8 mm film

There are also two other varieties of Super 8 – Single 8 mm and Straight-8 – that require different cameras but produce a final film with the same dimensions.

When Eastman Kodak first conceived the 8 mm format, no provision was made for the addition of a sound track.

Nevertheless, in the 1960s, projectors appeared on the market that were capable of recording and replaying sound from a magnetic stripe applied to the film after it had been processed.

A much narrower stripe was sometimes added to the opposite edge so that the film piled up evenly on the spool, but was never used for sound.

It featured a better quality image and was easier to use mainly due to a cartridge-loading system that did not require reloading and rethreading halfway through.

To easily differentiate Super 8 film from Standard 8, projector spools for the former had larger spindle holes.

One major advantage of the Super 8 system was that as the camera pressure plate was a part of the cartridge, it could be moulded to the profile of the stripe(s) on the film.

Projectors also appeared on the market which took advantage of the balance stripe next to the perforations by recording and replaying stereo sound.

Introduced in 1965 as an alternative to the Kodak Super 8 format, it had the same final film dimensions but with a different cassette.

Although the rebated stock was more expensive to manufacture, a balance stripe on the opposite side of the film was rendered unnecessary and offset the cost.

The first single-run 8 mm film was offered in 1935 with a Bell & Howell movie camera Filmo 127-A called Straight Eight.

Single-width 8 mm film revived in the United States by Bolsey-8 in 1956 and continued for some time outside the United States, with Germany Agfa Movex 8 [de] between 1937 and 1950s and Soviet Union KOMZ Ekran movie cameras and Svema offering reversal film in 1960s.

[1] Introduced in 2011 by Nicholas Kovats[2] and implemented by Jean-Louis Seguin, this format uses Standard 8 film in a modified Bolex (H16 or H8) camera.