Film 8mm Camera

[LostSoul]

Hello, anyone out there know whether or not it is easy to develop these films. I want to purchase a camera which records with 8mm film but I have no idea how I would go about processing the film. Any answers will be appreciated!

[Buenchico]

Home processing 8mm film is possible but awkward. Unlike 35mm film, which can be loaded into a developing tank inside a changing bag, you really need a darkroom and specialist equipment. (Which is expensive and hard to find).

Also, processing 35mm print or slide film only requires the film to be passed through two or three different chemical baths. I believe that Super 8 requires 14 different baths, all of which have to be temperature-controlled to an accuracy of about 0.1C.

Commercial processing might be impossible to find. Kodak offered this service, for Super 8 film only (not Standard 8) up until the end of September this year. The service has now been withdrawn. (It was very expensive anyway, at �7 per cartridge, which only gave you a few minutes of film). Other firms which advertised the service (such as the Wide-Screen Centre) seemed to be simply acting as agents for Kodak's Swiss lab. (i.e. the withdrawal of Kodak's service would seem to mean the end of all commercial processing of the film).

The fact that Kodak has withdrawn their processing service would seem to suggest that, if they've not already ceased to make 8mmfilm, they'll probably do so soon.

Chris

[LostSoul]

Thanks for your answer much appreciated. Damn it there has to be someone who will do it!

[Buenchico]

Stop press news!

My information that Kodak withdrew its Swiss lab Super 8 film processing last September was correct but I've subsequently found out that this only applied to their Kodachrome processing. They've now brought out an Ektachrome Super 8 film which uses 'E6' processing. (That's the much simpler processing that most slide films use). See here:
http://www.kodak.com/US/en/motion/about/news/k processing.jhtml?id=0.1.4.7&lc=en

The Wide Screen Centre sell the film and offer processing services:
http://www.widescreen-centre.co.uk/cine.php

The film is also available from Jessops, so it might be worth enquiring about whether they can process it:
http://www.jessops.com/Store/s33761/1-132-186/ Home/Accessories/Film/Kodak/Super-8-Reversal-E ktachrome-64T-7280-(50FT)/details.aspx

Chris