Best 8mm Camera???

Vern

Vern

Active member
I'm thinking about getting a good ol' 8mm film camera to shoot music videos with, etc... I found this Bolex H8 online for a couple hundred. Here's one:

http://cgi.ebay.com/Paillard-Bolex-...oryZ4691QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem

I'm just wondering what people's opinions are as far as a good reliable 8mm, since I'm new to the film market.

Bonus question: I know there's a couple threads about sync-ing sound, but what are my options? Recording with the DVX???

Thanks...

www.thehobosoul.com
 
You're not going to have an easy time sync'ing sound with any 8mm or Super 8 camera, because they all run at non-sync speeds. Only the Beaulieu 6008 and above can have crystal-sync, and that was usually an option.

If you want to make your life much easier, forget about "regular 8" (like the Bolex) and focus instead on Super 8.
 
any recommendations for a super-8? What options I should look for??? Basically want a film camera I can learn on and still be able to do advanced work with. Basically, my DVX with film... Thanks a ton.
 
I just bought an H8 online to shoot regular 8mm film, and compared to super 8 the advantage is that it is basically an H16. 8mm is 16mm film with twice as many perforations which you shoot twice on, and then have the lab split and splice the film together. The gate is also not part of the film cartridge like it is with Super 8 cameras, giving you a very stable picture and improved image quality, despite the fact that the image area of Super 8 is higher. All that, plus the H8 can accept 100ft reels which gives you 200ft after slitting, far more than any super 8 cam will do.

The disadvantage of regular 8 is that it is not as common as super 8, hence stock and processing is harder to find (check out Standard8.org if interested). Also, the only stock available widely (and widely is a relative term here) is reversal, which is a bit of a shame.

Still, of the two, regular 8 appears to be closer to the more 'serious' 16 and 35mm. Either way, buying a more expensive and fancy camera for either format will guarantee its reselling value will not go down any time soon, so you could try both out if you really have no clue which one to go with.
 
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