Hacking the Kodak Reels 8mm Film Digitizer (New Thread)

[Eradicator]

New issue now. When I switch to 8mm from Super 8mm, the screen corrupts and will not show anything in the capture section of the menu in the preview mode or in capture mode. If I back out of capture mode, the screen returns to normal and all menu options work as they should. Have flashed back to the stock D firmware, but no change. I flashed back to the WIP D firmware mod with no change.
I have done the lens replacement and even scanned a regular 8mm film with no issues. I started a new reel of regular 8mm and the screen froze with the image on of the frame on it and would not change.
The frame image from the flim stayed even after removing the film in capture mode. Once I backed out of capture mode, the menu showed up and worked as it should. Back in capture mode, the frame image shows up again. I powered down and then backup, and that is when the corupt screen image shows in any part of capture mode. That is when I tried flashing the stock firmware back.
So currently I can scan Super 8mm, but not regular 8mm. Any ideas?

Has anyone experienced this issue before?

 

[Eradicator]

This is what my model D records now on regular 8mm. It does Super 8mm just fine.
Any ideas? I have already done the lens mod, but it was working about a week before this happened.
It shows this, or some other type of corruption even if there is no SD card in the scanner.

 

[Hook Line and Tinker]

This is what my model D records now on regular 8mm. It does Super 8mm just fine.
Any ideas? I have already done the lens mod, but it was working about a week before this happened.
It shows this, or some other type of corruption even if there is no SD card in the scanner.

Could you have unknowingly caused some minor damage while the unit was opened up for the mod that got worse after some use? I'd open it back up and inspect for loose wires, cracked solder joints, missing components, etc. I doubt this is related to firmware if it's behaving the same way with stock firmware.

Beyond that, how invasive is the lens mod and can it be reverted back to stock? Could be a latent defect from the factory and if so, try reaching out to Amazon for a refund since it's less than a month old.

 

[Eradicator]

Could you have unknowingly caused some minor damage while the unit was opened up for the mod that got worse after some use? I'd open it back up and inspect for loose wires, cracked solder joints, missing components, etc. I doubt this is related to firmware if it's behaving the same way with stock firmware.

Beyond that, how invasive is the lens mod and can it be reverted back to stock? Could be a latent defect from the factory and if so, try reaching out to Amazon for a refund since it's less than a month old.

I did not open up the unit for the lens mod. I removed the old lens and sercured the ribbon cable out of the way. Then used a hobby knife to very carefully score the plastic until I could work it back and forth to "snap" the plastic I needed to remove. The knife never went all the way through the plastic. The ribbon cable we never hit by the knife. I did reseat the calble on the sensor side, but no change.
I might see if I can order a new ribbon cable to see if that resolves the issue.
I can assure you, the cable was not touched by the knife.
The screen will corrupt, or hold a image if it manages to see the image briefly. Just barely moving the switch from Super 8 to regular 8 messes up the screen, long before any of the other parts move.
For now, I will convert all my Super 8, then see what I can do on the regular 8 side. This way I can at least capture all my super 8.
I can switch back to super 8 and the screen and caputre is just fine without turning the unit off. I can slide the switch back and forth, screen always corupts on regular 8 and returns to normal on super.

I can't do a refund through since I cut the plastic for the lens mod. Although I guess I could order a new one and swapt the guts of it and return the old parts. I'll try checking all the wires on the inside first though. Maybe something came lose during the mod.

As for the lens swap iteself, it was not hard. I first got the parts in the lens swap guide. I ended up with a ton of extra screws, the case of them was like $9. The different lens holders as like 10 different sizes, but it was like $12. I did have a friend 3D print the spacer from the file in the guide. It works perfect.
I had to play around with the threaded holder in different sizes to get it to focus correctly but I had all the parts to make it work.
The only bummer is the D model mod does not have all the features of the earlier mods do to different hardware. But it does scan better, and the new firmware has the frame rate at 18fps instead of 20fps like the stock version.