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

[videodoctor]

@0dan0 I'm not sure where you're at with diagnosing the hardware issues you've having, but I'm happy to look into the crash if you want to share the current RBN and C++ files you're in dev with. As I mentioned in an earlier post, specifically with the histogram, I had a lot of crashes that seemed to be related to where and how histogram data was being calculated.

 

[hasi]

I am still in utter admiration for the energy and dedication you all are putting into fabricating a firmware that helps us getting a decent picture quality out of a seemingly unsatisfying consumer product! Thank you for that!

I am currently into the hardware side of things and I tried an el cheapo solution for enhancing the resolution my Kodak is getting with its stock lens.

Simply Because I didn't want to spend another 100 € for a new lens, I thought about just bringing the camera closer to the film strip.

After testing a possible distance, where I still was able to focus, I settled on 12 mm.

Which is about the distance between the screw holes of the camera mount. That way I only had to drill four new holes into the metal plate of the scanning assembly.

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View attachment 26612

After remounting the camera and connecting it again (don't worry, the ribbon cable should be long enough), I could measure how much of the plastic case below it I had to cut away. (about 5 - 6 mm)

Finally I had to modify the camera cover to fit over the lower hanging lens.

The result now looks like this (cover removed for illustration purposes )

View attachment 26614

View attachment 26615

With everything in place I refocused the stock lens to match the new height.

Compared to the effort I had put in, I am pretty satisfied with the final result, considering both resolution and overall look of the modification.

Here is a comparison of before and after - both in 1600x1200 (max zoomed out)

View attachment 26616​

View attachment 26617​

The effective resolution is now at 1152x864, with a small margin around the actual frame.
View attachment 26618


Here is another screenshot of the capture. Given that the actual movie isn't the highest quality, I am still happy with how it turned out
View attachment 26619

Here's my final summary:

Advantages

• sourcing of a fitting new Lens unnecessary (cost saving)
• absolutely no 3D-Printer or other special tools needed,
  just a sharp 4 mm drill, a screwdriver and a knive or a dremel
• minimal modification of the case (time saving)
• all can be done within about one hour
• no change of the overall aesthetic of your scanner
• mostly easily revertable, if in the future you should decide to go the full mile (with a new lens)

Disadvantages

• not the full possible resolution of 1600x1200 (only 1152x864)
• the lid of the transport mechanism doesn't open completely
  (but still high enough to easily thread the movie through)

I would love to hear your comments about my approach. For me personally it's totally sufficient, especially in connection with the modded firmware and considering the cost and time savings.

Thank you for your contribution to improve the Kodak Reels! I just finished the lowering of the standard lens and at the right corner the machine says "Res 1264x948" The most delicate work was the cabling. The ones of the fan broke off and I soldered them back on, because the conector is so tiny, I could not use it any more. With a Qp of 22, I could scan 4.1 Gb.

 

[0dan0]

@videodoctor The RBN wouldn't be useful as a development base, as I just masking-out code to see what was causing capture the issues, not improving the system yet. I did learn that type D is almost a complete rebuild. Fortunately, some of the hacks are less needed, like the resolution changes and the buffer address hooks.

 

[videodoctor]

@videodoctor The RBN wouldn't be useful as a development base, as I just masking-out code to see what was causing capture the issues, not improving the system yet. I did learn that type D is almost a complete rebuild. Fortunately, some of the hacks are less needed, like the resolution changes and the buffer address hooks.

Understood. I would like any insights you might have @0dan0 on adjustments to Qp---is that easy enough to swap out as a constant?

 

[0dan0]

Understood. I would like any insights you might have @0dan0 on adjustments to Qp---is that easy enough to swap out as a constant?

You can try a constant, but that will cause capture crashes with some film/grain.