Kodachrome Cartridge Feeze Ups

[handcranked]

Has anybody out there had any problems with Kodachrome 40 cartridges freezing up on them. I've recently had problems like this with film that was dated March, 2003. It's happened several times with each one. When it happens I have to take the cartridge out of the camera and manually unsticking it before putting it back in.

[supa_ate_sixteen]

Never had a complete freeze up but this expiration date on the cartridges you are mentioning have been discussed a lot on these forums as having registration problems which result in a poorly stable image. If the cartridge makes a lot of noise when you are shooting, and you intent on using this film for a serious project, then toss that cartridge in the trash. The new film with 2004 exp dates are much better in my experience. Good Luck!

[S8 Booster]

:arrow:

[Fifth Beatle]

I put a "jitter cartridge" in my camera the other day. (I had no choice- I figure until we use them all up, we'll never get to the "good stash.") Anyways, it was making a strange sound at the start of the film. It sounded like I had put a cartridge in that had already run to the "exposed" end - that "whirr-clack" sound. So, I took it out and inspected it, then put it back in and started filming again. It worked flawlessley at 24fps after that. I think that these carts are just tempermental, and that it's just a roll of the dice as to when they will work, depending on day of the week, conditions, and the like.
~5B (Steve)

[CHAS]

When we shot our S8 short two weeks ago, of the 23 carts, only one of them made that weird grinding sound. We took it out immediately. All the other carts (bought in the same batch from Kodak Hollywood) were ok (I hope).

[handcranked]

Yes, my second roll made the same disturbing sound, like something inside had broken.

[Fifth Beatle]

I've decided to use all my jitter carts for stock shots, i.e. various lengths of footage that I can put into any of my short features, if the setting calls for it. Better than throwing them out with the trash. Plus, as I was saying earlier, 24fps seems to get the kink out of them...for sure during the middle parts of the cartfridge.
~5B

[supa_ate_sixteen]

I've used even 54 frames per second and still got jitters though so don't rely on faster filming speeds to smooth your jitters. One thing I found was if you know you have potential risky cartridges, ( i.e. K40 with 2003 exp. dates ) and are transferring to video, just make sure you don't move the camera in your shot. Final Cut Pro and many other software companys are bundling a plug-in known as image stabilizer. If your shot doesn't move, you can tell the computer to reference a single point in the frame and if the camera moves from that frame ( i.e. when film registration wonders off ) then the computer automatically compensates and corrects the problem. Of course if something blocks the reference point, or if the camera moves, then the computer will get confused and screw the whole stabilizer effect up. Just lock off your shots and fix the jitters in post, use new stock for camera movements.