Kodak Ektasound 140 and silent Super 8 film

[meow7]

Hello all, I'm new here and we're trying to get this Kodak Ektasound up and running with regular Super 8. I know it takes regular in addition to the E160 sound film. They are different sizes and the silent cartridge is shorter and doesn't connect with a button that the sound cartridge cover. If I run it with my finger on this little button it runs. Without it no. So how does this camera take regular Super 8 cartridges? I have some pics that show the cartridge sizes and how they fit into the camera. Or don't fit as it seems. Any advice would be appreciated!

[slashmaster]

I don't have this camera but am thinking about getting a similar one. That gullwing door makes it look exotic doesn't it? Does it run while empty with the door closed?

[aj]

Super-8 Sound cameras can take and run silent cartridges without trouble. The recoding head and capstan-drive are then uncovered and unused. No trouble there. The capstan doesn't rotate to save on the batteries.

There are no sound cartridges avaible for some 25 years. Only expired ones which could be used for experiments when you find an affordable way of having them processed. Kodachromes can only be processed into black and white which will cost a ton. Ektachrome 160 or Agfachromes can produce pleasing images for fun at more fair prices. But sometimes they don't. Don't risk any commercial work with these

Can be rewarding...
https://vimeo.com/197334599

Super 8 anamorphic footage of Peckham shot on 1988 expired Kodak Ektachrome 160G using a Jupiter 11 135mm and Ishico Proskar 2x anamorphic lens on a Beaulieu 5008 camera - I bought the camera from eBay with a dead battery and this was only the second outing with film since re-celling the battery.
Music: Blithe Field - Wasted Pills.
Home processed in modified E6 using Lomo UPB-1A tank.
Scan by Kevin Timmings at Gauge Film.

[Angus]

With a silent cartridge, the capstan won't run but the main drive and claw should.

HOWEVER....there is an issue with these Ektasound cameras. I used to own one around 17 years ago. It ran for a couple of films and then stopped, there i a nylon or plastic gear which really doesn't last. And once it breaks...the camera is pretty much useless. You could have this issue with yours, by the sound of it.

Otherwise a fairly good camera with a wide shutter angle and fast lens so it's good in low light. Not a big zoom lens but the low light ability is attractive.

[slashmaster]

With a silent cartridge, the capstan won't run but the main drive and claw should.

HOWEVER....there is an issue with these Ektasound cameras. I used to own one around 17 years ago. It ran for a couple of films and then stopped, there i a nylon or plastic gear which really doesn't last. And once it breaks...the camera is pretty much useless. You could have this issue with yours, by the sound of it.

Otherwise a fairly good camera with a wide shutter angle and fast lens so it's good in low light. Not a big zoom lens but the low light ability is attractive.

How good did the films you ran look? Did you take yours apart when it broke? I'm thinking about getting one once I learn how to cut my own gears.

[aj]

I'm thinking about getting one once I learn how to cut my own gears.

Cut or print? There is a firm here who has specialised on 3D printing gears for ciné equipment
Of course fixing your own is far more educational but when in a hurry...

[slashmaster]

I'm thinking about getting one once I learn how to cut my own gears.

Cut or print? There is a firm here who has specialised on 3D printing gears for ciné equipment
Of course fixing your own is far more educational but when in a hurry...

Oh yeah, who's that? Been trying to find pictures of a disassembled ektasound to get an idea of what to expect. I would expect those gears would be too small to print. Would like to attempt to cut them even though I'm likely to fail.

[Angus]

Back then 3D printing was a pipe dream...however I understand that even in 2017 printed gears are often not accurate enough.

I didn't take the camera apart as the consensus on this forum was that it wasn't worthwhile. I had paid peanuts for the camera, got a couple of decent films out of it, and had several working super 8 cameras including a Beaulieu 1008XL which does the low light thing just as well.

[aj]

I'm thinking about getting one once I learn how to cut my own gears.

Cut or print? There is a firm here who has specialised on 3D printing gears for ciné equipment
Of course fixing your own is far more educational but when in a hurry...

Oh yeah, who's that? Been trying to find pictures of a disassembled ektasound to get an idea of what to expect. I would expect those gears would be too small to print. Would like to attempt to cut them even though I'm likely to fail.

Van Eck is in Netherlands.
He has some items on ebay http://www.ebay.nl/itm/261970754651?_tr ... EBIDX%3AIT
And his own website: http://www.van-eck.net/contact.php?lang=nl&size=0