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Learning path · Shooting on film

16mm and Super 16

16mm and Super 16, Bolex to ARRI 416: loading mags, exposure, stocks and the workflow to a finished film.

Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course. This one prepares you for Camera department Foundation.

15 lessons · About 3 hours · New to set to working crew · Not started

Lesson 1

Kodak's 16mm Film: Getting Started

Analog Resurgence · 17:09 · original on YouTube

You will learn: Know Kodak's 16mm stocks, how to buy them and how the workflow runs.

Note: Check current stock list with Kodak.

By the end you will be able to

  • Explain 16mm, Ultra 16 and Super 16 and choose the right one
  • Load and run a Bolex, a Krasnogorsk-3, an Aaton and an ARRI SR or 416
  • Meter and expose Kodak 16mm stocks
  • Cost and run a 16mm shoot through lab, scan and edit

Test yourself

Could you do it on a set?

4 real situations, one for each thing this path teaches. It's optional practice, not pass or fail, and your answers stay on this device.

What's the difference between 16mm and Super 16?

A clockwork Bolex is fully wound. What limits your take?

You're shooting Kodak Vision3 500T indoors under tungsten. What do you set your meter to?

After wrap on a 16mm shoot, what's the right order?

Next: do it for real

This path prepares you for Camera department Foundation.

Eight lessons in the order a camera trainee meets the job: safety, who's who, prep, kit care, slates and camera reports, media, lenses and marks.

It's free and open in the pilot. Finish it to book a competency check, then a practical on our unit.

Start Camera FoundationBook a competency check

How learning with FIF works

Learning path. Free films in teaching order, for one craft. Watch, tick them off and test yourself. It's practice that prepares you for an Academy course.

  1. Learn onlineFree films, paths and Academy coursesYou are here
  2. Competency checkA short check with us, online or in person
  3. In-person practicalOn our unit at Pinewood or 3 Mills
  4. FIF CertificateFrom the practical only

The FIF Certificate comes only from the practical. How it works · Book a competency check

More on this

12 items

Go further

Beyond YouTube, labelled honestly. Free first. Paid options are labelled.

  • 16mm / 35mm Camera Familiarisation (5 days) Paid (about £965 freelance rate)
    NFTS. Hands-on with current 16mm and 35mm camera systems at Beaconsfield, including a rental house visit; next listed Feb 2027.
  • KODAK Film Lab London (Pinewood Studios) Paid per foot; ask for a quote
    Kodak. Kodak's own UK lab: colour and B&W negative processing and scanning for motion picture film.
  • Cinelab Film & Digital Paid; ask for a quote
    Cinelab. UK lab handling Super 8 to 65mm: processing, scanning, prints and film-out.
  • Kodak camera films (technical data) Free
    Kodak. Data sheets for every Vision3, Double-X and Ektachrome stock.
  • Buy Kodak motion picture film Paid
    Kodak. Official ordering route and current stock list.
  • British Society of Cinematographers Free to browse; events vary
    BSC. UK cinematographers' society; BSC Expo is the best place to see film cameras and meet rental houses.
  • ScreenSkills e-learning Free with sign-up
    ScreenSkills. UK industry body's free online modules, including camera department basics.
  • What film costs
    Shooting film is expensive. As a rough 2026 guide, a Super 8 cartridge (about 2.5 minutes at 24fps) plus processing and a decent scan often costs £100+, 16mm runs at hundreds of pounds per 400ft roll (about 11 minutes) once processed and scanned, and 35mm costs more again. Always get a lab quote first.

For learners and trainers

Train with us on a working unit

Every lesson is a free video by its original maker, played from YouTube with privacy-enhanced settings. Found a broken video? Email [email protected].