Modding the Kodak Reels 8mm Film Digitizer (Firmware Hack)

eyeidea

New Tinkerer
Jun 5, 2025
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Still getting some anomalies, FPS, data rates and also one capture stalled, the film was moving through, but the SD card just repeated the same frame for many seconds


Movie specs - 0dan0 V7.1 on Type C ...
Also I was seeing 464x224x256 in the WB values on this. Going above 256 for the first RGB value?

Screenshot 2025-10-22 at 1.32.35 PM.png



Went back to 0dan0 V7.0 on Type C and got this ....

Screenshot 2025-10-22 at 2.30.55 PM.png
 

0dan0

Active Tinkerer
Jan 13, 2025
220
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Still getting some anomalies, FPS, data rates and also one capture stalled, the film was moving through, but the SD card just repeated the same frame for many seconds


Movie specs - 0dan0 V7.1 on Type C ...
Also I was seeing 464x224x256 in the WB values on this. Going above 256 for the first RGB value?

View attachment 24141


Went back to 0dan0 V7.0 on Type C and got this ....

View attachment 24142
Seems you did get the update to work. You need to redownload v7.1

within the zip you will have 71a.
1761161740061.png


But otherwise would be hard to tell, also the file date is 10/22 not 10/21.
 

0dan0

Active Tinkerer
Jan 13, 2025
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> Also I was seeing 464x224x256 in the WB values on this. Going above 256 for the first RGB value?

Correct, users wanted the setting of 0 WB to look natural, however that is not neutral in RGB gains. 464/256 = 1.81 gain is applied to the red channel.
 
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0dan0

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Jan 13, 2025
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Argg! This is Mac issue, it is reading the fps from a different location in the file. ;( I have some more work to do.
 
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eyeidea

New Tinkerer
Jun 5, 2025
17
7
3
ok, new capture on V7.1a on Type C – also I am getting consistent data failure around the 17 sec. mark. Unit continues moving film, capture continues, movie hangs at ~17 sec and repeats same frame for the rest of the movie, in my case 51 sec mark. I am using SanDisk 280mbs SDXC II U3.

Screenshot 2025-10-22 at 2.53.43 PM.png
 

eyeidea

New Tinkerer
Jun 5, 2025
17
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If its any help ... here is Quicktime data on capture from V6.1
However this was a different Type C unit from January.

Screenshot 2025-10-22 at 2.59.31 PM.png


I am gonna try V6.1 on my current Type C unit and see what the result is.
 

eyeidea

New Tinkerer
Jun 5, 2025
17
7
3
Here's V6.1 on my newest Type C purchased a couple months ago ... looks like correct data, same SD card, no stalled frames or captures issues. 10 sec clips plays all frames

Screenshot 2025-10-22 at 3.12.40 PM.png


finally the correct screenshot
 

0dan0

Active Tinkerer
Jan 13, 2025
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Trying again for v7.1.

I did covered that the base timescale for the MP4 was hardcoded to 60000. To get the frame rate changes correct, a lot of code used 60000 directly at the assembly level. When fixing the 20fps to 18fps, all I changed was the numerator in the frame rate setting. But for 24fps, the numbers exceeded 16-bit, so I need to change the time scale.
This are all the locations I have found that I believe are timescale.
1761175284861.png


While the is unlikely to be useful information for others. It is here to keep a record. If something else breaks, one of these changes might have been wrong. I was searching for uses of 60000 in MIPS assemble code. Hoping these are all the timescales. I'm now using 20000 for the timescale (solving the 3x error you may have seen.)

Both Mac and Windows users need this fix. All working well in my testing.
 

Attachments

  • FWDV280-TypeA-V7.1.1-0dan0.zip
    5.5 MB · Views: 10
  • FWDV280-TypeB-V7.1.1-0dan0.zip
    5.5 MB · Views: 9
  • FWDV280-TypeC-V7.1.1-0dan0.zip
    5.5 MB · Views: 11

eyeidea

New Tinkerer
Jun 5, 2025
17
7
3
V7.1.1 working great on my Type C, no longer hangs (stalls) at 0:17, Quicktime .MP4 shows 18fps and ~22Mbit/s, picture looks very good.
Can't wait for my lens to arrive! Have boxes and boxes of old film that still needs to see the light.

Thank you @0dan0 and everyone else here making all this possible!

QuickTime info:
Screenshot 2025-10-22 at 11.17.23 PM.png


Sample from V7.1.1 on Type C
Stock Lens + Settings: Exp: Default WB: 0.0 Sharp: -1.0 Tint: 0.0 Frame: adjusted to a sweet spot
0dan0 7.1.1FW 001.jpg
 
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ThePhage

New Tinkerer
Oct 30, 2024
22
9
3
@0dan0 I tested the 7.1.1 firmware on my Model C scanner and a 5" reel scanned really well. Really great results with my 8mm scan (50' roll, no issues so far).

I'm developing an "Operating Guide" that incorporates your latest changes that I'll post here a little later; will edit as needed to help new-comers.

I did note that a 64 GB card I had been using with Mac84's firmware did not work well with 7.1.1, but a 32 GB card worked well with no issues.

Really liking the ability to set the Frame rate, Exposure Bias, White Balance, and tint. Particularly the recent WB trim adjustment for the LED backlight has been a solid improvement for me.

To confirm, is the Menu control labeled as "Tint" now functioning as a "Saturation" control where -2 is monochrome, 0 is normal color, and +2 equals very increased color saturation?

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, for all of these improvements. They are sooooooo good!
 
Last edited:
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0dan0

Active Tinkerer
Jan 13, 2025
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@0dan0 I tested the 7.1.1 firmware on my Model C scanner and a 5" reel scanned really well. Really great results with my 8mm scan (50' roll, no issues so far).

I'm developing an "Operating Guide" that incorporates your latest changes that I'll post here a little later; will edit as needed to help new-comers.

I did note that a 64 GB card I had been using with Mac84's firmware did not work well with 7.1.1, but a 32 GB card worked well with no issues.

Really liking the ability to set the Frame rate, Exposure Bias, White Balance, and tint. Particularly the recent WB trim adjustment for the LED backlight has been a solid improvement for me.

To confirm, is the Menu control labeled as "Tint" now functioning as a "Saturation" control where -2 is monochrome, 0 is normal color, and +2 equals very increased color saturation?

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU, for all of these improvements. They are sooooooo good!
Thank you.

Tint always acted as saturation control, but is setting went from 25% to 200% (guessing). I just made -2.0 set to 0% saturation, to make working with B&W film easier.

Yes 64GB card support is broken. Someone will have to go through all the releases to find out when that happened.
 
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