Shutter Durability

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

I want to transfer my family's 8mm film to video in high definition.
I've thought about using a digital camera, but I'm afraid it won't be
economical due to shutter durability. Do any of you know if there are
any cameras available that use an electronic shutter and no other
moving parts? I suspect video cameras must work this way or they would
wear out pretty fast. I plan on using Picture Transfer Protocol to
automate the picture taking using a computer.

Thanks for your help,

Greg

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

"Charlie Self" <charliediy@aol.com> wrote:
> Greg wrote:
>> I want to transfer my family's 8mm film to video in high definition.

One problem here is that high definition is a lot higher definition than
8mm.

> IIRC, there are transfer machines that do this job. I seem to recall
> seeing some reasonably priced ones a few years ago, but can't recall
> the sources.
>
> I did find: http://www.bealecorner.com/trv900/filmtrans.html
>
> Google film-to-video for more.

This is good advice. We had a couple of reels of 8mm converted to DVD here
in Japan. It was quick, not too insanely expensive, and the quality was
about what one would expect from a 30-or-more year old 8mm.

David J. Littleboy
Tokyo, Japan

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

On Tue, 20 Sep 2005 14:41:22 GMT, "Greg" <gcary@trancer.com> wrote in
news:1127227282.018537.139180@g47g2000cwa.googlegroups.com:

> David J. Littleboy wrote:
>> "Charlie Self" <charliediy@aol.com> wrote:
>> > Greg wrote:
>> >> I want to transfer my family's 8mm film to video in high
>> >> definition.
>>
>> One problem here is that high definition is a lot higher definition
>> than 8mm.
>
> I probably should have said high quality rather than high definition.
> My goal is to get it to look as good as possible in HDTV. I read
> somewhere that it is easier to remove grain if the image is
> oversampled. Even if I end up with standard definition, the transfer
> is going to look better.

I converted a few hundred rolls of 8mm to video a few years ago
and simply bought one of those small rear-projection screens that
you then copy with a video camera.

Most 8mm film is shot by an amateur and the results are over-exposed,
grainy, out of focus - you name it. The resolution won't really
matter all that much. The main goal should be to get it to digital as
soon as possible because the defects get amplified very quickly
when copying (as I had to) from analog to analog.

Most viewers of family films won't really notice the defects. Just
like they didn't notice 30 years ago when Dad brought them home
for the first time.

If I was planning to shoot the films again with a digital
camera (which I'm not - too much work!) I would not worry
about shutter reliability.

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

Bryan Olson wrote:
>
> Most consumer digicams, and almost all modern industrial
> cameras, use electronic shutters.

Don't most digital cameras incorporate a mechanical shutter in addition
to the electronic shutter? I found this marketing blurb on Fuji's
website (http://home.fujifilm.com/products/digital/ccd/pdf/sccd.pdf):

"Conventional CCDs have a very complicated structure that causes a
number of problems. To read every pixel in one step, three poly-layers
are required, but this complex structure leads to manufacturing
difficulties. While there are designs with only two layers, they are
encumbered by a mechanical shutter for readout in two steps."

My understanding is the electronic shutter bleeds off the charge into
the substrate until the picture is taken. Then the mechanical shutter
spins into position which blocks the light, and the image can be
transferred to memory.

Fuji claims "Since it needs only an electronic shutter, the Super CCD
holds the potential for continuous shooting that's extremely fast and
precise. The key lies in one-step reading of all the pixels and a path
structure wide enough for high-speed transmission of the electric
charge produced by the photodiodes".

> > I suspect video cameras must work this way or they would
> > wear out pretty fast.
>
> No mechanical shutter in video cameras, right. Whether
> there's even an electronic shutter is debatable.

You've got to erase the CCD to build another image. Isn't that an
electronic shutter?

> > I plan on using Picture Transfer Protocol to
> > automate the picture taking using a computer.
>
> Sounds like a good idea, but you still have the problems of
> moving the film, and registering the images. You're trying
> to build your own telecine

I know.

> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Telecine
>
> and I'd expect the R&D effort to be substantial.
>
> --
> --Bryan

Without a milling machine and lathe it would be difficult. I've got an
idea for a pretty straightforward transport based on a stepper motor,
optical encoder, and the sprocket wheels from an old projector.

Greg