Film Transfer using a Digital Camera.

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

Don and Liz Campbell wrote:
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.


So you want still frames rather than full motion video?

I'm just wondering if your needs would be met by using a camcorder
plugged into firewire would do what you need.

Bob

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" wrote in message
m...
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

Don and Liz Campbell wrote:
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

I did a search on Google using the terms: 35mm DVD transfer

I got a bunch of hits, including a bunch of ads from companies
that offer these kinds of transfers as a service - movies to
DVD

You might try the same search and then contact some of the
companies. There may be commercial services that will do this
for you at rates below what it would cost you to get the
equipment and do it yourself. If you have a high volume
application and want to setup your own shop, maybe some of
these companies could advise you or at least tell you who
to contact for equipment and advice.

Alan

Don and Liz Campbell wrote:
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

Not many cameras come with a lens that can focus that close (even after
extensions) and still produce reasonably sharp images. I would plan on a
custom flat field lens designed for working that close.

--
Joseph Meehan

26 + 6 = 1 It's Irish Math

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" wrote in message
m...
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

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

RSD99 wrote:
FWIW:
Most of the successful digital telecine machines I've seen references
to have used a "three chip" digital video camera.

But standard telecine is just VGA resolution...at least for standard TV.

Don and Liz Campbell 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.

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

But standard telecine is just VGA resolution...at least for standard TV.

Good telecine machines don't use a video camera at all - they have a CCD
scanner, or a flying-spot scanner. And there are HDTV telecines that
operate at 1920x1080 pixels at 30 FPS. They just aren't cheap.

Dave