OT 8mm questions

kairosmatt wrote on 8/13/2011, 11:44 AM
I know alot of guys on here transfer 8mm and have experience in it, and I have some workflow questions (that are probably pretty stupid). I googled 8mm workflow and didn't get the answers I was looking for.

The film was shot in the late 50's and early 60s so I think its not super 8.

How do you know if the film has been processed already? To put it differently, what happens to the actual film that you take out of the camera and have processed? I mean do you get the negative back like in still photography, or is it developed on the actual reel that you shot on?

kairosmatt

Comments

Former user wrote on 8/13/2011, 11:55 AM
8mm film is what is called Direct Positive. There is no negative involved. The film from the camera is the actual film. 8mm isactually 16mm film which is shot half way, then the roll is removed and flipped and then the rest of it is shot. The lab will process it and slit it in two and splice it so you have all of your footage as one 8mm strip.

If the film is still on a 16mm sized roll, then chances are it has not been processed. It was designed to be removed from the camera without exposing any part except the tail or head. If you look at the roll and it has sprocket holes on both edges, it is still in its 16mm form and probably has not been processed.

HTH some.

Dave T2
farss wrote on 8/13/2011, 11:58 AM
"How do you know if the film has been processed already?"

If the film was shot in the 1950/60 and it hasn't been processed then there's very little chance of it retaining anything, so just look at it.

" To put it differently, what happens to the actual film that you take out of the camera and have processed? I mean do you get the negative back like in still photography, or is it developed on the actual reel that you shot on?"

There's two types of film, negative and reversal. Almost all 8mm that was used by consummers was reversal, once developed the image on the film is positive. What you see is what you get. Both positive and negative film can be scanned, no need to make a positive to scan film.

Bob.

Former user wrote on 8/13/2011, 11:59 AM
"If the film was shot in the 1950/60 and it hasn't been processed then there's very little chance of it retaining anything, so just look at it"

Film can retain the latent image a long time. Just alert the lab and they may know certain precautions to take. It is worth trying to get it processed.

Dave T2
kairosmatt wrote on 8/13/2011, 12:12 PM
Great-thanks for the answers. It looks like its all processed already. Some of it is on kodascope reels, I 'm guessing thats how it was projected (no sign of a projector though).

Cheers,
kairosmatt