"From its beginnings as the home movie medium of the 1960s, Super 8 film is alive and well, and serving a vital segment of today's filmmaking industry," according to PRNewswire. "[And] Eastman Kodak Company remains committed to providing Super 8 camera users a range of products and creative choices. As such, Kodak has added a new color reversal film to its Super 8 portfolio -- the super-saturated, fine grain KODAK EKTACHROME 64T Color Reversal Film 7280 will be available in August of this year.
" 'Introduced in 1965, Super 8 film has found new life with each new generation of filmmakers that continue to embrace the format,' said Bob Mayson, general manager and vice president for Image Capture products, Entertainment Imaging division at Eastman Kodak Company. 'Forty years after its introduction, this small-gauge film still provides an easy, inexpensive way for students and enthusiasts to work at film resolutions and color depths as yet unmatched by the latest digital technologies.'
" In fact, many of today's great cinematographers and directors began their careers decades ago, at the counter of their local photo shop, buying a cartridge of Super 8 film. 'That's why Kodak has continued to invest in the Super 8 business,' he added. 'We're just thrilled to introduce this vivid, new emulsion to the marketplace. It's a great new product with very high image quality and excellent color reproduction, providing our Super 8 customers another creative tool for their toolbox.'
"The new KODAK EKTACHROME 64T film expands the current Super 8 portfolio that includes two black-and-white reversal films in medium and high speeds covering a range of lighting situations. Super 8 customers will also find the latest Kodak VISION2 motion picture films available in 200T and 500T speeds, incorporating the highest quality images, improved sharpness and grain, along with a full systems approach, optimizing the entire imaging chain.
" 'With Super 8 gates now available for high-end scanners, coupled with the KODAK VISION2 film technology advancements, Super 8 is what 16mm film used to be,' says Mayson. 'Super 8 color negative film has become another option for professionals with low budgets.'
"As part of the portfolio revamp, Kodak will discontinue sales of its S8 KODACHROME 40 Movie Film. Final sales of KODACHROME Super 8 will be based on product availability over the coming months. Sales of KODACHROME 16mm films will continue, unaffected by this announcement. The decision to discontinue KODACHROME in Super 8 was driven entirely by marketplace dynamics.
" 'Because the "home movie" market has shifted to digital, sales of KODACHROME Super 8 film have declined significantly,' according to Mayson. 'In tandem with that decline, the availability of processing for KODACHROME Super 8 cartridges has diminished. In other words, fewer and fewer labs worldwide have the machines and the chemistry necessary to process this film emulsion in the Super 8 format.'
"Kodak will give customers at least a year to process their KODACHROME Super 8 film with Kodak or seek an alternative."
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Comments (8)
My idea was to start super 8 film with Kodakcrome 40. Now there is no opportunity to do that. It seems to me that the new film could be better but will be more expensive because of the laboration...
Superbus_@mailbox.hu
(from Hungary)
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posted by @ 5/16/2005 2:35 AM
Instead of coming out with a new stock and ending another stock I think Kodak should attempt to reintroduce its sound film and bring along a rebirth that way.
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posted by @ 8/11/2005 9:07 PM
Hello, Good to see people using Super 8 in 2005. I ran super 8 professionally in the 70,s and 80,s making doucmentry and TV commercials. I used a variety of cameras Double super 8 pathe and Beaulieu 6008 xtal drive and super8 sound recorder. At the time I had a super 8 printer which made good quality copies using 16 m.m. split stock. In those days we had suite case rear screen projector units a little bigger then the avergae brief case to-day. They were made by Fairchild. A loop cassette was used inside which carried 20 minutes of super 8 film stock. They were a good unit and many sales rep.,carried them around as audio visual tools to re-play commercials and marketing movies. Although retired I still use a Manolta super 8 camera for aerials. The Roko lens are the best in the consumer super 8 cameras. Super 8 I feel in a lot of areas produces better pictures then video, especially with the contrast index being twice that of video. For a while I also used a 6 plate editor made by KEM. It used sprocketed magnetic tape which one could lock up with pitcure and it was a very nice edit bench. I found that film is much easier to edit and work then video in general. Even on to-days computer software, except Avid who's software works the safe as a film edit bench. Its a great shame that someone doesn't make some new gear ie., cameras and a new editing system for super 8.
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posted by @ 11/25/2005 12:15 AM
kodak force me not to use super 8 anymore after the sound cartridges were discountinue. my high end sound movie equipment has been collecting dust know for years thanks to them .they ruin a lot of peoples hobbies.but ever since me and my family dont support any of their crappy products anymore.
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posted by @ 12/04/2005 8:58 PM
For any body concerned with the whole sound issue.. M-Audio makes something called MICROTRACK. It uses Flashcards and has excellent sound recording. Sort of a classy digital DAT. Retails for 500.00 but I've seen it for as low as 300.00. Records as a wave or mp3 and is very customizable and easy to transfer to your computer. A 1GB Flashcard will allow you to record for 6 hrs.
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posted by @ 5/10/2006 3:18 PM
I've just read that the Kodak Ektachrome 100D is very sharp and has very nice colors, almost equal to K40. But it seems that the Fuji Velvia 50D really is a big hit. Though K40 is dead super-8 is much alive and new stock are on the market. I've made a list of super-8 filmstock currently on the market, check it out here. You can also see if it's suitable for your camera.
Best regards,
Harmjan
the Netherlands
super8camera.com
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posted by Harmjan @ 5/17/2006 7:16 AM
hi guys, i am embarking on a project using super 8 film. i have two cameras, one for animation, one for live action. can i buy film online? can i develope it online? can i transfer it to dvd online. the film will be about 5 muinates and i want to use color. how much will the whole thing cost?
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posted by @ 9/02/2006 2:41 PM
For all of your looking to digitize your film, we have several processes to meet your needs including high definition transfers.
Check us out at: http://www.videoconversionexperts.com
-Brad
Video Conversion Experts
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posted by Brad Hinkle @ 10/29/2006 11:19 PM
