Camera
Eight years after being announced, Kodak’s Super 8 movie camera will finally ship in December
| This is the version of the Kodak Super 8 Camera we saw at CES in 2017. |
As reported last week by The Verge, Eastman Kodak’s Motion Picture division – not to be confused with Kodak Alaris, which manufactures 35mm photographic film – will finally release the Kodak Super 8 Camera, a traditional Super 8 movie camera that incorporates modern digital technologies.
To give you an idea of just how long the road to productization has been for the Super 8 Camera, we first saw it at CES in January 2016, the same year that Rio de Janeiro hosted the Summer Olympics, Leonardo DiCaprio finally won an Oscar for The Revenant, and Pokémon Go briefly took over the world. To say it missed its anticipated Q4 2016 launch date is an understatement, so you can imagine our surprise to discover it’s finally coming to market eight years later.
We got our first look at the Kodak Super 8 Camera at CES 2016.
The Super 8 Camera is a hybrid of old and new technology. At its heart is a Super 8 movie camera, a format released by Eastman Kodak in 1965. But it also incorporates digital elements that provide a more modern shooting experience and bring audio to your movies.
Most notably, the Super 8 Camera includes a 4″ LCD that can display aspect ratio overlays and audio meters and works by using a split prism to redirect some of the light entering the lens to a digital sensor. We got to try a much older version of the camera at CES 2017, and the live view image was hazy, grainy and difficult to use for judging focus, not wholly inconsistent with the analog Super 8 experience. Hopefully, it’s been improved since then. Movies can be captured at either 18, 24, 25, or 36 frames per second.
Kodak’s sizzle reel for the Super 8 Camera offers a glimpse of the Super 8 film look. While it’s possible to apply film effects to video in post-processing, it’s still difficult to achieve the organic look of real film.
The Super 8 Camera captures audio using a built-in or external microphone. Audio isn’t captured on the film, but to an SD card, allowing you to synchronize sound after your film is processed and scanned. Audio capture is limited to 24 or 25fps shooting.
The camera includes a 6mm F1.2mm C-mount lens, providing approximately 35mm equivalent coverage in full-frame terms. C-mount is compatible with lenses going back many decades, and there are a lot of C-mount lenses out there, many of which can likely be found in your local thrift store.
“The Super 8 Camera is a hybrid of old and new technology. At its heart is a Super 8 movie camera, a format released by Eastman Kodak in 1965.”
Kodak is touting the camera’s ‘Extended Gate’ capture. The Super 8 format captured a 4:3 aspect ratio (1.33:1), but the Super 8 Camera is designed to use a wider area of the film such that each frame is 11% larger than the Super 8 standard in a 1.5:1 aspect ratio (or 3:2 as photographers tend to think about it), which Kodak says is closer to the 16:9 format that has come to dominate playback in the decades since Super 8 was a mainstream format.
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| Kodak’s ‘Extended Gate’ capture uses a wider area of the film, resulting in a frame in the 3:2 aspect ratio that’s 11% larger than the Super 8 standard. |
Interestingly, the original camera we saw in 2016 included a full-sized HDMI and type A and B USB sockets. When we next saw it in 2017, this had morphed into a micro-HDMI and micro-USB socket (for charging), which appears to remain unchanged seven years later.
Kodak provides several film stocks, including three Kodak Vision3 color negative films, Tri-X black and white and Ektachrome color reversal film. Each 15m (50 ft.) film cartridge will set you back $32 ($43 for Ektachrome) but includes processing, scanning, and transfer to the cloud.
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| Kodak Vision3 200T is one of three color negative films to choose from, along with Tri-X and Ektachrome stocks. One 15m (50 ft) cartridge will get you two and a half minutes of footage when shot at 24fps. |
Before taking the plunge, take note: shooting your next project with this camera will cost a pretty penny. At 18fps – a frame rate that will definitely look vintage – you’ll run through an entire film cartridge in just 3 minutes and 20 seconds. Step up to 24fps, and you’ll be down to just two and a half minutes per cartridge.
What may be the biggest surprise about the Super 8 Camera is its price. When it was first shown in 2016, we were told to expect the camera to sell for between $400 and $750. Inflation over the past eight years has been stiff, but that doesn’t explain an MSRP that has jumped to $5495, which includes the camera, a Pelican case, the 6mm F1.2 lens, a pistol grip with trigger, and various accessories.
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| The Super 8 Camera includes a micro-HDMI port and a micro-USB port for charging, the same as the prototype we saw in 2017. |
The price point suggests that Kodak hopes it’ll find favor among commercial users or creative agencies looking to provide something unique to their clients rather than the nostalgia crowd who want to have fun with film. Perhaps a few social media influencers will also pick these up, though no provision is made for shooting vertical video.
Either way, this is a significant cost for a format whose 6.3 x 4.2mm capture region is very similar to the Type 1/2.3 (6.17 x 4.5mm) sensors used in compact cameras. Even with an F1.2 lens, Super 8mm is going to deliver the ’60’s home movie’ look that you might need if you want to make the title sequence of a TV show about wealthy, dysfunctional families.
According to The Verge, Kodak expects the camera to go on sale in limited quantities in the US on December 4, but you’ll need to sign up for a reservation on Kodak’s website. If you were already on the reservation list (you’d be forgiven if you can’t remember at this point) and want to maintain your priority position, you’ll need to sign up again using the new waiting list by midnight Eastern time on November 28.
April Editor’s photo challenge: RGB
In this month’s Editor’s photo challenge, we asked you to share your photos featuring a red, green and blue color palette. At this point, it’s no surprise that the DPReview community delivered – far from leaving us blue or red with anger, the images we’ve featured here made us green with envy.
Our top picks on the following pages are presented in random order. You can see all the photos submitted here.
Girl With Llama
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Photographer: JeffryzPhoto
Photographer’s description: High up in the Andes Mountains of Peru near the Sacred Valley a girl walks with her pet llama. Even the llama is wearing red, green, blue, and white.
Equipment: Fujifilm X-T4 + Fujifilm XF 16-55mm F2.8 R LM WR
Athens in full spring
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Photographer: xenofon
Photographer’s description: At the heart of Athens, a metropolis of 3.5 million people, nature can still be present with all its beauty and grandeur. Provided you have the will and the patience to look closely enough.
Equipment: Canon EOS R10 + Canon RF-S 18-150mm F3.5-6.3 IS STM
Cadillac #40
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Photographer: Sergio Image
Photographer’s description: Going to see a race at the Sebring Raceway had been in my bucket list for many years. So to celebrate my retirement, my wife and I got the tickets and drove to this legendary track. For the first time, I experienced photographing what is now my favorite subject: race cars.
Equipment: Nikon Z9 + Nikon Nikkor Z 24-200mm F4-6.3 VR
RGB – Ryan, Gurcharan and Bhangra Smash Up
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Photographer: Peter Freeth
Photographer’s description: The band Bhangra Smash Up performing at a charity event, Ryan, one of the band members, captured from the side of the stage with the colourful lighting emphasising the high energy performance that always has everyone on their feet. Band leader Gurcharan looks on, a little too out of focus.
Equipment: Sony a7 IV + Tamron 70-180mm F2.8 Di III VC VXD G2
Busy Bazaar
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Photographer: LokeshS
Photographer’s description: During the Ramadan festival, the streets around the Shivaji Nagar locality of Bangalore turn into a virtual street fest. Food is the most popular item on sale and street vendors flourish. This picture was taken from behind one such vendor as wraps some kebab for a customer.
Equipment: Fujifilm X-E4 + Fujifilm XF 27mm F2.8 R WR
After The Harvest
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Photographer: OCDavo
Photographer’s description: A retired International A-160, quietly resting in the tallgrass, its weathered wooden bed and rust-warmed steel telling the story of a bygone era in the soft glow of early morning light.
Equipment: Olympus OM-D E-M5 + Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm F2.8 Pro
Cap Fréhel
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Photographer: Brecht_BE
Photographer’s description: The first summer things opened up again. We stood at the edge of Brittany, wind in our faces, the sea loud and endless. Everything felt sharply, undeniably alive.
Equipment: Olympus PEN-F + Olympus M.Zuiko Digital ED 12-40mm F2.8 Pro
Chlorophyll fluorescence
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Photographer: iso rivolta
Photographer’s description: Chlorophyll fluorescence shown in a test tube. When excited with UV light, chlorophyll emits red light. The shadow of the tube is both green and blue, the latter from paper’s fluorescence.
Equipment: Pentax KP + SMC Pentax-FA 50mm F2.8 Macro
Velvet dresses
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Photographer: lei945ca
Photographer’s description: In the Swiss Canton of Appenzell, they celebrate an old end-of-year tradition, called «Sylvesterchläuse». Participants wear red, blue, green and yellow velvet dresses, they shake cowbells and jodel during hours going from farmhouse to farmhouse. This is exhausting, so they need a break every now and then to rest and drink. In such a moment I took the picture.
Equipment: Sony Cyber-shot DSC-RX100 VII
Yorkshire phone booth
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Photographer: rkny
Photographer’s description: Taken in Elsack, Skipton, Yorkshire UK. 2012. My first extended time with the Cannon 50 mm 1.2 L. I was blown away by the Canon 5D with this lens at the time. But looking back at the files, they haven’t aged quite so well when compared with current camera.
Equipment: Canon EOS 5D Mark II + Canon EF 50mm F1.2 L USM
Colors, canal, cloud
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Photographer: Anders A
Photographer’s description: Mum spoke enthusiastically about the vivid colors of the tulip fields in Holland. I started to wonder what they might look like from above, from a drone. This was in 2015 and drone tech was still very new and far from something everyone had. So, me and my tulip loving friend Ulf drove the 1000 km down to Holland a chilly day in April 2015 and started criss crossing the landscape. And my god, it looked fantastic! This is probably the best shot from the trip, from outside Sassenheim. The canals are used to flood the fields after harvest, to kill off germs and parasites.
Equipment: Sony a7 + Sony FE 35mm F2.8 ZA Carl Zeiss Sonnar T* + HAB Paparazzo heavy lift drone
Woman In Red
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Photographer: dasting
Photographer’s description: Sunday morning on the bluffs of El Matador State Beach in Malibu, CA, while traveling for work. Taken with my Leica M9 and Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM lens circa 1960 or so.
Equipment: Leica M9 + Canon 50mm f1.8 LTM
Hội An Night Market
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Photographer: skitraveler
Photographer’s description: On a trip to Vietnam, I spent afternoon and evening in Hội An. I started with a cooking class and then moved onto the night market where the colors are as vibrant as the flavors in Vietnamese cooking. Really liked this row of stalls selling lanterns of all colors.
Equipment: Sony a7R IV + Sony FE 35mm F1.4 GM
Old scary red brick bridge
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Photographer: Valery Seregin
Photographer’s description: This old bridge was probably useful for pedestrians at one time, but today it is a real challenge. The thing is that its covering is made of oval-shaped stone, so it is easy to stumble and fall. There is nothing to grab onto, there are no railings. Just imagine what it is like to use it in winter when the stones are covered with ice. Climbing onto it is not a problem, the problem is getting down. Dozens of people use it every day. Yes, it is old and beautiful, but it is scary and dangerous at the same time.
Equipment: Fujifilm X20
Kiberg Kitywakes
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Photographer: Jon-Sverre
Photographer’s description: Kitywakes (3-toed sea gulls) on the harbor of Kiberg (70 degrees north x 30 degrees east – east of Istanbul!), Varanger, Norway this winter. Occupying fishing nets and smelling of Guano.
Equipment: Nikon Z8 + Nikon Nikkor Z 24-200mm F4-6.3 VR
Rainbow Lorikeet
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Photographer: SigmaChrome
Photographer’s description: These beautiful native parakeets are quite common where I live and they are approachable if you are careful and don’t make any sudden moves. This one was feeding on my front lawn.
Equipment: Fujifilm GFX 50R + TTArtisan 90mm F1.25
Candy Factory
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Photographer: GrantsImages
Photographer’s description: I’m not certain what they make at this factory, but I always imagine that it is fruit flavored life savors. Like the rolls we used to get at the 5 & 10 store when we were children.
Equipment: Nikon D800 + Nikkor AF-S 300mm F4E PF ED VR
Good afternoon Mr. Station Master.
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Photographer: Cambrian Coast
Photographer’s description: Carrog Station is located on the Llangollen to Corwen heritage railway. Here we see the Station Master Platt saying good afternoon to the resident of the station house.
Equipment: Sony a7R IV + Sony Vario-Tessar T* FE 16-35mm F4 ZA OSS
Moonlight Star Trail Over a Wild Tulips Field – Blufi – Sicily
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Photographer: astrodariogiannobile
Photographer’s description: What is happening in Holland on this “day”? Nothing except that…we are not in the daytime and we are not in Holland!!! Strange? absolutely yes. We are in Sicily of course and what you see is a real field of wild tulips growing near the village of Blufi.
Equipment: Canon EOS 6D + Canon EF 8-15mm F4L Fisheye USM
Looking for more?
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We’re already gearing up for our next monthly challenge, but in the meantime, why not check out some of our community challenges? User REHS is hosting a challenge called “Through a door, window or gate,” which is now open for submissions, and DrLex is looking for the best non-bird photo you’ve taken since April 14th. Voting is open for REHS’ Sunrise or Sunset challenge and for DrLex’s bird photos of 2025 challenge.
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Shooting with the Sigma BF in London
Photo: Al Power |
Editor Richard Butler took the Sigma BF as a travel companion on his recent vacation to the UK. He wrote about the experience of using the camera, but we also wanted to highlight the sample images he shot.
Click here to read Richard’s real-world shooting experience with the Sigma BF
The gallery includes a mixture of out-of-camera JPEGs, shot primarily in the Mono and Rich color modes, along with a handful of images reprocessed from Raw in the camera, with adjustments made to highlight or shadow response.
One photo per day with the Sigma BF
In addition to his attempts to shoot one ‘good’ photo per day, Richard also spent a day on a photo walk around London with a friend from his earliest days of digital photography. These shots include more extensive use of the camera’s black-and-white mode, again with some examples re-processed in-camera.
A photo walk in London
Please do not reproduce any of these images on a website or any newsletter/magazine without prior permission (see our copyright page). We make the originals available for private users to download to their own machines for personal examination or printing (in conjunction with this review); we do so in good faith, so please don’t abuse it.
| Photos: Sissi Lu, PortKeys, Peak Design, Viltrox |
Welcome to the accessory roundup! This week, we have a lot to go over, including a graphic novel about a famous photographer, a phone case that’ll survive whatever conditions you find yourself in and a stylish on-camera flash. First, though, let’s look at the deals
Deals of the week
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| Photo: Canon |
The Canon EOS R6 II is one of our favorite cameras at its price point, and this week it’s on sale for $200 off its MSRP putting it right at $2000.
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| Image: Sony |
If you find yourself wanting a bit – okay, a lot – more resolution, Sony’s a7R V is also on sale to the tune of $400 off.
A flash with retro style
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| Image:Viltrox |
Viltrox’s latest on-camera flash, the Vintage Z1, is designed to fit in with retro-style cameras like the Nikon Zf or Fujifilm X-T series. It has a silver and leatherete finish and its power knob offers a pop of brass-color. Its manual control knob, which gives you access to its seven power levles, also has a bit of retro flaire. It has a single-contact hotshoe interface, giving it wide compatability.
The light comes with a defuser, has a recycle time of 0.2 to 3.5 seconds and can get “up to 10,000 flashes on a full charge,” though that number is based on its minimum power output. However, recharging it shouldn’t take long: plug in a USB-C lead, and it’ll be fully powered within an hour.
A graphic novel for photography nerds
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| Image: Drawn and Quarterly |
Even if you don’t know the name Eadweard Muybridge, you’re almost certainly familiar with his work. He spent the 1800s photographing some of the grandest places in the American West, before casually helping invent the motion picture with his work The Horse In Motion. Now, his story is enshrined in a graphic novel by Guy Delisle called Muybridge, which the publisher says “brings this historical figure and those around him to life through an uncompromising lens.”
According to an article in The Guardian about Muybridge, the book doesn’t try to turn a complicated, real-life person into a comic book hero. We don’t want to spoil too much if you’re not familiar with his life – or his criminal trial – but this book probably isn’t one to share with younger kids. But if you’re interested in the history of photography, it seems like it’ll be well worth a read.
A tougher case
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| Image: Peak Design |
I’ve long been a fan of Peak Design’s Mobile cases, because the SlimLink system lets you securely mount your phone to various camera mounts and tripods, as well as onto bike handles and car dashboards. However, I’m also really tough on phone cases, and the (frankly, beautiful) textile-backed cases haven’t lasted long under my “care.”
Peak Design’s new GNAR case promises an alternative. The company says it has “all the protection, ruggedness, and connect-ability that you could ever want,” and it features a TPU bumper and a bezel to keep your cameras safe. The edge is also knurled to make it easier to grip your phone in less than ideal conditions. Despite its extra thickness and the SlimLink connector, the company says it should still work with Apple’s MagSafe wireless chargers.
The one downside is its limited compatability: it’s currently only available for the iPhone 16 Pro and Pro Max, which is a bummer if you’re not rocking the latest from Apple. However, if you are, the case is already on sale – you can snag it for $35.97, instead of its eventual $59.95 MSRP.
Keep your film safe
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| Image: Sissi Lu |
While common wisdom says that 800 ISO film and below can safely go through X-ray machines at the airport, it seems like the new CT scanners that have been popping up may be – to borrow a phrase – unsafe for any speed. Photographer and TikToker Sissi Lu is putting out a new bag that you can put your film in that warns security personel not to send it through the machine in seven different languages. It also comes with a card with a message about the sensitive contents of the bag in 21 additional languages, as well as some cute film-themed stickers.
The bag won’t keep your film safe if a security guard puts it through the machine anyways, either because they refused to do a hand-check or if you forgot to dig it out of your luggage, but it should at least help a bit with language barriers that pop up – assuming you’re lucky enough to get an agent that still knows what film.
Monitor on a budget
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| Image: PortKeys |
External monitors that can mount to your camera have always been a great tool for filmmakers and videographers, and over the past few years they’ve been becoming more and more affordable. The Portkeys PT5 III, though, takes it to a new level – it’s only $169, but still includes a 5.4″ screen that with an 800 nit max brightness as well as assistance tools like waveforms, a histogram, focus peaking and False Color. You can also use it to preview what your Log footage will look like once it has a LUT applied.
The PT5 III can take a 4K30P signal via HDMI, though the display only runs at 1080p at 60fps. At that size, though, that’ll be enough for most users. You can run it off a Sony NP-F-style battery, or USB-C, and while it doesn’t include a battery, it does come with a sunshade, full-size HDMI cable, micro-to-full-size HDMI cable and a mount.
In case you missed it
There have been some accessory news this week that warranted dedicated articles here on DPReview, but we’d be remiss not to tell you about them here:
- Profoto Spot Small offers precision lighting in a compact package
- This new accessory keeps the unique aesthetic of the Sigma BF intact
- Logitech’s MX Creative console now supports even more essential editing apps
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