Film Transfer using a Digital Camera.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I need some help identifying the digital camera portion of a movie film to
digital telecine system that I am designing. I am looking for the follwoing
capabilties.

A camera that I can focus directly on to 16 mm, 8 mm and Super 8 mm
frames. I guess this means an extension tube (maybe 3) so I need a camera
where the lens can be removed to add a small lens and extension tube.

A camera that will transfer each frame image to Adobe Premier on
demand and have a transfer rate of 1 or so frames per second.

A camera with a resolution of 1 to 5 megapixels. (I have not done
the calculations on my needs here but a 16 mm frame is pretty small.) So
what is a reasonable resolution for a camera that will take full advantage
of the film resolution?

What would you suggest for a digital camera to do the job?

Are there other camera issues that I could be considering? I appreciate you
advice in this matter.


Thanks, Don and Liz

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

The Nikon 4500 will focus down to 2cm without the need for extension tubes,
and you can set the resolution from full 4 Megapixel downwards. Not sure
about the transfer rate, but that should get better at lower resolution.

I'm a great fan of the Nikons - I use 2 at work and have 2 at home.

"Don and Liz Campbell" <castles@yestertronics.com> wrote in message
news:422e096d$0$22514$2c56edd9@news.cablerocket.com...
>I need some help identifying the digital camera portion of a movie film to
>digital telecine system that I am designing. I am looking for the follwoing
>capabilties.
>
> A camera that I can focus directly on to 16 mm, 8 mm and Super 8 mm
> frames. I guess this means an extension tube (maybe 3) so I need a camera
> where the lens can be removed to add a small lens and extension tube.
>
> A camera that will transfer each frame image to Adobe Premier on
> demand and have a transfer rate of 1 or so frames per second.
>
> A camera with a resolution of 1 to 5 megapixels. (I have not done
> the calculations on my needs here but a 16 mm frame is pretty small.) So
> what is a reasonable resolution for a camera that will take full advantage
> of the film resolution?
>
> What would you suggest for a digital camera to do the job?
>
> Are there other camera issues that I could be considering? I appreciate
> you advice in this matter.
>
>
> Thanks, Don and Liz
>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

FWIW:
Most of the successful digital telecine machines I've seen references to
have used a "three chip" digital video camera.

I'm sure that you have actually done this, but you can get a *lot* of
additional information with a web search on the term

telecine





"Don and Liz Campbell" <castles@yestertronics.com> wrote in message
news:422e096d$0$22514$2c56edd9@news.cablerocket.com...
> I need some help identifying the digital camera portion of a movie film
to
> digital telecine system that I am designing. I am looking for the
follwoing
> capabilties.
>
> A camera that I can focus directly on to 16 mm, 8 mm and Super 8
mm
> frames. I guess this means an extension tube (maybe 3) so I need a camera
> where the lens can be removed to add a small lens and extension tube.
>
> A camera that will transfer each frame image to Adobe Premier on
> demand and have a transfer rate of 1 or so frames per second.
>
> A camera with a resolution of 1 to 5 megapixels. (I have not done
> the calculations on my needs here but a 16 mm frame is pretty small.) So
> what is a reasonable resolution for a camera that will take full
advantage
> of the film resolution?
>
> What would you suggest for a digital camera to do the job?
>
> Are there other camera issues that I could be considering? I appreciate
you
> advice in this matter.
>
>
> Thanks, Don and Liz
>
>

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

I appreciate your thoughts on my project. I have done extensive research
into the present methods of film transfer. That is why I have pretty much
decided to use a digital camera to transfer single frames to the computer. A
quality digital camera will provide a higher quality picture than a 3 CCD
camera.

What I need help with is finding the optimum digital camera for my project.
(That I can afford)

Thanks for your inputs, Don and Liz

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

Don and Liz Campbell <castles@yestertronics.com> wrote:
> I appreciate your thoughts on my project. I have done extensive
> research into the present methods of film transfer. That is why I
> have pretty much decided to use a digital camera to transfer single
> frames to the computer. A quality digital camera will provide a
> higher quality picture than a 3 CCD camera.

I agree.

> What I need help with is finding the optimum digital camera for my project.
> (That I can afford)

Well, we don't know what you can afford, so it's hard to help.

A DSLR with a macros lens will do the job. However, your continuous 1
fps requirement is a potential issue. The D2h can write 40 JPEG Fine
frames to flash in 12.7 seconds, so it can definitely do the job. A
D70 can do it too: see
http://www.dpreview.com/reviews/nikond70/page10.asp. In practice, I
guess you'd want to use a wired USB connection to a computer, and
you'd have to check its timing. My guess is that it can fairly easily
be done.

I guess you'd want to use a real macro lens, one that's optimized for
close-up work and has a flat field, because otherwise you'd have to do
a lot of correction on a computer.

Andrew.

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

"Don and Liz Campbell" <castles@yestertronics.com> writes:
>I need some help identifying the digital camera portion of a movie film to
>digital telecine system that I am designing. I am looking for the follwoing
>capabilties.

Sounds like you should call this a "film scanner". The name "telecine"
usually refers to devices that operate in real time (24 or 30 FPS).

> A camera that I can focus directly on to 16 mm, 8 mm and Super 8 mm
>frames. I guess this means an extension tube (maybe 3) so I need a camera
>where the lens can be removed to add a small lens and extension tube.

For high image quality and low distortion, you probably should be using
a lens designed specifically for macro work. Probably a DSLR with a
true macro lens is your best choice.

> A camera that will transfer each frame image to Adobe Premier on
>demand and have a transfer rate of 1 or so frames per second.

That's asking a lot from a consumer camera that is not designed for high
speed.

> A camera with a resolution of 1 to 5 megapixels. (I have not done
>the calculations on my needs here but a 16 mm frame is pretty small.) So
>what is a reasonable resolution for a camera that will take full advantage
>of the film resolution?

I've seen calculations and examples that suggest HDTV resolution is a
good match for 16 mm film. HDTV is 1920x1080. It's really 2
megapixels, but you'll probably need a 3 megapixel camera to get 2K
horizontally. Most cameras have a 1.33 or 1.5 sensor aspect ratio.
Full frame film is also about 1.33, but often the useful portion of the
image is 1.66 to 1.85.

>What would you suggest for a digital camera to do the job?

>Are there other camera issues that I could be considering? I appreciate you
>advice in this matter.

Are these just random selected frames? Or do you want to acquire a
moving sequence? Since you mention Premiere and not Photoshop, I assume
you want moving sequences. Thus you need to worry about accurate
registration of the frames to avoid jitter and weave of the digitized
movie. The traditional way to do this is a pin-registered film
movement, but this could easily cost you more than the camera.

You'll also need an even light source, preferably adjustable for colour
so you can balance for equal RGB output from the camera.

Have you considered a wet gate to reduce scratches? They tend to be
messy.

Dave

Archived from groups: rec.photo.digital (More info?)

If you want an easy solution, get the DV Sniper or perhaps the Video
Workprinter XP system. Either one of those, with the camera will do
exactly what you're asking about.

I use a similar setup in my film transfer business (I transfer 8mm and
Super film to DVD and DV), and it works great.

No matter what, you will want a camera with a high optical zoom.

Shawn
http://noladvd.com