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

[Mark Dawson]

Hello, any help much appreciated. The motor in my reels has suddenly stopped working. This is not due to any software upgrade, it was working one day and the next day was totally silent - no capture, no rewind, no start-up sound. Everything else seems to be as normal. Has anyone else experienced this and, assuming it's the motor which has failed, are generic replacement parts available? I'm going to dismantle the unit and check for voltage on the motor terminals when it should be active, other than that I'm a bit stumped...

Update: I dismantled the unit, unplugged the motor cable from the PCB and then re-attached it and all is well, full functionality again, I've no idea why, but unless it fails again I'm going to leave well alone

Update 2: I put the unit back in its normal position and the fault came back immediately. After a lot of head scratching the penny dropped. The power outlet which the Reels was plugged into had accidentally been switched off. So how was it starting up at all? From the USB connection! Obviously enough power coming in to boot the software but not enough to start the motor (5V not 12V). I don't think there's any mention, either in the instructions manual or in these posts, which describes the until being able to boot up from the USB and I assume it's just an unintentional quirk in the circuit design.

 

[ThePhage]

As a follow-up on my "waviness" issue, and with assistance from Claude... Based on the best guess that this issue is caused by a very high shutter speed (interacting with the LED backlight's frequency), I will attempt an adjustment to the firmware that sets a minimum shutter speed (to not go faster than 3ms). No idea if I have the tools for this, but will let y'all know how it goes.

After a fair amount of trial & error, I seem to have mitigated my waviness issue with a firmware branch that limits the shutter speed/duration (to go no faster than 3ms). I've done a write-up on this effort here if you want some further detail.

I suspect my root issue is more of a hardware fluke than anything caused by firmware (stock or modified). My unit has been hardware modified so who knows what gremlins have found their way in!

 

[WowIndescribable]

I’m installing the 3D printed spacer for the upgraded lens and have questions.

it seems that the back is resting on one of the board components and this doesn’t look right. If I assume a bit needs to be filed away so this doesn’t happen, then it would seem that the recessed part of the 3D print does not allow for all four screw locations to sit flush on the same plane with the board.

i hope that is clear from these photos. Am I missing something?

Has anyone else used these that could comment or show additional images of theirs regarding this?

 

[ThePhage]

Has anyone else used these that could comment or show additional images of theirs regarding this?

For my modification I ended up using the spacer (7mm riser) provided by @Deano. In his detailed post, he included this picture of the spacer/riser integrated with the sensor board on top, and the extension tube and lens below:

Definitely give Deano's entire post a good read through!

 

[WowIndescribable]

For my modification I ended up using the spacer (7mm riser) provided by @Deano. In his detailed post, he included this picture of the spacer/riser integrated with the sensor board on top, and the extension tube and lens below:

Definitely give Deano's entire post a good read through!

Thank you for this. This part looks better so I might just get this one printed. I thought of trying the other first since it had multiple sizes that could be used. Hopefully this will do the trick! Much appreciated.

 

[zetagi]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. Is there a way to scan negative film, such as Kodak Vision 3, or are there plans to add this feature? It would be handy for me to do test scans directly from the Kodak reel. I have version 7.7.1FW (B machine) and it's working very well.

 

[0dan0]

Hi everyone, I'm new here. Is there a way to scan negative film, such as Kodak Vision 3, or are there plans to add this feature? It would be handy for me to do test scans directly from the Kodak reel. I have version 7.7.1FW (B machine) and it's working very well.

This is what I was want to do when I was derailed with the Type D release. Currently Vision 3 negative is very poorly handled, as the scanner uses the wrong black level. I'm not likely get back to looing at Kodak Reels for a number of months, and work has me very busy with non-film stuff. In the meantime I'm shooting a lot of Ektachrome.

 

[Eradicator]

Hello all, new to the forum, and have ordered a Kodak Reels from the Amazons to scan a bunch of 8mm and Super 8mm with sound. I'm guessing I will receive a D version, so I'm hoping there will be some modified firmware I can use for a better scan.
Thank you to everyone who has contributed to this project! I have learned so much just by reading everything.
I plan to do the lense mod as well, but will ensure the unit is working correctly be for the mod.
I will post things that I think might be useful, especially in transfering the audio and then syncing it up with DeVinci Resolve.
I'll post my SN once the unit arrives.

 

[Eradicator]

Just received by Reels from the Amazons. The SN is: H2825148BK001.. I'm assuming this is a "D" model. Once I get the film from my dad, I will test it out on stock settings to make sure everything is working and I can sync the audo with the used Elmo super 8 projector that also arrived today. Should be a fun weekend

 

[Eradicator]

Post #225 seems to be stable for version D. Is there a more recent firmware for version D?
My biggest thanks to everyone who is working on this project! I am willing to test version D if there are new versions available. I can't make any adjustments during scanning on this version, unless I am missing something. This version is better than the stock version.
In looking at the properties my stock scan vs the mod D version, the bit rate 8760kbps and the mod version has a bit rate of 7843kbps with the same film., but thankfully the mod version is at 18fps Frame size on stock is 1728x1296 and mod is 1600x1200. I know the stock version upscales, and the mod image looks better .

 

[JayAech]

Hey gang! Thank you for accepting me into your community here. Just got my own Reels machine and have been digitizing some old 8mm and Super8mm family films. But being the curious person I am, stumbled into this modding community to help the resolution/quality. I've searched the thread, but haven't seen anyone with my serial number so I'm a little confused on which version firmware to try to flash with. My number is J2925148BK00696

Likewise, what would be the tradeoffs for flashing the firmware exactly? Is it just losing the playback functionality?

And a side note: Has anyone found out if there's a way to get JUST the raw still images this machine takes, before it compiles it into an MP4?

Thanks!

 

[Hook Line and Tinker]

There are experts on here that can probably confirm but I'd say yours is a D version based on the 4th & 5th digits being 25.

Latest working D firmware is here:

https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads/hacking-the-kodak-reels-8mm-film-digitizer-new-thread.4885/post-43847

This version has better resolution than stock and most importantly for me, 18 frames per second which is what my footage was shot at. Thank you, @videodoctor !

I could be wrong but I think the playback functionality applies to A, B, & C versions but the D playback functions normally. Again, I'm not sure because I don't use playback on my unit but I could check.

As far as getting raw still images right out of the scanner, others may know a method but I know the DaVinci Resolve open source editing software will allow you to export the frames from the MP4. The software is not intuitive for a beginner but it is fairly easy to learn enough to be able to get started. I won't attempt to post a tutorial here but once you're comfortable with the software and have the MP4 loaded into a project, you can nudge the movie frame by frame by holding down the k key while pressing either j to go back a frame or l to advance. When you have the frame you want, go to File - Export - Current Frame as Still. If you want all of the frames, this can be done on the "Deliver" page of the software. DaVinci has a forum but use Google search phrases like, "davinci resolve export all frames as stills" once you have the software installed and are comfortable creating a project.

 

[JayAech]

There are experts on here that can probably confirm but I'd say yours is a D version based on the 4th & 5th digits being 25.

Latest working D firmware is here:

https://tinkerdifferent.com/threads/hacking-the-kodak-reels-8mm-film-digitizer-new-thread.4885/post-43847

This version has better resolution than stock and most importantly for me, 18 frames per second which is what my footage was shot at. Thank you, @videodoctor !

I could be wrong but I think the playback functionality applies to A, B, & C versions but the D playback functions normally. Again, I'm not sure because I don't use playback on my unit but I could check.

As far as getting raw still images right out of the scanner, others may know a method but I know the DaVinci Resolve open source editing software will allow you to export the frames from the MP4. The software is not intuitive for a beginner but it is fairly easy to learn enough to be able to get started. I won't attempt to post a tutorial here but once you're comfortable with the software and have the MP4 loaded into a project, you can nudge the movie frame by frame by holding down the k key while pressing either j to go back a frame or l to advance. When you have the frame you want, go to File - Export - Current Frame as Still. If you want all of the frames, this can be done on the "Deliver" page of the software. DaVinci has a forum but use Google search phrases like, "davinci resolve export all frames as stills" once you have the software installed and are comfortable creating a project.

Thank you so much! And is the installation as easy as have a 32GB FAT32 formatted flash card with the .bin and inserting it?

RE: Still frames. I'm for sure already comfortable and familiar with getting them off the MP4 from Adobe Premiere, etc. but I figured if there was a way to get the images as stills BEFORE the MP4 compresses it, you'd have more of an ability to upres/edit/clean them up

 

[ThePhage]

Thank you so much! And is the installation as easy as have a 32GB FAT32 formatted flash card with the .bin and inserting it?

RE: Still frames. I'm for sure already comfortable and familiar with getting them off the MP4 from Adobe Premiere, etc. but I figured if there was a way to get the images as stills BEFORE the MP4 compresses it, you'd have more of an ability to upres/edit/clean them up

The firmware update process is indeed pretty easy. Follow the steps near the top of the firmware user guide (and/or in the first post of this thread). People on this forum have NOT reported bricking their scanner while flashing custom firmware, although it is likely possible. And if custom firmware isn't working well, it's easy to flash back to the stock firmware. I'll also highlight the "Known Issues" section of the user guide. It's worth knowing some of the quirks of the scanner so you can know what to do if it starts misbehaving.

The only caveat/warning I can think of here is that IF the manufacturer has built ANOTHER new version (a hypothetical "E" version), and you flash the firmware to a non-supported version (A, B, C, D), you don't have a saved stock "E" version of the firmware to revert back to. That would affectively brick your scanner until someone else with an "E" scanner is able to extract and share a stock "E" firmware version, as has been done in these threads with Versions A, B, C, D. This makes me feel that there is a need in this little community to really nail down the whole "Serial Number = Version" knowledge base.

Re: Still frames. If memory serves, in either this thread or the old thread, there was discussion about accessing the uncompressed sensor data for higher quality image harvesting. 0dan0 shared some thoughts about this approach, and I could be misremembering, but I think the issue was that the hardware is lacking in memory needed to handle saving raw images at the speed that new images are captured. Instead, 0dan0 focussed on optimising the h264 compression (way WAY beyond the stock firmware) - allowing for much higher quality being saved into the MP4. He also identified and corrected some ridiculous scaling issues on the stock firmware that really hampered the image quality.

Note that while improvements/features of the modified firmware are definitely helpful compared to the stock firmware, the only way to significantly increase the image quality of scans is to embark on swapping the stock lens with a 12mm. But that is a heavy lift, indeed, and comes with added risk.