FILM FILM FILM! Kodak's back baby... Kodak's back.

[Dylan Couper]

I can't believe no one has posted this yet?

They are a little late to the hipster camera revival game but include telecine with developing!

Kodak Launches Super 8 Filmmaking Revival Initiative at CES 2016 | Kodak

[Gary Huff]

That's gonna be a great $700 you can spend to use a couple of times and stick onto the shelf until you sell it on eBay for peanuts!

[John Nantz]

Yea! That’s good news. I don’t have to get rid of our Bolex Super 8 after all. (Note to wife: See, it does pay to hang onto this stuff after all.)

Hmmm…. Now, if only one can rig up a couple XLR connectors to it ….

[Gary Huff]

Originally Posted by John Nantz

Hmmm…. Now, if only one can rig up a couple XLR connectors to it ….

Do you really need XLR to film your cat?

[Brian Drysdale]

There is a strong, but small niche market for Super8, shooting art films, fashion, advertising, music videos, even some weddings, which currently has been using old cameras. There is now one new super 8 camera available the Logmar: Logmar Super 8 Camera - Pro8mm

This is a high end camera, rather then one suitable for people without deep pocket, this announced Kodak camera's price should suit a wider range of users, although perhaps Kodak may be too large a company for such a product.

Currently, sorry to say, chances are that the Super 8 home movie will archive better than the digital equivalent.

[Andrew Smith]

This is right up there with that CRAFT camera.

Andrew

[Brian Drysdale]

Some more details:

New Kodak Super 8 Concept Camera: First Look Video - Bloomberg Business

[David Heath]

Originally Posted by Brian Drysdale

Currently, sorry to say, chances are that the Super 8 home movie will archive better than the digital equivalent.

That thought had occurred to me! And quite honestly (having had several 8mm, std and super, cameras in the distant past) it's the only real, genuine plus I see in it.

There is far more not said in those articles than said, even for a concept camera. What about sound? And what ISO film are we talking about? I remember you could get 400ASA tungsten balance film in a super 8 cartridge, but the grain was something else. Nowadays there is a general expectation of getting up to the equivalent of ISO 2000 and beyond with not too much noise etc......

And.... it talks of a digital screen for viewfinding? I can see the desirability on one hand - but such seems to be adding a lot of complexity, not to mention battery drain even when not recording. (A beauty of an 8mm film camera was it would be powered from a few AA cells, which would last quite a long time.)

Sorry, but it seems a gimmick dreamed up by marketing people, not a serious photographic proposition for the vast majority of people.

A niche market may well carry on with 8mm film for a while longer for the reasons Brian says (and the idea of processing including a digital scan may well be useful) - but what does this give that a straightforward 8mm camera doesn't?

[Brian Drysdale]

These are the Super 8 film stocks on sale from Kodak: Super 8mm Products | Motion Picture Film

The Logmar, which is currently at the beta stage with some users, also has a digital viewfinder

[Michael Kraus]

I've had requests from clients to shoot some super-8 at weddings and I know other wedding videographers that have done really well providing that service. Folks like it for emotional events not because of DR (because there is little) or resolution (because there is little), but rather because it feels so nostalgic. I'd never shoot a corporate job with a super-8 cam but I can see how it might could have a market now. It died, became a novelty, and now it's kinda sorta coming back a bit. We'll see I guess.

[Dave Baker]

.....not because of DR (because there is little) or resolution (because there is little), but rather because it feels so nostalgic.

So all we need to do is shoot in SD and enlarge it out of all proportion, shouldn't that do it? :-)

Dave

[Brian Drysdale]

Unless you're using TriX they use now modern neg stocks on Super 8 , so the highlight handling will be better than video. Plus you have the random pixels called grain.

[Dylan Couper]

If Kodak is now developing and including telecine in the operation... is there any reason you couldn't just buy any old super8 camera for $50? You don't get the EVF or audio to SD... but I don't see that as being worth $650 more.

Oh boy! First Acme Buggywhips returns, now Kodak is back!

[Brian Drysdale]

Bear in mind that Kodak developed much of the technology at the centre of digital photography.

Allowing for inflation. $700 is about the same cost as a budget Super 8 camera in the 1970s. Although you can now get a high end used quality one for about that, mods and servicing can add to the costs.

I believe the new camera is Max8, allowing 16:9 framing.

Super 8 shot on the Logmar transferred with a 2k scan

Logmar S8 Camera & Kodak Vision 3 50D Super 8 - 2K Scan - YouTube