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Learning path · Shooting on film

Super 8 and 8mm

Shoot, expose, process and scan Super 8 and 8mm, and why filmmakers still choose the smallest gauge.

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

How to Shoot on Super 8 Film

DSLRguide · 3:48 · original on YouTube

You will learn: Describe the basic steps of shooting Super 8, from buying film to getting it back.

Note: Short and friendly overview from a UK creator; prices quoted are out of date.

By the end you will be able to

  • Choose, test and load a Super 8 or Double 8 camera
  • Pick the right Kodak stock and set exposure with a meter and the camera's filter
  • Send film to a lab, or process it at home, and get a usable scan
  • Plan and budget a short Super 8 project

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.

You've just bought a used Super 8 camera. What do you do before shooting anything you care about?

You're shooting a tungsten-balanced 500T Super 8 cartridge outdoors in daylight. What does the camera's filter switch do?

Your Super 8 is back from the lab. What gives you the best footage to edit?

A 50ft Super 8 cartridge at 24 frames per second gives you roughly how much screen time?

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.

  • Kodak Super 8 tips Free
    Kodak. Kodak's own shooting tips for Super 8.
  • Kodak Super 8 films Free to read; film is paid
    Kodak. Current Super 8 stocks with technical data.
  • Super 8 processing: the Hollywood treatment Free to read
    Analogue Wonderland. UK retailer's guide to getting Super 8 processed and scanned.
  • Pro8mm Paid
    Pro8mm. US Super 8 and 16mm specialist: film, processing, scanning and camera rental; useful reference for workflows.
  • Cinelab Film & Digital Paid; ask for a quote
    Cinelab. UK lab handling Super 8 to 65mm: processing, scanning, prints and film-out.
  • Kodak lab locator Free
    Kodak. Find labs that process each gauge worldwide.
  • Film Photography Project Free to browse; products paid
    FPP. Guides and supplies for 8mm and 16mm hobby shooting.
  • LUX Free and paid
    LUX. UK artists' moving image agency; events and workshops, often on film.
  • 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].