Hey,
I, myself, also have been looking into going to film. I have had the time to study the types of cameras available.

To answer your first question:
Yes you can get your film transfered to a Digital format to put on your computer. Most likely you will get it put to miniDV. You Never want to put footage on a DVD to edit it. DVD is for watching in a livingroom on a simple television. You will loose a fair bit of quaility going on to DVD.

Second, Ebay has some great deals, one type of super8 camera you might want to keep your eyes out for is a Beaulieu. Beaulieus are counted as the "high-end" Super8 cameras of yesterday.

To get Super8 cameras cheap, you can try looking thru: Ebay, garagesales, salvation army places & pawn shops.

Hope this helps!

Visualization is the art of seeing things invisible.

Thanks for the tip!

The cameras (beaullis sp?) that I checked out on ebay where in the hundreds of dollars.

Seeing as this is my FIRST camera and I only plan on making one or two films... I'm afraid I'm going a little downmarket. I did see one for 50 bucks, which might work.

Also- where would one get film transfered to the format above?

I've only done a bit with super 8, but let me see if I can help out:

1) There's a place called MovieStuff (www.moviestuff.tv) that will transfer your film to MiniDV or DVCAM tape (avoid DVD) for editing. Good quality, good price.

2) Those cameras all sound good, if a bit pricey. I myself use a QUARZ 1x8s-2; it's a spring-wound Soviet model that's built like a tank and is fairly cheap. Since it's spring-driven, the motor isn't as precise as those for the cameras you listed, but you can't shoot sync sound without a pricey crystal sync motor anyway, so it's not really an issue. Also, because there are no electrical components in a spring-wound camera you're more likely to find one that isn't really badly damaged.

Try B&H Photo (www.bhphotovideo.com) for reasonably-priced film.

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Andrew Gingerich
Exploding Goldfish Films
Check out my vodcast on iTunes: http://phobos.apple.com/WebObjects/MZStore.woa/wa/viewPodcast?id=96931870
and my blog at http://www.exgfilms.com

What's the word on a CANON AUTO ZOOM 518 SUPER 8M?

Should be a fine camera, as long as the lens is clean and all the components are in working order.