Beautiful work, the whole process, preparation to the results and that was smooth for the plant clip. Definitely the flash helps for backlit scenes. Would be awesome if you tried stop animation.
Thank you very much! I will give stop animation a try for sure. When I finished those time lapses I didn't want to know anything about Super 8. Now that I took a breath I'm ready for stop motion animation and more Super 8.
Very interesting and the outcome looks awesome! I have the same camera and I always wondered if that would work. I see that you manually set the exposure, is the aperture indicator accurate? It has full stops marks, the travel from f2 (mark only visible looking almost at 180° angle...) and f2.8 is very big, also until f4, but f5.6 and up are very close to one another, so I wonder if you can trust them to be accurate. It would be easy to check on digital, but hard to check (an expensive) on film u_u I've also notice that you cover the view finder with tape, is it not enough to close it with the switch on top of the camera? Thanks!
Thank you! I did set the exposure manually, yes. Measuring flash is basically impossible, even for the most modern digital camera. The flash fires at the exact moment when the mirror moves up (photo), so still photo cameras don't have the ability to actually measure flash. They calculate exposure using distance and the brightness of the object, but they can't measure the actual flash. So, as you can imagine, a Super 8 camera cannot measure flash either. You need a light meter to calculate exposure. You could also use a digital camera, if can put the flash somewhere and don't touch it. In my experience, the indicators are accurate. I'm not good at math, so I can't explain why the iris doesn't close in fixed steps, as you mentioned. In some cases, the change in the aperture of the iris is negligible. It doesn't seem to change at all, but that is the way it is in all lenses. The indicators are correct in most cases. The iris is a mechanical device that opens and closes. If it works, it's going to be accurate in most cases. I like using thirds (1/3) of a stop when I do my work. That's how they teach in school too. Most digital cameras are marked in thirds of a stop, that's because a few years ago, the dynamic range of digital cameras was not as good as it is today. Also, some people like to use the.jpg format, which compresses the information even more. That was not necessary in the film world because the latitude, which is equivalent to the dynamic range of the film, captures a lot of information. Cameras from the 1980s and older ones have shutter speeds marked in full stops only. At some point, they added half stops to lenses, but a lot of lenses can be used with full stops only. In the 1990s, they added half stops to cameras and then thirds. I use thirds when I calculate my exposure for Super 8 and 16mm. That allows me to be more precise, but as you can imagine, it's not a big deal if you don't position the needle exactly at the third that you want. You can over or underexpose film by one stop, and it's not really a problem. It's not ideal. It's not a good idea if you are shooting Ektachrome. But film is very forgiven, especially if you give it more light than what the meter says. I used tape to cover the viewfinder because I wanted to be able to see once in awhile. Closing the mechanical switch or cover requires a certain pressure. That was going to introduce movement to the camera, something you want to avoid when you shoot time lapses. If you pay attention to the lens, you'll notice that I used some tape to "lock" the position of the lens. I locked the focus and the zoom rings to eliminate the risk of changing a setting accidentally. Super 8 cameras are not super precise. The garlic was in focus in the viewfinder, but it was blurry when I got the film scanned. You can shoot interesting stuff, but there are always going to be surprises. I think you should give your camera a try, learn, and have fun.
I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you want to film normally at 18 or 24 fps for 3 seconds? Do you want to capture one image every 3 seconds? Or do you want to keep the shutter open for 3 seconds? I assume you mention 1/32 and 1/64 because when you fire the flash at that intensity, the flash recycles faster. I don't think a flash can be fired 18 or 24 times (fps) every second for 3 seconds, but that depends on the flash and the power source. Sounds like a good way to burn the bulb of the flash. If you want to capture one image every 3 seconds, I think that's doable. That gives the flash enough time to recycle and be ready. Again, it depends on the flash and the power source, but almost any flash can recycle in 3 seconds, especially at those intensities. The last option. I don't think that's what you are talking about; it would be to keep the shutter open for 3 seconds. That would require the use of a release cable or a remote, and it would only be possible with cameras that have a B (bulb) mode. In that case, the camera would capture ambient light for 3 seconds. At some point the flash would fire, freezing that exact moment in a certain area. That would render incredible results since you can play with ambient or available light and flash. In such a case, the flash could be used to illuminate only a certain area. It would be cool. I hope that helps.
@@TheCinematographyLab the first part. Using a flash at night would let me simulate faster shutter speeds with a camera that normally has a set 1/70, 1/50 or 1/30 depending on angle and frame rate. It’d be a neat way to film skate tricks hehe
@@TheCinematographyLab also one of my favorite night photography tricks is to get some medium speed film say 200 or 400, hold my flash in my hand charged, then open up bulb while my friend rides by and I snap flash. It gives a slight motion blur but leaves a solid image at the flash :3
@@fenixlolnope361 Got you! That would be cool and doable in my opinion. Most speed-lights and strobes fire at speeds around ±1/500th of a second. That would freeze the action giving you sharper, crispy images for sure. It would create an interesting shot since you would be capturing some ambient light too. Yeah, that trick that you describe is pretty much the same. I think you should give it a try. You could end up with super cool images.
@@TheCinematographyLab I just have to find a flash that has either a fast enough recharge speed to fire at 16/18fps or a flash with 1/32. I'm assuming there's double 8 cameras that can do this too, double 8 is more up my alley because B&W film is much cheaper since nobody has to make a cartridge. The best manual flash i have only has 1/16 which is still cutting it close :/
Beautiful work, the whole process, preparation to the results and that was smooth for the plant clip. Definitely the flash helps for backlit scenes. Would be awesome if you tried stop animation.
Thank you very much! I will give stop animation a try for sure. When I finished those time lapses I didn't want to know anything about Super 8. Now that I took a breath I'm ready for stop motion animation and more Super 8.
Very interesting and the outcome looks awesome! I have the same camera and I always wondered if that would work.
I see that you manually set the exposure, is the aperture indicator accurate? It has full stops marks, the travel from f2 (mark only visible looking almost at 180° angle...) and f2.8 is very big, also until f4, but f5.6 and up are very close to one another, so I wonder if you can trust them to be accurate. It would be easy to check on digital, but hard to check (an expensive) on film u_u
I've also notice that you cover the view finder with tape, is it not enough to close it with the switch on top of the camera? Thanks!
Thank you! I did set the exposure manually, yes. Measuring flash is basically impossible, even for the most modern digital camera. The flash fires at the exact moment when the mirror moves up (photo), so still photo cameras don't have the ability to actually measure flash. They calculate exposure using distance and the brightness of the object, but they can't measure the actual flash. So, as you can imagine, a Super 8 camera cannot measure flash either. You need a light meter to calculate exposure. You could also use a digital camera, if can put the flash somewhere and don't touch it.
In my experience, the indicators are accurate. I'm not good at math, so I can't explain why the iris doesn't close in fixed steps, as you mentioned. In some cases, the change in the aperture of the iris is negligible. It doesn't seem to change at all, but that is the way it is in all lenses. The indicators are correct in most cases. The iris is a mechanical device that opens and closes. If it works, it's going to be accurate in most cases.
I like using thirds (1/3) of a stop when I do my work. That's how they teach in school too. Most digital cameras are marked in thirds of a stop, that's because a few years ago, the dynamic range of digital cameras was not as good as it is today. Also, some people like to use the.jpg format, which compresses the information even more. That was not necessary in the film world because the latitude, which is equivalent to the dynamic range of the film, captures a lot of information. Cameras from the 1980s and older ones have shutter speeds marked in full stops only. At some point, they added half stops to lenses, but a lot of lenses can be used with full stops only. In the 1990s, they added half stops to cameras and then thirds.
I use thirds when I calculate my exposure for Super 8 and 16mm. That allows me to be more precise, but as you can imagine, it's not a big deal if you don't position the needle exactly at the third that you want. You can over or underexpose film by one stop, and it's not really a problem. It's not ideal. It's not a good idea if you are shooting Ektachrome. But film is very forgiven, especially if you give it more light than what the meter says.
I used tape to cover the viewfinder because I wanted to be able to see once in awhile. Closing the mechanical switch or cover requires a certain pressure. That was going to introduce movement to the camera, something you want to avoid when you shoot time lapses. If you pay attention to the lens, you'll notice that I used some tape to "lock" the position of the lens. I locked the focus and the zoom rings to eliminate the risk of changing a setting accidentally. Super 8 cameras are not super precise. The garlic was in focus in the viewfinder, but it was blurry when I got the film scanned. You can shoot interesting stuff, but there are always going to be surprises. I think you should give your camera a try, learn, and have fun.
If I had a flash with 1/32 or 1/64 could I also use it for 3 second clips?
I'm not sure I understand your question. Do you want to film normally at 18 or 24 fps for 3 seconds? Do you want to capture one image every 3 seconds? Or do you want to keep the shutter open for 3 seconds?
I assume you mention 1/32 and 1/64 because when you fire the flash at that intensity, the flash recycles faster. I don't think a flash can be fired 18 or 24 times (fps) every second for 3 seconds, but that depends on the flash and the power source. Sounds like a good way to burn the bulb of the flash.
If you want to capture one image every 3 seconds, I think that's doable. That gives the flash enough time to recycle and be ready. Again, it depends on the flash and the power source, but almost any flash can recycle in 3 seconds, especially at those intensities.
The last option. I don't think that's what you are talking about; it would be to keep the shutter open for 3 seconds. That would require the use of a release cable or a remote, and it would only be possible with cameras that have a B (bulb) mode. In that case, the camera would capture ambient light for 3 seconds. At some point the flash would fire, freezing that exact moment in a certain area. That would render incredible results since you can play with ambient or available light and flash. In such a case, the flash could be used to illuminate only a certain area. It would be cool.
I hope that helps.
@@TheCinematographyLab the first part. Using a flash at night would let me simulate faster shutter speeds with a camera that normally has a set 1/70, 1/50 or 1/30 depending on angle and frame rate. It’d be a neat way to film skate tricks hehe
@@TheCinematographyLab also one of my favorite night photography tricks is to get some medium speed film say 200 or 400, hold my flash in my hand charged, then open up bulb while my friend rides by and I snap flash. It gives a slight motion blur but leaves a solid image at the flash :3
@@fenixlolnope361 Got you! That would be cool and doable in my opinion. Most speed-lights and strobes fire at speeds around ±1/500th of a second. That would freeze the action giving you sharper, crispy images for sure. It would create an interesting shot since you would be capturing some ambient light too.
Yeah, that trick that you describe is pretty much the same. I think you should give it a try. You could end up with super cool images.
@@TheCinematographyLab I just have to find a flash that has either a fast enough recharge speed to fire at 16/18fps or a flash with 1/32. I'm assuming there's double 8 cameras that can do this too, double 8 is more up my alley because B&W film is much cheaper since nobody has to make a cartridge. The best manual flash i have only has 1/16 which is still cutting it close :/