Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: 16mm Equipment prices

This is topic 16mm Equipment prices in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Phil Blake (Member # 2012) on 07-29-2010, 01:27 AM:

While browsing our famous online forsale site I was amazed at the price 16mm camneras were going for , I mean you can pick up 16mm projectors for a song thesedays and 16mm editing machines seem to go to landfill but the cameras .... there were old Arriflex 16mm going for three times the price of a new HD pro videocamera.who would pay all those dollars for such old technology ?

Posted by Monte L Fullmer (Member # 2797) on 07-29-2010, 03:54 AM:

Folks still love shooting film and they can take 16mm cameras and modify them to shoot "Super 16mm" - using the entire single sprocket film area instead of having to leave the soundtrack area blank.

The main housing is modified to move the lens over to film center instead of frame center so the entire film can be used. The aperture, instead of being the stock 1.33:1, is now like 1.66:1 which uses the entire film stock.

Then, the lab can extract the image from the "S-16" frame to be blown up to 35mm.

it's the same with "Super-35" - image from the wider frame can be extracted for scope presentations. (James Cameron loves to use Super35. "True Lies" is a good example how Super 35 can be done to look good on a scope screen.)

This is a major cost saving way to shoot a film movie.

Posted by Jack Theakston (Member # 4484) on 07-29-2010, 02:15 PM:

With scan-in and processing fees, it's really not as cost effective as it used to be to shoot 16mm. You might as well save yourself the hassle and either shoot on video, or shoot in 35mm.

If you're a film student looking to shoot on film cost effectively, Super-8 has a wide range of options.

Posted by Ian Parfrey (Member # 5122) on 07-29-2010, 03:58 PM:

The BBC in Britain continue to use Super 16 as a major format in their drama department acquisition, and to a large extent documentary production as well. It looks better, it's future-proof and since all post is done in-house they have total control over the entire post process. Quality reins supreme at the BBC and it shows.

..and there is a new 16mm format getting traction recently called Ultra-16.

This entails widening the aperture 0.7mm equidistant of the aperture centre line. This does extend into the sprocket region, so minor machining of the gate runners and sprocket "tyres" is required but is far less difficult than recentering the lens and other Super 16 modifications. The conversion can potentially be done with handtools in an average home garage/workshop.
Check out how Ultra 16 looks here ---> Ultra 16mm telecine test

16mm is far from dead, and as long as it can adapt and exceed HD quality then it wont be dead for a long long time.