[MacDV] Re: The quality of 8MM film

[Mark M. Florida]

My suggestion which has been debated a few times on this list is to use a
transmissive device for the transfer process -- the film itself is
transmissive (the light passes *through* it to create the image), so this is
probably the best way to preserve the original image quality.  To use an
example of why I believe the transmissive process works better, scanning
negatives or slides at a high resolution is *ALWAYS* better than scanning a
printed photo (even if the printed photo is perfectly color balanced).  I
found that when projecting onto any "super-white" surface that the colors
bled tremendously and light poured off the edge of the image area -- there
is no such dispersion in a transmissively projected image, so those affects
are eliminated (yes, "affects").

I personally use a fold-out transfer screen that's about 11"x14" -- the
image is projected on the mirror then reflected to a ground glass type
surface (I think it's plastic, but it still looks good).  The camera is on
the other side of the ground glass recording the image which has been turned
the proper direction by the mirror.

Another trick is to use a variable-speed projector and play back your 18fps
footage at 15fps so it syncs to your camera and helps eliminate the flicker
-- this may also lend a "dream-like" quality to the motion in your films
since it's slightly slower (I think it enhances the viewing experience, but
others' opinions may differ).  I wouldn't set your camera to "Slow Shutter"
mode at 15fps 'cause the camera usually shoots at a lower res in those
special modes and can cause more imaging problems if the film frames change
during a video frame -- this would cause a "double-exposure" type of image
with two adjacent film frames being recorded on the same video frame,
overlapping each other and causing the picture to seem blurry.  At worst if
you shoot with your video camera at 30fps you'll get two adjacent video
frames with the same film frame, but they won't be double-exposed, so it
will look normal.

Anyway, that's my 2 cents.

- Mark