The Canon Cine Zoom 512
Specifications:
Lens: Canon C-8
Focal Length:8.5mm - 42.5mm
Aperture: f1.2 - 22
Focusing: 1m - infinity
Exposure: Built in Manual only
Power Zoom Batteries: 2 x AA (needs power grip)
Film Speeds: 10 - 400 ASA
Frame Rate: 12,16,24,32,48 & 64
Motor: Clockwork - 1 wind will allow approx 62sec filming at 16fps
Light Meter Batteries: 1 x Wein Cell MRB625 (needs adaptor)
Filter Size: 48mm
Film Capacity: 25ft
Filming Experiences:
If the Leicina 8SV is the plain Jane of the camera world then the Canon Cine Zoom 512 is the babe! If size matters and you want to get noticed then get the 512. Fellow film makers will be salavating and everyone will want to get their hands on your equipment!
Canon released the camera in June 1964 and it was designed to show off what could be done with 8mm movie camera technology.
It's a lot larger than any of the other Standard 8 cameras (except the H8) and heavy too but it is a quality piece of kit.
There are three things I didn't like about the camera -
- the thumb wheel for setting the aperture is awkward to use
- the light meter cannot be set for 100ASA, however there are three ways around this. All methods require you to set the exposure meter to 25ASA. You can then close the variable shutter setting the lever to "4" the meter reading will then be correct, set the match needle two stops higher than the meter indicates (if the meter shows f5.6 set the aperture to f11) or use a 4X neutral density filter.
- the pressure plate cannot be removed for cleaning
On the positive side it only needs two winds of the spring to run one side of a reel through so it's very unlikely you would run out of wind during a scene. It also has a reverse wind clutch using the power of the motor to rewind the film for lap disolves/ double exposures, rather than the hand cranking with a seperate handle used by most cameras.
The lens is limited on the wide angle side, the Leicina 8SV opens to 7.5mm and a Kern Switar 5.5mm is available for the H8, but it has a powerfull 42.5mm telephoto with the legendary Canon C-8 lens.
Loading film is also very straight forward, flick the gate lever back and thread it through.
Further infomation on this camera can be found at Canon's Camera Museum website.
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