to take up using Super 8... film processing and scanning really add up. I got the film processed at AlphaCine in Seattle.
The music is Jay Reatard's cover of Fluorescent Grey, and the film features footage from my previously mentioned doc, "Whiskey Days". Starring: my fiancé and myself with silly hair. Enjoy!
