My Super-8 camera arrived!! (56k iffy)
 

It's a beautiful, sexy Canon 814 :woohoo:

I also have some starter rolls of film, thanks to a very generous boardmember. :D

I'll be taking (and posting) some pictures of the camera in a short bit, along with some questions. I just couldn't wait, meanwhile.

Rar! My questions may seem pretty basic to experienced Super-8 peeps... but I know nothing. Fear my n00b-knowledge!! http://www.stevenrichards.com/images/smiley_fatcat.gif

Sweet! I like that camera...

Glad that you finally got it Zen! Sounds like it's in good shape as well. Would love to see pics of it. ;) Thanks for the update!

Yes, Post pics of it.

Here are some piccies of my wonderful new camera, that I have named "Wendy".

(Might be a few posts... limited to three images per post)

Oh, I forgot to take a pic of the carry-case. Original black leather, with all zippers working just swell.

http://www.stevenrichards.com/temp/wendy/wendy_01.jpg

This is the side that has a lot of buttons that I do not know how to use. The big one that baffles me is the power switch, which has

• Off (self-explanatory)
• "R" which seems to be record-mode
• "RC . RL" which I have no clue at all about.

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http://www.stevenrichards.com/temp/wendy/wendy_02.jpg

Another side view of Wendy, this time with handle extended. That is a leather carry-strap attached to the top.

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http://www.stevenrichards.com/temp/wendy/wendy_03.jpg

This is a closeup (kinda blurry) of those darn controls. I'll circle and number them in the picture tomorrow, but here is what you can see there anyway.

• Auto/Manual exposure selector. It has a rotary dial next to it, labeled "O -> C"
• A toggle switch with a picture of the sun at one end, and a picture of a lightbulb at the other.
• The switch to release the lock on the handle, to fold it up again.
• The power switch, with "Off", "R" & "RC . RL"
• The hole where the wired remote trigger thing goes. (Forgot the name)

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(More pics inc)

Wendy's first night is almost over. Some more pics of my pride and joy.

http://www.stevenrichards.com/temp/wendy/wendy_07.jpg

Kinda redundant, but you can see the yellow film cartridge through the little window!

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http://www.stevenrichards.com/temp/wendy/wendy_08.jpg

She came with an accesory, too... a neat little steady-thing that screws into the tripod mounting if that is not being used. It has a hotshoe on the tip of the steady-mount... and it works pretty well.

Image has been darkened outside that area, so you can't see how big my beer-belly is.

Now... I just need to figure out how to use this thing. http://www.stevenrichards.com/images/smiley_fatcat.gif

Hehe, that's cool! Yeah I got a new camera a week ago. it's a dv camera, little different than superduper 8!

Zen, These are great pics! Wendy looks in very good shape. Hopefully I can help you with a few things. The RL (Release and Lock) switch I think is where you can push in your trigger and it locks itself. Might want to switch to that and try it out without any film in the camera. :) That would be my guess on what that is. The toggle switch of sun and lightblub is for outdoor(sun) and indoor(lightblub) setting for the camera, so you get the correct exposure. It looks like your camera also has Manual exposure which you can set as well. Not sure what the O and C stand for though. :hmm:

The red and white buttons on the buttom of the camera, they are to test how your camera battiers are doing. Push in either one of them, and there should be alittle needle or look threw the view finder to see it move and jump. I think if the batteries are good, it'll go all the way over or something like that. All cameras are different, but I know that's what those buttons are for is to see how much battery life you have left.

What I would shoot is just some test shots of inside and outside. Mix it up alittle, play with the exposures and stuff. And then when you get the film back you'll see what does what and what looks better. Just my 2cents...hopefully you got something out of what I said. :lol:

A light meter could also be very helpful in attaining the correct exposure :)

Oh yes, it has a light meter inside the eyepiece, under the actual viewing image SLR thing.

I guess I try to keep it in the middle.

The "O -> C" dial must stand for Open -> Close, as the needle on the lightmeter (when on manual) moves with the dial.

Is an external handheld lightmeter any better than the one built in?

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Those buttons do indeed be a battery test, Mr HailKing. I thought the battery-level meter was broken 'til you straightened me out. There is a dial on the far side that's at "low" all the time, 'til those buttons get pressed.

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I decided that the best time to use it will be Saturday, to test it out. I'll take footage of us filming "Broadband" up in Chino Hills State Park... a behind-the-scenes. :cool:

Man, I'm excited!

An internal meter acts as a spot meter. I would definitely invest in a good light meter. :)