Sankyo ES-25XL Super 8

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David Ziemer

Hello there,

I purchasesd a Sankyo ES-25XL Super 8 camera today for $15. I've always been interested in the format so was happy to discover this at such a low price. I do have some questions however:

Has anyone else at this forum used this brand or model?
What's the quality like?
Does it depend on the film or the camera?
Can the camera use any type of lens or are there ones specific to this model?

Thanks in advance.
 
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Welcome to indietalk, David.

That camera has a fixed lens; it’s the only lens you can use. It’s
a silent camera that does not shoot 24fps. That’s about it’s only
drawback. As with all cameras, the quality depends entirely on the
person using it. Super 8 film is very nice and there are several
different stocks to choose from, but it takes more lighting skill
than video does. So with good lighting and a good transfer to
digital format, you can have excellent quality.
 
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directorik said:
Welcome to indietalk, David.

That camera has a fixed lens; it’s the only lens you can use. It’s
a silent camera that does not shoot 24fps. That’s about it’s only
drawback. As with all cameras, the quality depends entirely on the
person using it. Super 8 film is very nice and there are several
different stocks to choose from, but it takes more lighting skill
than video does. So with good lighting and a good transfer to
digital format, you can have excellent quality.
Click to expand...


Thanks alot, directorik! I'm assuming you have some experience then. Would you recommend filming 36 or 18fps?
 
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I’m passionate about super 8. I own five super 8 cameras and in my
life I’ve owned about 15 different super 8 cameras. I’ve shot an
award winning short, two features and several music “videos” on
super 8.

What I have never done is shoot either 18fps or 36fps for digital
transfer. There are people here who LOVE tech numbers and will
chime in with all the details. What I do know is at 18fps you will
get three minutes (and 20 seconds) from a cartridge and at 36fps
you’ll get about a minute and a half.
 
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The lab I use counts 18 & 24 as "standard" speeds to work with, when telecining (digitally transferring the process film to mini-dv tape).

If you can only choose 18 or 36, stick with 18fps so you can extend the runtime of each cartridge. Also, when telecining, make sure the lab knows it's supposed to be at 18fps (otherwise they might auto-24 it, and you'll end up with fast-motion)

I'm not familiar with that camera at all. (I have used, and own, just a luverly Canon). Can't help with any tips on yours, but I'll look it up out of sheer curiosity.

Buy yourself a light-meter, if you don't have one. A cheap analogue one is fine, as long as it works. Bonus points if the meter also has a cine-scale reading on it (which you use to make fine adjustments, depending on frame rate used)

Things to think about:

How will you edit your processed film? I just drop it off at a lab, and pick up the digitised footage on mini-dv a few days later. The minimum charge is roughly 4 cartridges worth of footage, so you won't get a good deal dropping off less than that.

Others like to edit by hand. I've never done that, but want to try. Couldn't tell you about that.

Kodak carries a fun selection of stocks. If you'd rather just buy a cheap projector to watch your test footage (before/instead of having it transferred), then make sure you're using "reversal" film stocks.

It can get expensive, but is awesome fun. :cool:
 
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