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Date: Wed, 15 Jan 1997 22:24:54 -0500
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From: Joe McGloin <XKAES@A...>
Subject: Film Formats

I am contantly amazed at the various formats that are "out there" (as Fox
would say). For example, in the 8mm film size, we have

standard 8mm -- which is mostly used up by the sprocket holes,

super 8 -- which is still 8mm wide, but with less area given up to the
sprocket holes,

dual 8 -- where they take 16mm film and run it through the camera twice and
then split it down the middle to produce 8mm film,

Split 8 -- which apparently is like 9.5mm wide but somehow produces 8mm film
-- of some sort.

What formats have people run across in the 16mm and 8mm (sort of) film sizes?
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 12:54:56 -0700
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From: Christopher G Mullin <mullin@S...>
Subject: Re: Film Formats
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Joe, and others-- let me clarify the various 8mm formats, please.

On Wed, 15 Jan 1997, Joe McGloin wrote:

> I am contantly amazed at the various formats that are "out there" (as Fox
> would say). For example, in the 8mm film size, we have
>
> standard 8mm -- which is mostly used up by the sprocket holes,
>
True, because it's basically double-perforated 16mm film, slit down the
middle. Also known as "Regular 8," and as "Double 8," to distinguish it
from Super 8. Before
Super 8, this was universally just called 8mm.

Except for the Bolsey, some versions of which could be used for both
stills and movies, I don't know of any other still cameras that use the
standard 8mm format, and except for the Bolsey and the Univex, other
"Regular 8mm" movie cameras actually load with 16mm film. Normally, this
is called a 50 foot roll (or occasionally a 25 foot spool, but it's really
a 30 foot spool, counting the leader and trailer. In the old dayus, this
spool was sold two ways, as a roll of film and packaged in a reloadable
magazine. 8mm magazines have not been made for a *looong* time, but if
you have film, magazines, and a changing bag, you can still use an 8mm
magazine camera-- but it's probably not worth the hassle :)

Whether you have a spool or a magazine, you run off about 2.5 feet of
leader after loading, then film 25 feet, run off about 2.5 feet of
trailer, turn the film over and run it through the camera a second time,
and the 50 feet of useful film is returned to you on an 8mm spool, with
the extra leader and trailer cut off, and one splice in the middle. Bolex
H8 cameras, being based on the 16mm Bolexes, take either a 30 foot spool,
or a 100-foot spool that give you 200 feet of 8mm movies when processed.

The Bolsey and Univex used pre-split film with the same big sprocket
holes, and you didn't turn the film over. It fit regular 8mm projectors.
I don't know if Bolsey and Univex spools are compatible.

> super 8 -- which is still 8mm wide, but with less area given up to the
> sprocket holes,
>

And it comes in a 50-foot cartridge that looks a lot like a big 8mm
magazine, though of course you don't turn it over, and the interior film
path is a strange spiral. There used to be Super 8 sound cameras, which
took either the ordinary silent cartridge, or a slightly different 50-foot
cartridge loaded with pre-striped film for magnetic sound. some of them
additionally took a 200-foot sound cartridge that sat up on the top of the
camera. Prestriped Super 8 sound film, is now extinct. If you still want
to make Super 8 sound movies, you use a separate tape recorder
synchronized with the camera (which actually makes editing easier anyway)

SINGLE 8 is the format you left out-- Fuji made this, and I believe it's
^^^^^^ ^ still available in Europe and Asia. Same perforations as Super
8, so it runs on Super 8 projectors and editors, but a completely
different cartriged design, with the film running from one spool to
another, unlike Super 8, where it sort of spirals around.

> dual 8 -- where they take 16mm film and run it through the camera twice and
> then
> split it down the middle to produce 8mm film,
>

The term "dual 8" is more commonly applied to movie projectors and
editors that can be used for either Regular 8 or Super 8-- either the
sprockets interchange, or they move in the machine.

> Split 8 -- which apparently is like 9.5mm wide but somehow produces 8mm film
> -- of some sort.
>

I've never heard the term "split 8," but it sounds like somebody's
description of standard 8mm, or maybe of the special loads for Bolsey and
Univex.

> What formats have people run across in the 16mm and 8mm (sort of) film sizes?
>

I'll let somebody else answer the 16mm part-- I assure you that it's as
complicated as the 8mm part!!

Christopher G. Mullin mullin@selway.umt.edu | I buy good
Special Collections Librarian 406-243-4036 (voice mail) | regular-8mm
University of Montana 406-243-2060 (fax) | movie stuff
Missoula, MT 59812 Who else has *these* opinions--not UM!
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Date: Thu, 16 Jan 1997 15:01:19 -0500
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From: Peter Zimmerman <pzimmerm@I...>
Subject: Re: Film Formats
In-Reply-To: Christopher G Mullin <mullin@S...> "Re: Film Formats"
(Jan 16, 12:54pm)
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I have a great 8mm magazine load camera, spring wound, interchangeable
lenses(!), and sloooow motion to 64 frames/sec [*reallly* overcranked!]. I
assure you it's not worth the effort to spool film for it, and even if you could
develop it at home, you probably couldn't slit it! I suppose you could run
Ektachrome and project it through a 16mm projector, with one half of the screen
blank. If film were cheap...

pete
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The contents of this archive, have been taken from the running conversations of Submini-L participants, from the years 1996 to the present. Please keep in mind, that they are presented largely unedited. Because these posts often represent the opinion of the speaker, the accuracy of the posts cannot be guaranteed.
Last Updated May 6, 2003