FORMATS 8MM

A New Age Begins

Two identical film formats, released within months of each other in the mid 60's, revolutionized film making for the amateur.

Fuji (Single 8) and Kodak (Super 8) re-designed the then available Standard 8mm Format, and made it more user friendly.

Although they agreed on the dimensions of this new film gauge, they went down two radically different paths in its implementation.

Past History

The older format of Standard 8 or Regular 8, was in essence 16mm stock, re-engineered and re-formulated for 8mm filmmaking.

It required the film maker to expose one side of the film, remove it, then in the dark switch the Supply and Take up spools around to expose the adjacent side.

Some camera manufacturers were able to design a cartridge to insert both Supply and Take up reels, simplifying this process.

Once developed it was slit into two 8mm lengths of film, then joined together to form one 8mm film.

Divergent Paths

Japanese Version

Fuji (Single 8)decided to stick with the tried and true method. Their design placed the Supply reel and Take up reel on a separate axis.

With the thinner film inside, Fuji's cartridge became taller, but slimmer than Kodak's.

It also allowed the film to travel through the camera's own pressure plate, just like the old Standard/Regular 8 film.

Finally, Single 8 users were able to back wind the film with as much ease as their Standard 8/Regular 8 counterparts.

American Version

Kodak (Super 8) released a radically different design. It placed the Take up and Supply reels on the same axis.

Its design incorporated the pressure plate into the cartridge, changing forever the design of film cameras.

The extra expense of having to incorporate a pressure plate into the camera could now be dispensed with.

Super 8 Limitations

This radical design did have its limitations. The Film maker was now restricted in the amount of film available for back winding purposes.

Also the "Purists" who continued to stick with the older format, would point out that film shot through their cameras was sharper, because it traveled through the camera's own pressure plate. This was probably true for some of the lower end Super 8 cameras.

The writing was on the wall for the older format, with camera production now switching over to the newer formats, particularly Super 8.

Innovations

Both Fuji and Kodak agreed for the need to introduce some kind of mechanism whereby the camera's own automatic exposure system could determine with some degree of accuracy, the correct exposure for the prevailing conditions.

They achieved this by incorporating a notch (Super 8) or slot or projection (Single 8 see arrow) that signalled to the camera's own exposure system the correct emulsion speed of the film.

Once the camera established the correct emulsion speed, it then set the correct exposure for a given situation, automatically.

Fuji and Kodak's emphasis on a "Ready to Use" cartridge, revolutionized the way millions of people were to shoot film in the future.

Cartridge Notch System