page_title: Super 8 film
section_title: Super 8 System
hierarchical_section_title: Super 8 film / Super 8 System
caption_attribution_description: English: Super 8mm film cartridge film. Kodak Eastman Ektschrome 7240 film. Photographed by Cybertrix 2005. Free for anyone who wants to use it.
context_page_description: Super 8mm film is a motion picture film format released in 1965 by Eastman Kodak as an improvement over the older "Double" or "Regular" 8 mm home movie format.
  The film is nominally 8mm wide, the same as older formatted 8mm film, but the dimensions of the rectangular perforations along one edge are smaller, which allows for a greater exposed area. The Super 8 standard also allocates the border opposite the perforations for an oxide stripe upon which sound can be magnetically recorded.
  Unlike Super 35, the film stock used for Super 8 is not compatible with standard 8 mm film cameras.
  There are several varieties of the film system used for shooting, but the final film in each case has the same dimensions. The most popular system by far was the Kodak system.
context_section_description: Launched in 1965 by Eastman Kodak at the 1964–65 Worlds Fair, Super 8 film comes in plastic light-proof cartridges containing coaxial supply and take up spools loaded with 50 feet (15 m) of film, with 72 frames per foot, for a total of approximately 3,600 frames per film cartridge. This is enough film for 2.5 minutes at the professional motion picture standard of 24 frames per second, and for 3 minutes and 20 seconds of continuous filming at 18 frames per second (upgraded from Standard 8 mm 16 frame/s) for amateur use. In 1973 the system was upgraded with a larger cartridge, which includes film with magnetic sound. In 1975 an even larger 200-foot (61 m) cartridge became available which could be used in specifically designed cameras. The sound and the 200 foot cartridge system are no longer available, but the 50 foot silent cartridge system is still manufactured. Historically, Super 8 film was a reversal stock for home projection used primarily for the creation of home movies. It became an extremely popular consumer product in the late 1960s through the 1970s, but was largely replaced in the 1980s by the use of video tape. During the mid-to-late 1980s Super 8 began to re-emerge as an alternative method for movie production, beginning with its use in MTV music videos in 1981. In 1993 the company's Super8 Sound, now called Pro8mm, pioneered the use of the color negative in Super 8 by custom perforating and loading a variety of 35mm film stocks into the Super 8 film cartridge. This included emulsions from Kodak, Fuji and Ilford. Today Super 8 color negative film is the main color stock used. There are also Super 8 reversal films available including 100D Kodak Ektachrome and 200D Agfa color as well as black-and-white (B&W) from Foma, ADOX and ORWO and Kodak.
  The Super 8 plastic cartridge is probably the fastest loading film system ever developed, as it can be loaded into the Super 8 camera in less than two seconds without the need to directly thread or touch the film. In addition, coded notches cut into the Super 8 film cartridge exterior allow the camera to recognize the film speed automatically. Not all cameras can read all the notches correctly, however, and there is some debate about which notches actually deliver the best results. Canon keeps an exhaustive list of their Super 8 cameras with detailed specifications on what film speeds can be used with their cameras. Usually, testing one cartridge of film can help handle any uncertainty a filmmaker may have about how well their Super 8 camera reads different film stocks. Color stocks were originally available only in tungsten (3400K), and almost all Super 8 cameras come with a switchable daylight filter built in, allowing for both indoor and outdoor shooting.
  The original Super 8 film release was a silent system only, but in 1973 a sound on film version was released. The film with sound had a magnetic soundtrack and came in larger cartridges than the original cartridge in order to accommodate the sound recording head in the film path. Sound film requires a longer film path (for smoothing the film movement before it reaches the recording head), and a second aperture for the recording head. Sound cameras are compatible with silent cartridges, but not vice versa. Sound film is typically filmed at a speed of 18 or 24 frames per second. Kodak discontinued the production of Super 8 sound film in 1997 citing environmental regulations as the reason. The adhesive used to bond the magnetic track to the film is environmentally hazardous.
  In 2005 Kodak announced the discontinuation of their most popular stock Kodachrome due to the decline of facilities equipped with K-14 process. Kodachrome was "replaced" by a new ISO 64 Ektachrome, which uses the simpler E-6 process. The last roll of Kodachrome was processed on January 18, 2011, (although announced last date of processing was December 30, 2010) in Parsons, Kansas, by the sole remaining lab capable of processing it. In December 2012, Kodak discontinued color reversal stock in all formats including 35mm and Super 8. However, in Spring 
caption: A Super 8 film cartridge with a close-up of the film
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