From: David Tetzlaff (email suppressed)
Date: Tue Feb 14 2006 - 23:38:51 PST
daniel:
Both Canon (the good ones anyway) and Nizo are pretty pricey. On the other
hand, the cost of anything but a Beaulieu seems less significant once you
start budgeting for stock for evena small project. Or maybe that makes it
more significant...
Anyway, if it really is a 'starter' you might look at some cheaper models.
Later Sankyo XL's aren't bad, but they don't have an intervalometer as i
recall. Best bet for that is a Minolta XL401 as I recall (please correct
me if this is wrong folks). There was also a 601 with a longer tele end on
the zoom (if you need that, most don't) but the lens isn't as fast. (Spend
more money, be forced to get more depth-of-field!)
Given the reduced number of stocks available, you may find yourself
planning projects that you can shoot entirely in daylight. If so, you
don't really need the extra shutter angle provided by XL cameras -- which
were developed to do available light indoor shoots with fast film. Pre-XL
cameras (except for Nizo, Canon Bealieu...) often go really cheap, though
you're less likely to find macro (maybe) and an intervalometer. But you
can get a well made unit with decent glass for S8 for next to nothing in
several not-so-big-name brands.
One thing I don't know:
The old cameras were made for a two stock world; Kodachrome and Ektachrome
and had limited mechanisms to read the ASA from the film cartridges (and
there's no manual setting on these things other than going to manual
exposure and pushing or pulling your exposure enough to match the actual
ASA to what the camera thinks it is. The 'newer' XL cameras usually read a
wider range of exposure settings from the carts.
Anybody here know what the new Kodak S8 stock, the 'Kodachrome
replacement' requires in terms of the exposure settings inside the cameras
and what camera types will accomodate it and what won't (if any).
In any event, good luck!
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