When Hollywood directors crave the texture, grain, and nostalgic vibe of vintage home movies, they don’t mess around with Final Cut Pro plug-ins. They shoot the real deal: Super 8mm film. Remember the haunting flashbacks in Oliver Stone's JFK? That’s Super 8. More recently, Ben Affleck used Super 8 for the U.S. embassy mob scenes in Argo. And Spike Lee may be Hollywood’s biggest Super 8 advocate. Almost all of his movies include 8mm vignettes.

Sadly, shooting with such vintage hardware can have considerable drawbacks. To begin with, the image these machines produce tends to be unstable. The pull-down claw used to advance the film can be highly imprecise and result in what projectionists call jitter and gate weave. Not surprisingly, the claw system can also cause jams while filming. Changing lenses usually isn’t an option either, and the standard internal filters used in the cameras can degrade resolution.

Logmar

But now indie filmmakers have a new option: the Logmar S-8. It's the first new Super 8 camera to hit the market in 30 years. Designed by an enterprising father-son team in Denmark, the Logmar is a Super 8 camera that combines the best of analog and digital technology. Pro-grade features on the Logmar include: rock steady picture stabilization, courtesy of a fixed pressure plate and precision milled registration pin; a camcorder-style, side-mounted swivel LCD display; C-mount threads for quick lens swaps; and programmable frame rates (16fps to 54 fps) and exposure times. Firmware updates are downloaded via a USB port. And, for armchair directors, there’s Wi-Fi remote-control capability; the Logmar generates its own hotspot and is compatible with Android, iOS, and Windows Phone.

For spec junkies, the brain of this beauty is the [ARM Cortex M3 CPU](file://localhost/htp/::en.wikipedia.org:wikiARM_Cortex-M), the industry standard for microcontrollers. Even better, film is spooled by the NASA-approved Maxon D.C. motor, the same workhorse used in the Mars Rover. The real break through is the S-8's real-time digital sound. Just slip in an SD card and record one lip-synchronous audio file per take. After shooting, connect the camera or SD card to a computer, drag the audio file underneath the digitalized film tracks in a video editor, and you’re halfway to Sundance.

Earlier this month, a bunch of industry professionals road tested a Logmar prototype in Los Angeles. Everyone from ASC card holders to film school honchos to Steven Soderbergh’s sound guy was there to kick the tires. The reviews were great, especially for the pristine, 16-bit/48 kHz sync sound capability. The U.S. distributor, Pro 8mm, is now accepting pre-orders. The first 20 Logmar cameras will ship in December, and are priced at $3,500 (sans lens). Prices will jump to $5,000 after the first production run sells out.