Speaking as somebody who’s used nearly every photography/filmmaking system that’s been available since the early sixties, Super 8 was very cool… but honestly, just never all that great a filmmaking medium. It was pretty hip in its time, and many of the cameras and projectors were and remain fascinating mechanical equipment.īut the results are limited and likely to be unsatisfying… Unless you’re specifically making footage for fake sixties home movies or early music videos to use within a larger project. So if you have the funds and you decide that you simply MUST have the experience of shooting Super 8 film, okay, enjoy. Even if you’re using that legendary Beaulieu camera (which I lusted over back then!), the resulting movies are still going to be soft and mushy, with grain like cannonballs. It was only a marginally acceptable low-fi medium back then, and that was before the cameras were antiques and the film and processing were INSANELY expensive specialty items. (I used those too, in high school.) It was fun, and I have some still-impressive films that I occasionally show now.īut I honestly don’t see why you’d want to shoot Super 8 film in 2021. Okay… so I made Super 8 films (and a couple of 16mm films) back in the seventies… because that’s the only amateur filmmaking medium there was back then, apart from expensive, primitive open-reel videotape systems like Sony Portapacks. And I’m just thrilled that so many young people are now finding their way to traditional photography! Classic cameras and traditional film offer pleasures and images that are wonderfully different from digital imaging. The 814 has more manual features like three different fps rates, manual exposure as well as auto exposure.įirst, let me say for the record that I’m an old guy and I still shoot and develop 35mm b/w film. It’s an older heavier model with a metal body while the XL cameras a smaller and lighter with plastic bodies. My Canon Auto Zoom 814 has an 8X zoom with an f/1.4 lens. The XL system enables filming in dim light and stands for “existing light”, while the Canon 514XL has a 5X zoom and a fast f/1.4 lens.īoth the Canon 310XL and Canon 514XL cameras are fully automatic. For example, the letters and numbers of the Canon 310XL Super 8 camera tell you that it has a 3X zoom and a fast f/1.0 lens. I like to use the automatic ones the most often.Ĭanon cameras tell you a lot about themselves just in their name. One has manual and auto capabilities, and two are only automatic. I have three different Super 8 Camera models and they are all Canon: the Canon 310XL ( find on eBay), the Canon 514XL ( find on eBay), and the Canon Auto Zoom 814 ( find on eBay). This allows you to lock your exposure when shooting against the light. Some cameras have moderate macro capabilities that can be utilized with a switch on the camera. You’ll see the take-up reel turning and hear the sound of the film gate. Most Super 8 movie cameras run on AA batteries, so if you pop in a couple of batteries and turn the camera on, you can find out if it works. The fastest way to find out is to test it. When you’re shopping for a Super 8 camera, the first thing you need to find out is if the camera you’re looking at works. How to Test a Super 8 Camera to See If It’s Working Now, I see them on eBay for upwards of $200. I paid about $120 for my Canon 514XL about four years ago. You can find Super 8 cameras anywhere from your grandma’s attic and thrift stores to eBay, and they can range in price from free to $50 all the way up to $500 and above. However, in the last four years since I bought my first Super 8 camera, they have increased in price. In recent years, Super 8 cameras have been relatively easy to find and quite inexpensive.
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