Super 8 Film Stock

Trying to wade through the world of super 8 film is not an easy task.  The first thing that I wanted to learn was more about film stock.  Doing some initial research I found that the reels are usually sold in 50 foot lengths.  Ok, so 50 feet, but how much is that in the finished run time?  I was talking it over with my husband and we calculated it ourselves...

50 feet means that the total length of the reel in mm is 15,240

If each frame is 4mm tall then there are 3,810 frames in the total reel

3,810 total frames @ 24 fps means each reel lasts 158 seconds or a little over 2.5 minutes

wait, that can't be right.

We recalculated it, and sure enough, we came back with the same result. I always knew that film was expensive to shoot but... WOW! $16 for 2.5 minutes. And that is just for the film itself, no processing or transferring.

Allow me a slight tangent.

We aren't used to the world of film anymore where EVERY frame is important, something to be savored.  Digital is cheap, both in expense and, if you don't mind me being a bit elitist for a second here, in quality.  I say that because with digital, now everyone everyone can be a photographer or a videographer.  Don't get me wrong, I think that this change has done many many amazing things, but there is a small part of me that loathes the digital age.

I say as I blog. Just kidding, love you computers. Don't turn against me!

In any case I think I have decided to go ahead with the project, at least as a test. Amazon is usually the first place that I look at least to compare prices while shopping, but it appears that they only sell one type, and it is black and white.  I really wanted color so I kept going.  Just by doing a search on google I came across the always dependable B&H website.  They have many different options, but I think that the one that I would like to try is the Ektachrome 100D Super 8 Silent Film (50'). It is $15.96 plus shipping per reel.  Hopefully 100 feet will be enough for a solid test!

Ektachrome 100D Super 8 Silent Film (50')