Modding the Kodak Reels 8mm Film Digitizer (Firmware Hack)
- Thread starter Mac84
- Start date
You just have the white balance wrong. You have the White Balance at 0, is should be +1.5 or +2.0 for this film. The white balance is reset with each firmware update.
I will try it again when I get home, but I messed with the settings for about 10 or 15 minutes and that was the best I could get.
If you still have a blue shift when you set a +2.0 WB, that would mean I have to increase the range in the firmware. So that would be useful feedback.
Sometimes, people used tungsten film outdoors, and if they forgot to use the orange filter, it caused a strong blue tint. My father has some footage with that noticeable blue tint, and the white balance setting can't fix it. Some cameras automatically applied the orange filter, while with others, it had to be done manually.
Many thanks to @Mac84 for starting this effort and to @0dan0 for the incredible firmware improvements that I can't wait to try when my Reels arrives next week. I have no knowledge / experience to share on the firmware front, but I think that I have located a US supplier for the 12mm macro lens recommended by @0dan0. RMA Electronics is currently selling the Azure Photonic AZURE-1228MAC for $84 here:
https://www.rmaelectronics.com/azure-photonics-azure-1228mac
If I'm not mistaken, all of the specs for this AZURE-1228MAC lens are identical to those for the Scorpion Vision SVL-1228MAC lens.
RMA Electronics is quoting me a price around $14 to ship the lens to my Midwest US address via UPS ground, resulting in a total cost of around $100.
I hope this info proves helpful to some of us US tinkerers.
You have found it. That totally looks like the correct lens. And it's priced correctly, it's a nice lens, quality glass.
Quick report on V6.9, type C.
Won't play back using the unit, although movies are saved to the card. When I press play on the unit it thinks for a second or two and then says Please Restart in bold text.
32GB card, FAT32. Already has 5GB of files saved files on it.
Won't play back using the unit, although movies are saved to the card. When I press play on the unit it thinks for a second or two and then says Please Restart in bold text.
32GB card, FAT32. Already has 5GB of files saved files on it.
I believe this is a known issue because the unit can't handle the bit rate of the video. It should play fine on a computer
No unit playback for about 6 months. I didn't even notice I had broken that for ages as it wasn't useful for high resolution quality testing. Goals have always been high quality, even at the expense of some convenience.
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I'm wishing I purchased this several months ago before all the extra taxes hit with more to come. Does this lens have an IR filter on it do you know?
See post #748 above for a US seller of that 12mm macro lens. Regarding your IR filter question, the spec sheet says "Design Wavelength: 400-950nm"... No mention of any filters.
Thanks to @sheider , here are local suppliers:
Lens: https://www.rmaelectronics.com/azure-photonics-azure-1228mac
Extension ring: https://www.m12lenses.com/7mm-Metal-Extension-Ring-for-M12-Mount-p/pt-erm12-700m.htm
7.0. Will have a fix for the issue would scanning over 16384 frames.
New ideas of v7.0 are welcome.
I want to add support negative film, as this setup currently does a very poorly. I was looking for the color matrix, figuring the Tint control might lead to something useful for inverting the image. I didn't, instead I found how to make a true black and white scan. So in 7.0, setting Tint at -2.0 will now remove all color. This is useful for scanning B&W Film, which would have a slight color cast in current firmware.
I'm ordered a 16mm Macro, to see if that is practical (trying AZURE-1622MAC https://www.rmaelectronics.com/azure-photonics-azure-1622mac/)
New ideas of v7.0 are welcome.
I want to add support negative film, as this setup currently does a very poorly. I was looking for the color matrix, figuring the Tint control might lead to something useful for inverting the image. I didn't, instead I found how to make a true black and white scan. So in 7.0, setting Tint at -2.0 will now remove all color. This is useful for scanning B&W Film, which would have a slight color cast in current firmware.
I'm ordered a 16mm Macro, to see if that is practical (trying AZURE-1622MAC https://www.rmaelectronics.com/azure-photonics-azure-1622mac/)
What are the chances of having (fairly rapid) auto-exposure that varies through the capture? Set a level on a good frame then try to maintain the same luminance level throughout the capture.
Many old cine films have normal bits followed by overexposed bits followed by dark bits followed by.... Just a few seconds each. The only way to cope with it at the moment is to scan multiple times at different exposure levels, and then chop the scans up in Resolve of FCX or whatever, selecting the best version of each segment.
I know that AGC wouldn't be right for ALL captures - it would ruin some. But to have it as a selectable option would be really good.
Many old cine films have normal bits followed by overexposed bits followed by dark bits followed by.... Just a few seconds each. The only way to cope with it at the moment is to scan multiple times at different exposure levels, and then chop the scans up in Resolve of FCX or whatever, selecting the best version of each segment.
I know that AGC wouldn't be right for ALL captures - it would ruin some. But to have it as a selectable option would be really good.