Kodak bringing back iconic Super 8 camera

PanARMENIAN.Net - Kodak is bringing back its classic Super 8 camera to the market, Digital Spy said.

The new version was announced at the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas.

The camera was famously used by filmmakers such as Steven Spielberg and JJ Abrams when they were teenagers.

It changed home movies after its original launch in 1965 due to its easily loaded film cartridge and the ability to record sound on the same film strip, although it was discontinued in 1982.

The new camera will be a hybrid of film and digital, with users able to get a digital copy of their film alongside the processed 8mm. It will also include an LCD viewfinder.

Those behind it have dismissed claims that it is too much of a hark back to the old days.

"This is not a retro design job," said designer Yves Béhar (via WIRED), who has worked with Kodak on the new Super 8.

Béhar, the serial design guru, is behind such products as the Ouya games console, Jambox speakers and the rebooted Sodastream, as well as many products for Jawbone.

"I was not interested in being directly inspired in what was done back then. The reason it looks retro is the size and the mechanical restraint of using a [film] cartridge."

He has described the new design as "a high-end DSLR camera case, rather than a less robust 1960s type of product".

Abrams, who directed the 2011 film Super 8, said of the relaunch (via The Guardian): "While any technology that allows for visual storytelling must be embraced, nothing beats film… The fact that Kodak is building a brand new Super 8 camera is a dream come true."

Christopher Nolan, who also grew up with the camera, expressed his excitement as well: "The news that Kodak is enabling the next generation of filmmakers with access to an upgraded and enhanced version of the same analogue technology that first made me fall in love with cinematic storytelling is unbelievably exciting."

The camera is expected to be priced between $400 and $750.