WOW!

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 7:07 am

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?Vi ... gory=21165

Post by **super8man** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 7:16 am

yet another mini-dv...I think I saw it at Costco.

Post by **DriveIn** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 7:31 am

WOW! is a good description, or maybe Doh! if there are any bidders. The feedback isn't much better, but bidders are still knocking at the front door. Doh! 8O A half dozen different s8 cams and a workprinter sounds like a better deal.

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 8:03 am

This is how Super-8 Sound (aka Pro-8mm) survived in the mid 80's through the mid 90's. They had their Pro-8mm package that they sold for between $5,000-10,000 with the Beaulieu 7008 as the centerpiece.

History repeats itself.

Post by **jumar** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 10:13 am

This is really the wrong forum for video-cameras-on-ebay discussion.

Post by **mattias** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 10:58 am

yeah, it's the wrong forum, but also: is that really that expensive? have you guys checked out the prices of pro gear like matte boxes and zoom controls lately? not to mention the extra optics? and everything is brand new, don't forget that.

/matt

Post by **mshan** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 11:31 am

From the feedback, looks like these folks are flaking out. Wouldn't do business with them.

BTW: It is the wrong forum to talk about this, as it has nothing to do with Super8.

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 3:44 pm

Sometimes comparison is a good thing.

$12,000 dollar mini-dv camera systems are becoming the order of the day just as they were with Super-8 back in the mid 80's and early 90's.
I thought some might find it interesting that this particular auction is being packaged exactly the same way that Pro-8mm packaged their Beaulieu 7008 for sale back in the late 80's and early 90's.

The Mid to late 80's to the early 90's were the dark ages for Super-8 in the United States. Very Few facilities had Super-8 Gates and Kodak management made an attempt to thwart Super-8 by keeping the product off of the shelves and then claiming that sales were down.

While many don't like the company Pro-8mm, any media format that sells high end camera packages helps ensure the survival of that industry. This ebay auction represents the type of force that is behind an overhyped but functional format such as mini-dv.

28 Days was shot in mini-dv for 15 million and then released in 35mm theatrically. Why won't someone spend 2 million on a Super-8 feature to demonstrate how good a Super-8 film originated feature could look?

Perhaps because there is no camera production to hype after the film is released. This bias against Super-8 is further endemic in the magazine business. I have a friend who is an editor for a video magazine and found it shocking difficult to get him to go with a story about Super-8, even if I were to get Kodak to put an ad in the magazine and even though perhaps half of his readers grew up with Super-8 and have no clue that it is still around and being used!

I just can't believe that a mini-dv frame offers more resolution than a Super-8 frame, yet now we have $12,000 dollar auctions on ebay for mini-dv camera packages that tout mini-dv is as the ideal way to make a low budget feature.

Post by **MovieStuff** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 4:10 pm

Alex wrote: The Mid to late 80's to the early 90's were the dark ages for Super-8 in the United States. Very Few facilities had Super-8 Gates and Kodak management made an attempt to thwart Super-8 by keeping the product off of the shelves and then claiming that sales were down.

??? What source do you have to support this statement, Alex? I mean, if true, Kodak is never going to admit it so it isn't likely you got that info from them and, frankly, I saw no evidence of that at all. There were plenty of stores around that I saw with Super 8 stock in the 80s. I worked on dozens of super 8 projects at that time and never had any problem buying film over the counter.

Alex wrote: While many don't like the company Pro-8mm, any media format that sells high end camera packages helps ensure the survival of that industry.

That makes zero sense. If true, then why not make food just as expensive and that will help starving people in third world countries.

Sorry, artificially inflating the price of items that you want to get out in masse does not "ensure the survival of the industry". It merely lines the pockets of the sellers with a quick buck because they have no faith in the long term viability of the product they sell.

Alex · Post by **Alex** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 4:53 pm

I have a letter that I wrote to Kodak myself in the early 90's after my own experience of not being able to find film in the Hollywood area.

I had an additional corroboration from someone with Kodak that in the early 90's there was a huge consolidating of Kodak Processing centers to streamline operations but in the process they pissed off a lot of people who now had to wait a few days for services that they used to be able to get either same day or overnight.

In the end what money Kodak saved from the consolidation they lost in unhappy customer satisfaction.

I'm not sure why you seem to be so confrontational about my point about high end camera packages. I backed it up with explanations that Super-8 gets very little magazine article coverage. I even attempted to arrange advertising from Kodak but the magazine still nixed the story idea.

About the only coverage I ever see about Super-8 usually comes from Pro-8mm's efforts, who also just happen to sell high end camera packages. If you know of other Super-8 articles that don't involve Pro-8mm I would love to know about them as I have missed them.

Flicker articles come to mind, but that is about it.

Anyway, I can sense a gang up on Alex mentality so I won't be posting on this topic anymore.

Post by **MovieStuff** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 7:46 pm

Alex wrote:I'm not sure why you seem to be so confrontational about my point about high end camera packages.

Anyway, I can sense a gang up on Alex mentality so I won't be posting on this topic anymore.

Here we go again.

Post by **calgodot** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 8:14 pm

Alex wrote: Anyway, I can sense a gang up on Alex mentality so I won't be posting on this topic anymore.

Good.

Post by **super8man** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 2:12 am

Man, all this discussion over ONE ebay posting... no wonder people look at me odd when I tell them I shoot super 8 - we are all super opinionated! THat's a good thing. It means we are passionate about the subject and enjoy turning ANY topic into a super 8 topic!

And to think I was going to post a quote about how there is absolutely no difference between a super 8 cart's registration and a regular 8mm/16mm registration plate...maybe another day...hehehe....

Like the Remington shaver ad, I like the subject (super 8) so much, I made a website to control the content!!

Cheers,
M

PS - Don;t take this too seriously...

Post by **skyliner** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 1:11 pm

This reminds me of the arguments of my youth about how Harley Davidsons were so much better than Hondas. And what do I ride today- :oops:
All technology progresses let me make 2 predictions for hi end DV

1 you will be able to key in a DV program to immitate the characteristics of any film stock you like.
2 pixel data displacement to immitate grain

Post by **mshan** » Thu Dec 11, 2003 3:55 pm

Comment Retracted