A $5,495 Disappointment | Kodak Super 8 Film Camera

This video discusses the release of the long-awaited Kodak Super 8 film/digital hybrid camera. Kodak announced this camera over eight years ago, and it is now reaching the market. With a price tag 10x greater than initially communicated, is there a market for Kodak to fight for in the long-vacated Super 8 film space?
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Leave a comment if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them.

Thanks to @kodak @KodakSuper8 for the footage.
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Josh Diaz is a Commercial Director of Photography and Affiliate Member of the Canadian Society of Cinematographers. He’s also an Adobe-certified Video Editor.

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[dat_bernie]

When Kodak first announced this, the price was going to be $400-$700, there would be a film ecosystem where youd purchase film+processing for about $50 a pop. Then they upped the expected price the next year, then nothing for 5+ years... The fact that it still has a micro usb lets me know there was just a first production run of these things sitting for that entire time, and in 2023 someone had the brilliant idea to offload them. So unfortunately, I dont think this is the first step in a film camera relaunch, theyre just cutting losses here.

[johnnywishbone]

Kodak invented digital photography in 1975. Then proceeded to do nothing and let the rest of the world surpass them. Selling a $5k stupid hybrid retro film video camera is right in line with their business sense.

[gblatt]

If this were a 16mm camera, the price would be fully justified.

[MrNategates]

I actually thought it was a joke when I saw the price 😂
There are SOOO many quality working used super 8 cameras on eBay for a few hundred $ (I have a couple myself).

[cngodles]

The film ecosystem was, by far, the most compelling part of the Kodak Super 8 project. They talked about having a network of partners that would make digitizing your film easier and cheaper. Let's be honest: very few people will shoot Super 8 films to play them back on a projector. This is about getting that film effect into digital video. I shot two 50' cartridges six years ago, and it cost close to $200 to buy the film, get it processed, and scan it to 2K. If Kodak could ever get a hold of the processing ecosystem, the cost-to-shoot could drop, and shooting Super 8 could finally become more than an expensive or professionals-only activity. Even after announcing that the cost would be $400 to $750 for the camera in 2016, they promised that a less expensive model would come in 2017. When I got the email that I could finally get in line to buy the camera, I was shocked that it was over $5, 500. I would love to hear the inside story of this project.

[cdrob]

feels like an april fools joke that took 6 years to tell

[williamlasl]

It seems to me the key here is “limited edition.” Kodak is not pricing a tool. Kodak is pricing a luxury lifestyle accessory. It is kind of like the Leica business model.

[apocaalypso]

When you see the prices of 35mm photo film and now this, you really start to wonder if Kodak is not just trying to kill film once and for all…

[andersonslade]

The last time I filmed on Super 8 I think the film was $13 and about the same for processing. Niche is the word.

[SilverAndSensor]

I’ve just paid £420 for a Canon 1014 from eBay and I thought I was getting robbed at that price for a super 8 camera. Prior to that the most I paid was £100. The inherent Lo-if picture quality of super 8 isn’t going to change that much whether it’s a low end or high end camera. Shoot it with a £100 potato and be done!

[JesticeBrown]

Kodak saw what Leica did with the M6 and thought they could get away with it.

They should make a 16mm or 35 mm version and price that at $5300

[blabla]

this is built and marketed as a cine super8 camera through and through. a high end cine super8 camera kind of makes sense in the sense that super8 cameras are being used as an niche artistic choice nowadays. most productions will just rent these, as they do with arris, lenses and the like.

[seal-nowweretalking]

Thank you Brother. I was on the list and received a notification from B&H saying, “As an early enlistee you’re receiving this email letting you know that your camera is ready for order. Failure to do so before Wednesday 19th June, (two days from now) will result in you losing your spot!”

After seeing this review, you’ve just saved me $5, 500!!

Thanks again for the dose of reality.

[CreativeClones]

Feels like a missed opportunity. Having shot on my 1960s Super 8 for the past 3 years, I'd love to have a go on a modern Super 8, but not for that price. $2000 would be my limit, so I guess I'll just keep shooting on my old camera, nothing lost, nothing gained.

[theisenchristophe]

I am pretty convinced that this is a good thing. This Camera is for the hypebeasts. People that dont care about the money, they want that thing. I think the reason this exists is because Kodaks priority is to survive and continue to produce film. But they have been losing money left and right since they came back. This is why film prices have spiked during the last years. They are not a profitable company. Every single one of those cameras that will be sold will have a crazy high profit margin. Is the price high? Of course, it's ridiculous. But I can really imagine this product only exists to keep their unprofitable film business afloat. And if that is the case and it works, I have no problem with it at all.

But mixing the LCD, which is a super cool idea, with micro usb...thats just too much.
They should have made it a high quality camera with top of the line specs. The design is great. But if it feels cheap, that would break the concept.

Making money of off the film won't work. They are trying. Look at their prices, they raised them so much to become profitable. They went bankrupt almost twice now trying to make their money by selling film. It does not work in the digital era. I guess this is part of their solution for this problem. And I think it might just work. Look at A24, a Producer House in Hollywood that still makes midbudget, artsy, non-blockbuster movies in 2023. And they keep (or at least used to keep) themselves afloat by selling merchandise. This merchandise is not as ridiculously expensive as this camera, but I think it's a similar concept. If Kodak continues to feed into this very market, that is until now only filled by pixii and leica (with the difference that those cameras are actually great), that might just work for them.

I know it's a far fetched take, especially at this ridiculous price, 3000 would've been better for a well produced camera, but I think its a possibility.

[benjamingentile]

It’s gotta be designed as a specialty camera for a production company that makes music videos and through a a few shots of “real film” in a music video

[filmnobelpreis]

Super 8 mm used to be a perfect format for home movies. Professional films were always shot on 16 or 35 mm film.
Releasing an amateur camera that costs more than 3 BlackMagic Ursas - which have been used professionally - is ridiculous.

[samprstn]

The things you said in this video instantly make me realise this camera isn’t marketed to you or for you.

‘Retro style film camera’
‘Film style video camera’

‘Nobody has been developing it other than kodak’ There have been other companies trying to make a super 8 camera, logmar most recently from whom kodak bought this concept from for the new camera.

‘Unique to view your film on an lcd’ Every 16mm 35mm and 65mm camera used in a professional environment will have a video tap for viewing digitally.

‘you can only record audio at the lower frame rates’ The fact that you can even record any internally digitally recorded audio on a film camera is pretty much a 1 of a kind. Not to mention it’s crystal sync for sync sound which is also a professional feature almost no super 8 cameras have.

‘3 minutes at 18fps’ 3.5 minutes at 18 and the camera isn’t made to shoot interviews obviously.

‘shooting film for the film aesthetic’ 🤨

‘super 8 was birthed in a need to save money’ No it wasn’t it was created as an easy to use format, no home movie was going to be shot on 35mm. Also it kodaks super 8 films were never cheapest. So if you started with super 8 on a budget you likely weren’t shooting kodak film.

‘when 35mm got too expensive people went to 16mm and down to 8’ again, no they didn’t, most people who shot 8mm never shot 35 or even 16.

‘it prices everyone out of buying the camera’ It prices out people who want to ‘try out the film aesthetic’ sure but it’s not made for that type of person. It has professional features for people wanting to shoot low budget music videos or indie shorts.

‘kodak should’ve gone the direction of printer makers’ nice idea now all the film would be even more expensive because you can’t differentiate super 8 for the kodak camera and super 8 for other consumers.

‘the product they’ve been subsiding on’ they make almost an irrelevant amount of income from their film business, their earnings report confirmed that. In fact that subsidise their film business with their other businesses.

‘they could’ve given us a more expensive system to invest in down the line’ This IS the expensive system. it’s got professional features, if you want to experiment, buy that old super 8 camera off ebay. But if you want one that looks good and you can put modern lenses on and sync sound with, you have to buy this.

‘you can grab any number of film cameras’ literally my point previously.

‘it has micro usb’ yeah fair enough the design is the same from 2017 but they should and might have to change it to usb c before selling in the eu

‘i don’t see very many people buying them’ i can assure you this will be sold out pretty quick, just like the logmar professional super 8 camera that now costs over 10k.

‘indulge in the novelty’ sure there will be some collectors, but this is for schools, rental houses, indie film makers, music video shooters etc.

‘the price is just so unhinged’ yes, it’s expensive, but it’s not unhinged for a limited production camera. Cameras can only be cheap if you build 100k units. this isn’t that, it’s custom built, sourcing all those parts in small quantities, paying the labour to assembly it not on a production line, not to mention the huge amount of r&d on an item that isn’t mass market. Capitalism and consumerism has caused the idea that everything has to be cheap, this just cannot be priced any longer at the expected 700$ or 2500$ because of the costs associated with it.

‘that kodak has to fix’ they literally do not, they will sell them all at this price to people who value what they’ve made.

I won’t be buying it, but that’s also partly for other reasons than the price, but it’s seemingly not for people like you anyway, so it just joining in the bashing of a project just because you don’t see the benefits of the product seems a bit out of touch.

[DesertPunks]

If Kodak went the route of the Instax cameras, with the bubbly, matte white plastic aesthetic for the camera, and marketed to tiktok polaroid crowd they would have a hit

[EpictheEpicest]

The $5, 500 limited edition price seemed like an "influencer" price to me, like some out-of-touch marketing exec thought he could get Marquez Brownlee to spend that for first dibs on the camera. Except young people generally don't care about film because it's not accessible or affordable anymore.