It’s dangerous for a hardware hacker to go into a second-hand store. I was looking for a bed frame for my new apartment, however of program I spent an age browsing all the other rubbish treasures on offer. I have a rough rule of thumb: if it’s not under a tenner as well as fits in one hand, then it has to be remarkable for me to buy it, so I passed up on a nice Grundig reel-to-reel from the 1960s as well as instead came away with a folding palm Pilot keyboard as well as a Fuji 8mm house movie camera after I’d arranged shipment for the bed. On those two I’d spent bit more than a fiver, so I’m good. The keyboard is a serial gadget that’s a job for a rainy day, however the camera is something else. I’ve been keeping an eye out for one to utilize for a Raspberry Pi camera conversion, as well as this seemed ideal. however when I examined it more closely, I was drawn into an unforeseen train of research study that shed some light on what must of been genuine objects of wish for my parents generation.
A thrift store discover opens A whole new Field
One of the surprises is available in just exactly how little this thing is.
The Fuji P300 from 1972 is typical among consumer movie cameras of the day. It takes the type of a film magazine with a zoom lens assembly on its front, a reflex viewfinder on its side, as well as a handle with a shutter trigger button on it extending vertically below the magazine as well as likewise housing the batteries.
Surprisingly it still has a mercury cell that would have powered its light meter; a minor annoyance to dispose of this correctly. sometimes these gadgets had clockwork motors, however this has an electric motor. It likewise has a light sensor that is coupled to some type of electromechanical aperture. It would have been an costly camera when it was new, most likely as much of a purchase as an SLR or a decent mirrorless camera right here in 2021.
The surprise came when I opened it up, for it appeared like no other 8mm camera I had seen. I’m familiar wit the two reels of a basic 8 or the boxy cassette of super 8, however this utilized something different. That film magazine is made to in shape a compact twin-reel cartridge whose film fits in a metal film gate. This is a single 8 camera, Fuji’s entry in the all-in-one 8 mm film market, as well as a style I never understood existed. To explain my unforeseen discovery it was necessary to delve into the world of house movie styles in the decade before videotape shown up as well as drove them out.
The house movie Days had Their style Wars Too
8 mm film dates from the early 1930s, when Kodak released the style as a cheaper alternate to 16 mm for the house movie market. The original 8 mm film, now understood as basic 8, is just 16 mm film stock with twice the number of sprocket holes, which might be subjected on both edges by running it with the camera in both directions. The film strip would be cut in half as well as spliced together during development, resulting in a longer film strip with sprocket holes on only one side however with a short overexposed white section in the middle at the join depending upon exactly how effectively the individual had kept the light at bay while swapping over the film reels. starting in the 1960s, some manufacturers offered noise recording on a magnetic strip added between the sprocket holes as well as the edge of the film.
A depiction of the different 8mm movie film formats. Max Smith, Public domain.
The shortcomings of basic 8 with its inconvenient film swap-over, large sprocket holes, as well as unsatisfactory noise capabilities, led manufacturers to seek improved versions. Kodak’s super 8 of 1965 had a larger photo area with smaller sprocket holes as well as noise ability designed in from the start, as well as came in a compact cartridge containing both reels one stacked above the other without any rewind facility. My camera’s single 8 from the exact same year utilizes the exact same film style however on a thinner stock, as well as with separate reels. Arguments raged at the time over the family member merits of super 8’s plastic film pressure plate over single 8’s metal part, however reading around the subject, the consensus seems to be that both versions had a much better photo high quality that basic 8.
A Fuji single 8 cartridge. Carlitospradera, CC BY-SA 4.0.
Agfa film in a super 8 cartridge. Alfambra, Public domain.
It may be a surprise to some visitors who are a number of decades on from their move to digital, that while single 8 went out of production around a decade ago, both basic 8 as well as super 8 are still offered — as well as have a considerable enthusiast filmmaker following. aside from the millions of simple house movie cameras like my Fuji, there were much higher high quality professional-grade units, as well as these still command high prices. It’s appealing to pick up a super8 house movie camera as well as provide it a go, however with film cartridges selling for around £40 (about $53) as well as offering only a few minutes of footage it’s barely an affordable hobby.
A Teardown On A gadget With tons Of small Screws, What might potentially Go Wrong!
This is the very first time I’ve had a move camera on my desk, so it’s an perfect moment to dismantle it as well as take a look at its inner workings. as well as instantly I chosen up the screwdriver it ended up being evident that right here is a extremely well designed as well as well developed gadget indeed. whatever comes apart with extremely well-placed screws, as well as all screws are both simple to get to as well as turn as though they were last touched yesterday instead of five decades ago. starting in the film magazine there’s a removable cover under the film cartridge below which can be discovered a gear train for the film advance, as well as a system including a PCB wiper switch for the film usage indicator. The motor drive is mounted in the handle together with the batteries, with the exact same gear train driving both shutter as well as advance. For a Pi conversion there’s lots of area for the Pi camera, however unfortunately the film pressure plate will requirement moving.
A gold-plated PCB switch for the film usage gauge.
The metal pressure plate assembly.
Turning my interest to the front, there is an aluminium cover that’s retained by two screws as well as the zoom sound on the lens. Some cautious extraction of small grub screws offers with the lens rings, as well as the cover comes off to expose the inner workings. The lens assembly has a install casting that integrates a prism as well as mirror for the viewfinder light path. This comes before the shutter, so it will be simple to retain in any type of digital conversion.
Below the prism is the aperture mechanism, as I suspected a tapered opening mounted on a moving-coil meter movement. The shutter itself is visible below the aperture mechanism, however I didn’t subject it, there should be a pair of turning discs with openings in them. The surprise is available in exactly how bit in the method of electronics it contains: aside from the light sensor as well as moving coil, that’s it. This is a victory of electromechanical engineering miniaturised into a handheld device, as well as as prepared to shoot now as it was when very first unpacked back in the early 1970s.
The viewfinder prism behind the lens.
Looking with the lens, with the viewfinder light path on the right.
The viewfinder mirror above the lens.
The moving-coil aperture.
So do I have any type of guilt in tearing apart an 8 mm camera for a Pi conversion? If it were a unusual or high performance camera then perhaps to do so would be a minor crime, however for a plentiful as well as mass-produced consumer grade item, as well as especially one whose film hasn’t been produced years, there’s bit possibility of it being anything however a paperweight otherwise.
So with this I’ll requirement to stop the shutter in its open setting as well as eliminate sufficient of the film entrance as well as pressure plate assembly to in shape one of the smaller Pi cameras with its lens removed. There’s lots of area for a contemporary battery in the handle, as well as I’m thinking about whether I can 3D print a facsimile of a single 8 cartridge to home both Pi as well as sensor, therefore minimising the dismantling required. These lenses provide the exact same vintage house movie high quality to digital pictures as they did to the 8 mm film when they were new, so I hope any type of videos I make will be suitably distinctive.