Super 8 Catalogue

The Super8wiki has a zillion cameras in its catalogue, most of the pages only give the bare stats about the camera. But sometimes there are some endorsements at the bottom of the page, this is reassuring and helpful. A mention of the camera might be found in other places, such as the Cinematography Forum and some individual blogposts. Footage taken with the camera is also nice.

As long as the camera is not a lemon, and shoots decent footage, I think it will be fine.

This is an excellent all-around Super8 camera; lightweight, easy to use and rather rugged. Additionally, the image quality is impressive and with the macro feature, the 310 XL is very flexible once it comes to your choice of subjects. One of the most memorable features of this camera is the fact that the battery indicator light, macro indicator, light exposure indicator and film rolling indicator are all within the viewfinder. It's truly amazing how this much information can be displayed in an entirely analog camera.

This is a very nice "run-and-gun" camera. While you have to rely on the auto-focus, it is responsive and works within 2-3 seconds to refocus. It's a very portable camera with good form factor to easily fit into a small bag. Like all Canons it has a bright viewfinder. While the lens itself is not very sharp, your results will look OK with a good quality HD transfer. Being able to film at f1.0 to me is a little overkill, there are plenty of cameras with much better lenses like the Elmo 612S-XL and Bauer S 709 XL that do well enough opening up to f1.2.

All-in-all a very cool camera to have for collection purposes, the last film camera that Canon ever made and totally unique in design compared to the other canon cameras. It's fun to admire but not worth buying for more than $40.

It's a sham Super 8 Camera Shop doesn't allow hotlinking, I think the cam would be okay, but limited in things like zoom e.t.c.

EDIT: Actually it WON'T be okay, I just looked at it, auto focus only.

Canon 512XL Autozoom Electronic is really nice camera. Its pretty big and little heavy for a super 8 camera. But the results are amazing! Viewfinder is Extremely sharp, bright, and big. The fixing the focus is quite confusing to some of super 8 filmmakers. The viewfinder looks blurry often but you have to look at the split screen on the center of the viewfinder. If you are filming under Existing Light or you are shooting a close up. If you turned to Macro feature, the viewfinder is crisp and clear. But not the split screen is not in perfect focus, You can focus the camera up to 5 centimeters! Which its really close to the lens. The Camera runs very quiet, perfect for making sound movies with recorders! This camera does have remote plug slot, You can buy Canon RS-60E3 digital remote for time lapse. It does work! You could make movies under candles, moonlight, or tiny LED lamps unless you are using VISION3 500T for those conditions. Sometimes you can use VISION3 200T, Tri-X, or Ektachrome 100D too. This camera is one of my favorite super 8 cameras. This camera is perfect for any conditions! I would recommend this, if you were looking for making shorts or movies under Dim conditions with a help of Canon's FAST f/1.2 LENS.

certainly not a detailed technical response, but I was warned off the 512XLs recently when getting ready to buy a new camera, by one of the few decent super 8 repair places in the UK, as they the manual aperture control develops significant problems with age…

(1014): they said something about them being affected by mould… but that may be me getting mixed up. when the manual aperture went, the automatix exposure was fine for a while, but gradually that went up the spout too

Thanks for the info it sounds like a the same foam stuff (apologies to the techies) might be in the 512XL. Maybeturning the manual knob pressurises foam stuff to control aperture.

This camera is great for making movies with extremely low light like candles or moonlight. It is a perfect quick simple Super 8 camera if you want to shoot under various lights from moonlight to sunlight. The results will be the best if you use high speed film-stock like VISION 200t or 500t. The prices of those cameras are sold are too overpriced nowadays. I recommend you use this if you are going on travel or quick making shorts.

but the 514XL-S doesn't allow for manual metering. Only exposure lock.

This is a nice camera with a fast lens and has a A/E lock , Also you can fit the canon wide angle c8.This and and the canon 310xl are very good camera s and small , Filming on the fly/ a good back up camera ,Theses where not cheap cameras in there day to buy. Made some good films with them love them .

Got a couple 514 XL home as I bought them for really cheap (like 20-25€) A fair compact camera to bring along whenever you're out.I like the compact size and the additional C8 attachement for "wide" angle shoots.

Even if lens is a bit soft, it works fine with fast film (ISO160) so that aperture is rather closed. I also use the 10sec run feature from time to time if I want to appear of the film. For longer shots I use a release cable with lock ring. On the other side, the lens focus ring is really loose which is not so great for accurate focusing. But with a bit of practise you can have decent images. Some will also notice the lack of high speeds (25 fps or higher) but for regular 18 fps clips it does the job.

As for the Canon 514XLS, on one hand I hate them, because of the auto only/ee-lock etc, don't read 64 etc. and I think they are much over-rated in certain circles (way over-priced on ebay for e.g.) but they deliver nice images and for $30 if that's what was in front of me I'd take it. It's not going to be my "last camera" (you really do want something better) but as a first camera for someone who might other wise pass, I'd say grab it. And then get a few more. It's $30! (How much did you pay for your DVX?) Load it up, lock it on and throw it off a bridge. Maybe the most expensive shot in the film but you got it.

More seriously, while I hate the limitations of auto-only cameras and counsel people away from them, it's nice to have a few low-light cameras around (514 XLS would qualify) because in many circumstances you are wide open anyway and the manual aperture doesn't matter.

This is an undervalued Canon with some of the features of the 814E and 1014E models at low cost. Its merits include 24fps running speed, no separate meter battery required and full cartridge film speed sensing. It probably does not have a solenoid release so beware "flash frames" when starting and stopping with the electric remote control button like the original 814 Autozoom. My example came in a smart black hard case that is much more durable than the soft cases supplied with later Canons that have mostly distintegrated after 35 years. The accessory 1.6 x front teleconverter is worth having making the zoom lens 15 to 76mm. A similar wide angle converter is useful too.

I'm a big fan of this camera. Its very tough and long lasting and many working examples are still around. The basic concept lasted until 1983 when the final examples of the sound version the 814XL-S were produced.

The TTL metering is accurate and recognises all Super 8 cartridge film speed notches up to EI 250. It requires button cells to operate the meter which is a nuisance. This was done away with the 814E that used AA batteries only.

I like the carrying strap on the top that is very useful and the camera is well balanced. It provides three of the most useful speeds 12, 18 and 24 fps but no slow motion. Large clear viewfinder with an excellent zoom lens. No macro so use a front close-up lens in the 58mm filter thread. It has single frame release by cable release so not suitable for automatic time lapse filming.

Second hand prices are very variable as it is collectable like all Canons but working examples without cases or instructions can be obtained for less than £20.

this is a good camera in general, and there's too much on the forum for me to quote it all here.

A highly desirable camera for both use and collecting. Generally reliable but cameras do fail electrically and become completely dead since there appears to be a weakness with the supply between the batteries in the grip and the camera body. Similar to the 814 Electronic but has a faster slow motion speed (54 instead of 40), superimposition and lap dissolve in addition and a superb 10:1 zoom lens of the same filter thread size (58mm) as the 814E. The wideangle end starts at 7mm. And as 6mm would have been better, an aspheric converter can be fitted for wider views. Cheaper than the sound version 1014 XL-S and hence better value for money using silent cartridges.