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-   -   Anamorphic and Super 8 (https://www.dvinfo.net/forum/open-dv-discussion/33665-anamorphic-super-8-a.html)

Marco Leavitt October 19th, 2004 08:51 AM

Anamorphic and Super 8
 
I recently bought a Super 8 camera that has a fixed lens with 58 mm threads -- same as my WD-58 .7 adapter. I screwed it on, and to my surprise, it appears to work just fine. This made me wonder -- why not try a 16:9 adapter? I believe that all the affordable telecine places capture full frame anyway. Century Optics says "no way," but they're very conservative. In the past when I've asked questions about doing something odd with their products (not that odd, get your mind out of the gutter) they always give the same dismissive response. Still, they know their equipment best. Can anybody think of a reason why it wouldn't work? I have one of Century's 16:9 adapters already, but it's a bayonet mount. (Why do they even make those?) Can anybody think of a reason this is a lost cause before I start trolling e-Bay again?

Richard Alvarez October 19th, 2004 10:22 AM

Marco,

If you are going to start trolling ebay, then troll for the right product. You want an anamorphic adapter for your super 8 camera. Yup, they used to make them, along with the anamorphic projector lenses. But I doubt you will be projecting the footage, only telecine transfer.

Here's the problem. When the image is "squeezed" down onto the frame, you will have to "unsqueeze" it in post. Make sure your NLE is up to this, and there is no guarantee that the ratio will be dead on.

have fun

Marco Leavitt October 19th, 2004 11:04 AM

Yeah, I know Pro8 sells some 16:9 adapters that were originally made for super 8, but I was wondering if the adapters made for video cameras by Century, Optex, and Panasonic would also work. It kind of seems like they should, but I wouldn't be surprised if there's an issue here that I'm not aware of.

Richard Alvarez October 19th, 2004 11:17 AM

Marco,

The target image of super 8 and the Mini DV CCD are slightly different. How different varies from chip to chip and cam to cam. Therefore, no guarantees for the Optex adapters working.

No GUARANTEE mind you, but it might. Cost you a roll of film, processing and transfer to find out.

Marco Leavitt October 19th, 2004 11:29 AM

No cost except the price of an Optex adapter. :) One problem I can think of is the distance between the lens and the film plane for super 8 and miniDV are probably drastically different too. I don't know if that would be a problem though, as I don't really know anything about optics.

Richard Alvarez October 19th, 2004 01:44 PM

Over on the super8 filmmaking site, and the super 8 guy's site, they mention using the optex adapters. Don't mention whether or not the conversion is successful, just that it should be possible.

Remember 16:9 post-datees SUper 8 as a format. It is designed for wide-screen television. The old super 8 anamorphic lenses were designed for projection, and I belive the image captured was wider than 16:9. SO... IN THEORY, the 16:9 image from an optex adapter say... out to fit in the target area. But I'm not spending the money on it... you are.

good luck

Jan van den Hemel October 20th, 2004 07:23 AM

If you don't worry too much about what it looks like, you can always just ductape an old anamorphic projector lens on your camera... they go for as little as 100 $ on ebay, and the result is great. You can turn it around and ductape it to your projector lens for projection.


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