any Mamiya 16mm users here?

[Spanik]

I got carried away by these little beauties and have a couple of them now. But I'd appreciate any tips on how to use and get something out of them.

Got 2 sets of single spools but now the question is how to fill them and with what? So I end up with a few questions:

What kind of film should I load in it? The only "real" 16mm I can find is Fomapan 100R reversal film. But what about this "reversal" stuff? Can you develop this as an ordinary film? I'm not very knowledgable about development (done it once under guidance with a HP5+ 120 film) but I got a tank from a friend that will take 16mm.

Ilford is the easiest to find around here, both for chemicals and film. How much hassle is it to cut up film?

And what about 100 iso, looks low for this kind of camera.

 

[Dwig]

"E=Spanik;2296609]...The only "real" 16mm I can find is Fomapan 100R reversal film. But what about this "reversal" stuff? Can you develop this as an ordinary film? ...[/QUOTE]

Reversal film is "ordinary film". "Reversal" specifies how the film is to be processed to yield it's normal result, which is usually a color positive. When sold as movie film the term "reversal" is the norm. When sold for single frame still images it is usually marketed as "slide" or "transparency" film, the former term implied it is expected that the film will be mounted (e.g. 35mm) and the later that it will be left unmounted (e.g. 4x5 sheet film)

...And what about 100 iso, looks low for this kind of camera. ...

The Mamiya-16 models can't properly handle anything faster than ISO 50 when shooting under normal daylight conditions since their top shutter speed is 1/100th and their smaller f/stop is f/11. The later Super-16 models added a 1/200th top shutter speed and could deal with ISO 100 films. Using an ISO 400 film (e.g. HP5) would force the use of the built in red filter, something appropriate only when shooting B&W.

 

[Spanik]

So that reversal film is no good without the appropriate development? Then cutting film is the only option left.

Ok, got the point about iso 100 but it is surprising. I just pointed my lightmeter outside and it tells me to use 1/30s at f/8. And it is rather sunny for the time of the year. Now 1/30 with a 25mm lens looks a bit limit to me.

 

[Dwig]

So that reversal film is no good without the appropriate development? Then cutting film is the only option left.

Ok, got the point about iso 100 but it is surprising. I just pointed my lightmeter outside and it tells me to use 1/30s at f/8. And it is rather sunny for the time of the year. Now 1/30 with a 25mm lens looks a bit limit to me.

The "sunny 16" rule is that at ISO 100 you would need 1/100th @ f/16 or 1/200th @ f/11 for a proper exposure. This is true for mid latitudes and in unpolluted conditions. In the "frozen barren north" in the dead of winter you may need to open up as much as one stop. In large cities you never get true full sunlight. The pollution reduces light from 1/2 stop to as much a 2-3 stops.

Your 1/30th @ f/8 would be correct for bright open shade, on a sunny day, or moderate overcast with an ISO of about 50, assuming you are in the middle latitudes ( e.g. US or southern Europe), but might be closer to a reasonable sunny day reading if you are further north (e.g. Canada, northern Europe, ...)

 

[Dwig]

So that reversal film is no good without the appropriate development? ...

No film is good without "appropriate development", period.

 

[Spanik]

No film is good without "appropriate development", period.

Sure, but what I meant is "reversal film needs reversal development". You cannot treat it as a negative film and get a usable negative out of it.

Your 1/30th @ f/8 would be correct for bright open shade, on a sunny day, or moderate overcast with an ISO of about 50, assuming you are in the middle latitudes ( e.g. US or southern Europe), but might be closer to a reasonable sunny day reading if you are further north (e.g. Canada, northern Europe, ...)

Sunny clear day in Belgium metering a landscape.

 

[zuiko85]

I have a Mamiya 16 Super camera and have loaded it with Eastman 7222, Double-X, a 16mm single perf B&W negative film. I bought mine directly from Kodak, 100 ft. spool for about $38 shipped to my house. I called them at 1-800-621-3456 to order. This has been about two years ago but they still show the ph# as valid.

Double X is a regular B&W negative movie film. A negative film is used when you want to make copies of a film. It has a daylight ISO of 250 and tungston speed of 200. The grain is fairly pronounced so I only make enlargments to 5X7, that is a 12X enlargment. I use it in my Minolta 16II also.

I develop in an ancient Yankee tank with adjustable plastic reels that go down to 16mm. A new Yankee tank (rather more cheaply built now) that will do 16mm is still available from B&H photo for $16.95 plus shipping. It is called the Yankee Clipper II.

I develop in HC-110, 1:63 dilution used as a one shot, about 11 min. @68F.
I enlarge using a Mamiya EnlaHead that has it's own condenser lens an 25mm f3.5 enlarging lens. It threads into the enlargers standard 39mm lens mount.

My Mamiya 16 was dropped and the front housing with viewfinder frame and filter holder was heavely damaged so it now is extensively modified with a cold shoe on the end for a VF and a homemade adapter for series 5 filters that attaches via the tripod socket.

Actually, for 16mm I perfer my Minolta 16II cameras. Most of the time I have the #0 lens on them that brings focus to 10M other wise the lens is fixed focus to 2.5M.

If in good shape the little Mamiya 16 Super and Super III are really nice little cameras with a 25mm f3.5 lens focusing down to 1 ft. I was really bummed when mine fell out of my pocket and landed hard onto a concrete floor. The front sheet metal took all the impact and I was never able to strighten it out well enough for it to work right.