Filming short film (super8) on Kilimanjaro. Needs suggestions.

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dalilamahimself

Hello -
I am newbie to this site and have some basic questions. I am planning on shooting a short film in the beginning of March in Kenya and Tanzania. I am climbing Mt. Kilimanjaro with some children from the slums in Nairobi. I did this last year so I am familiar with the lighting I should encounter and the landscape.

For various reasons, I want to shoot this in Super8.
I need to buy a camera. It was suggested to me to get the Minolta xl-401 or 601 although at my camera shop they advised me against it because of the lack of service is available for those camera's.
that is my first question - does anyone know of a super 8 camera shop in nyc that services minolta camera's?

second - I have been looking at some other camera's as well. Sound is not important as I am recording it separately with a Sony PCM-D50. What is important is that there is a time lapse feature. That is what I liked about the Minolta.

I am thinking about getting the Cannon 514, 814, or 1014. Or a Nikon (r10).

Does anyone have any comments on which would be best to get for a shoot like this?

The conditions will be as follows...
In the slum the light is very bright as I will be shooting during the day and everything is very exposed.

On the mountain I will also have great light but I will also be shooting in low light conditions as well.

ANY comments would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
d
 
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Most of the Super 8's you mentioned are good. You may want to look for a lens with an F stop of 1.8 or less for low light shots.. The cameras sometimes say 514XL the XL normally will mean low light. Don't worry about service. If it breaks it will probably be cheaper to buy another one then to fix it..

Before you shoot. Make sure to test the light meter on the camera. It will be a nightmare if all of your shots are ruined due to a faulty meter.

For the bright sunlight you can use the asa 100 or even the 50 if it is very bright.

Most of the higherend cameras have time lapse. but you can always look for a camera on ebay then google the name for specs on it...


I hope that helps.


If you can find a cheap Nizo. They are quality built German cameras. you can also look for deals on canon 814's they are great cameras and can be found for around 200 on ebay sometimes mint ones sell for over 300.0.. canon 514XL's can be found for 75-150 on ebay as well.


If you are going to shoot very low light pro8mm sells 500 asa super8 film stock. I think they even have a 800. Have not been to their site in a while though.
 
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I think the least of your concerns while shooting in Kenya and
Tanzania is repair shops in NYC.

I have either owned or shot with all the cameras you mention. I’m
a super 8 fanatic. I think it’s nearly impossible to answer your
question about which of the six cameras you mention would be best
for you specific situation. I think they all have many plusses and
some minuses regarding shooting exteriors with no equipment
available other than the camera.

Bring along an excellent light meter and expose the film the best
you can realizing that as with all documentaries, you may not
capture every single shoot you need in the best way possible.

Sounds like you’ve set up quite a challenge. I hope to see the
finished project.
 
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Thank you

Thank you very much for the replies. I am looking into the Nizo as well. The 801 Macro. I like the features on it. I wish money was no option and I could pick up all three (the canon 1014 xls, minolta 401 and the nizo) but we'll see.
i agree with you about the light. i need to test everything out and make sure that i'm doing what i should be doing. the light on Kilimanjaro is unreal. very beautiful. but it comes and goes so quickly and when you are on the top of the mountain, like i was last year, it can be a clear and sunny day and then a cloud rolls out of nowhere and the world turns gray or black. it's going to be a challenge. any suggestions on a good place to start to learn about how to handle these situations?

how much film would you plan on taking for a trip like this?
 
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By "start to learn" do you mean you know nothing at all about
exposure, shutter, iris and fps?

No way to know how much film you will need. On a documentary
you are likely to be shooting 20 to 1 or much higher. Some docs
shoot about one hour of footage for every minutes used in the
final product. Most shoot much more - say two to three hours of
footage for every minute used.

I just edited a doc about a hiker crossing America. He shoot 78
hours of footage for a 2 hour documentary.
 
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Thanks for all the replies. No I don't mean that I "know nothing about..." I should have been clearer about that. I have a digital light meter and I'm going to test the meters with a family member who is a professional photographer.

My film is going to be short and I'm going to shoot as much as I can afford. Having said that, I am buying 15 rolls of Kodak v200 for the majority of the shots and 5 rolls of 500 for indoor shots. I'm going to the Kodak store here in NYC and have a question about the film. I know that when you would go to buy a bulk of film for 35mm that photographers would test a roll before the shoot to see if the color was correct or if there was any color emulsion (not sure what the proper term is).

Does Super 8 film work the same way? As test run I was planning on climbing a small mountain in NYC (turkey mountain) and shooting a roll using different settings to see how the camera's that I have work and whether or not the film is colored properly. I don't know if this will be necessary. Any thoughts?

Is there anything else that I am leaving out. I just want to make sure that I have everything I need before I get to Nairobi.

Thanks again for all your help. Everyone's input is greatly appreciated.
 
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oh - one last question I forgot to ask about in the post above. I have settled on the camera's I will be bringing.

They are -
1. Canon 1014 xls
2. Nizo Macro 801 professional with an extra wide angle lens
3. Minolta xl401

If I use the film mentioned above - it should work with the camera's I mention right?
 
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dalilamahimself said:
If I use the film mentioned above - it should work with the camera's I mention right?
Click to expand...

You'll want to double-check with the list on Kodak's site (I don't have it BM'd on this computer).

Many of the newer S8 filmstocks are not identified properly by the camera's notch system. The list has a chart of many camera models, and how the filmstocks are "read" by the camera. It also gives a simple method to compensate for that (usually an f-stop adjustment)

I'll look up the direct link for you when I get home.

It's not a big deal at all. You just need to know about it beforehand.

Edit: Kodak seems to have revamped their site; half my BM's are broken there. Here's some other info about using 64T. I can't find the other one that did the same for 500T etc. If you're exposing manually, you won't need these anyway though.

Have fun on the mountain :cool:

.


.
 
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dalilamahimself said:
any suggestions on a good place to start to learn about how to handle these situations?
Click to expand...
I think the family member who is a professional photographer would
be a great place to start to learn about how to handle these situations.


dalilamahimself said:
As test run I was planning on climbing a small mountain in NYC (turkey mountain) and shooting a roll using different settings to see how the camera's that I have work and whether or not the film is colored properly. I don't know if this will be necessary. Any thoughts?
Click to expand...
I think this is an excellent idea. Take notes on exposure, iris and shutter
and put these notes on the slate.
 
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