Home Movies and Home Talkies (Jun 1932-May 1933)

14 HOME MOVIES & HOME TALKIES pictures to the foot and both fihns are rirn at the same speed, namely, sixteen pictures a second for ordinary work. And thus it follows that a direct comparison of cost can be made on a length basis. While the 9^-mra. film is sold in nominal thirty-foot lengths in dayliffht loading containers, it is not possible to use the full thirty feet owing to short lengths being necessary as a blank "leader" and "trailer" for the beginning and the end respectively. The 16-mm. film is sold in either fifty or a hundred-foot lengths, and all is utilised. Cost of Development and Printing The 9i-mm. film is sold at 2s. 7d. for a thirty-foot reel and the (.levelopment and printing (the same film is used for projection as for taking) costs another 2s. Thus your thirtyfoot reel ready for projection costs 4s. 7d. The )6-mm. film costs 26s. for a hundred-foot leel (or slightly more proportionally for a fifty-foot reel), ' but this cost includes free development and printing. Thus roughly speaking the 16-mm. film processed and ready for projection costs half as much again, and a comparLson of the picture area available (which is a much fairer way to com On the right the " Ensign Auto Kinecam," an ill-British 16-mm. camera of high grade, selling for £18 18s. pare than by merely comparing the width of the film) shows that it is practically half as big again. 9| min. Advantages An advantage of the 9|-mm. film is that it is less buUtj' and can be purchased in small and convenient lengths at a lower cost than the 16 mm., and the disadvantage is that more frequent camera loadings are required, and at the time of writing only orthochromatic and not panchromatic film is avaUable. The This Ensign motor-driven projector, fitted with a 100-watt lamp, gives a big and brilliant picture, and costs £15 15s. This, with the camera above, provides a first class outfit capable of all kinds of work, including slow motion, for under £35. 16-nim. film costs more but for the same available light will give a bigger picture and is available in ]ianchrotnatic, double speed lianchromatic iind kodacolor or natiual colOLu film. It is more bulky to carry and costs more than the 91 mm., but a much wider range of cameras and projectors is available for use with it. More Light with " Sixteen " A.S a user of both film sizes I can confirm t hat excellent jiictures are obtainable wit h either, but a very important ] oint to consid e r w h e n choosing one's outfit is the size of picture you The standard Baby Pathe projector, which costs £6 15s., and has done so much to popularise home movies. will want to show on your screen and the brilliance you flesire. The linninosity of the less expensive 9i-mm. projectors is low, for thej' have only 14-watt lamps, although they use these very etficiently. In order to obtain a large and brilliant picture with a 9i-mm. film one must pay over twenty pounds for a projector, and as excellent 1 6-mm. projectors can be obtained for less than this figure this point should beborne in mind. In order to ha^-e very bright pictures sufficient to fill a screen suitable for lecture purposes a projector using at least a 100-watt lam]! is essential. In 16-mm. projectors one can get up to 400 -watt lamps giving almost " theatre " brilliance when requii-ed. High-grade Outfits Returning once more to cameras, while the cheape.st 9i-mm. camera sells for six guineas and a very much better one for ten guineas, the cheapest reliable 16-mm. camera costs thirteen guineas. This is designed to take fifty-foot reels only. Round about the £18 mark several excellent 16-mm. cameras to take hiuidred-foot reels are available, ami for less than twenty pounds one can get all kinds of refinements, such as slow motion, interchangeable lenses, half speed, and the like. The real enthusiast can easily spend well o\'er a hundred pounds on his camera, the numerous refinements fitted on the most expensive cameras giving not so much better pictures as the ability to take pictures in what would otherwise be very difficult circumstances. I have seen many fihns taken on a thirteen-guinea 16-nim. camera which could not be beaten on the most exjaensive instrument, and 1 have seen horrible fihns taken with a camera costing over a hundred pounds. In cinematography, as in still photography, one can pay almost any price for one's camera, and often the skilful man with the cheap camera gets the best results.