nice styling from the modern japanese bellami-HD1 camera with a modern chinon lens – but a total throw-away as a digital camera disguised in “super model” 8mm camera… lame!

real-real… kodak’s latest backtrack on corp stupid decision making – super 8 film and a modernized super 8 camera are back, a pleasant surprise.

camera designed by our friend yves behar at fuse project for kodak

nice stealth detailing on the side

sporting a real super-8 cartridge

and now for some of the old giants… above the dieter rams designed braun super-8 camera for vitsœ

the french beaulieu 4008 super-8, standard issue for all you nouvelle vague enthusiasts

my personal camera which i have owned and cherished for many years, the notorious canon XL-1014 super 8

and my best friends camera which i often use as a b-roll the nikon R-10 with nikkor lens sister to the R-8 (below)

and finally below one of the many renditions of the infamous pistol-grip from the berrics skate mafia

ok so we owe this yet-to-be-issued kodak camera a blind review. note that we have not tested the camera as its still in production and we will post another once we get our hands on one. but top-line we are uber excited to see this amazing tool make a come back, and more importantly to see kodak supporting, and hopefully supplying, the super-8 cartridge films on a regularly available basis.

the good: its a super 8. it takes real film, and hopefully the film will not cost you your entire weekly allowance. its new and using the latest technology. keeping what worked and adding what wasn’t available. like a proper rechargeable battery that will last you the entire shoot. the design is simple and clean. we especially love the kodak revised minimal logo on the side. kodak can now process, scan, and deliver your film in one shot. love the yellow and off-white colors reminiscent of dieter rams iconic choice with braun, bringing back some of that 70’s nostalgia. usb plugs in the back. simple usability making it easy for newbie millennials… don’t forget, like em or hate em, we need those ding dongs if we are to bring some cost efficiency to the film cartridges.

the bad: it looks like a toy. the camera in its design is a reference to more of the 70’s or late 60’s units rather than the early 60’s which we personally prefer. 70’s was the era of plastics but also the era of textures which this camera has chosen to dodge at least. but the casing does not appear to be metal (again this is not factual)… if plastic, knowing mister behar, it is the finest plastic available.

the ugly: wholly shit, where is my pistol grip? how can we shoot super 8 without the pistol grip, so beloved by film fans. we even rigged one on our old hi 8 camera at some point. that said, unlike the old narrow cameras of the 60’s, this little cute baby can be held like a basket-ball for those long smooth hand-held shots, like the ones in “i am cuba” directed by mikhail kalatozov and his genius DP sergey urusevskiy.

in the end we cant wait to get our hands on one and put it to the test. thank you kodak for bringing this art back and mister behar for making it famous. by dd