Tag: Nizo 801 Macro

NEW Nizo 2.7 Volt lightmeter power circuit

Posted on by digitalsuper8

2.7 Volt lightmeter power board for Nizo super8 camera

Presenting the latest solution for a 2.7Volts regulator circuit, to create a permanent solution for powering the lightmeter of the Nizo 8xx/5xx/4xx family of super8 cameras. These cameras normally require 2 buttoncell batteries of 1.35V each, which are hard or nearly impossible to come by nowadays.

We developed a new solution, on a dedicated tiny printed circuit board (10mm x 10mm), with only 3 components. It can be connected to the main battery supply of the super8 camera, and it supplies a rock-solid, constant 2.7 Volt output voltage that can be connected to the light meter circuit.

The circuit is designed around a dedicated voltage regulator IC. Packaged in a small SMD design this IC allows for a very small board design. Complemented with 2 capacitors the circuit board is a mere 10mm x 10mm in size. As a result it allows easy placement into the button-cell light meter battery container.

See this video for explanation and example installation of the regulator board into a Nizo 801 Macro super8 camera:

installing the Digital Super8 Lightmeter Power Board in a Nizo Super8 camera

The board has GND (black wire soldered to pad) and Vin (red wire soldered to pad) inputs and one Vout 2.7Volt output (the camera 2.7V lightmeter wire (usually yellow in Nizo’s) can be soldered to it). The EN pad can be left unconnected.

It is strongly advised to ensure that precautions are taken to isolate the board electronically to prevent short-cuts to ground. This is because the metal parts of the camera and the button-cell battery container cover are connected to ground. Using the provided shrink tube is advised.

Digital Super8 Cartridge footage in HD

Posted on by digitalsuper8

We shot some new footage to test the quality of the Digital Super8 Cartridge. Our software app takes the RAW Bayer images of the cartridge and performs S-Log encoding before we do any further processing. Using the Digital Super8 application we added contrast with S-curve and then applied individual S-Curves on the RGB channels to add warmth. Because Digital Super8 consists of individually captured 12 bit RAW images (global shutter) there’s a lot of flexibility in how to process afterwards. One could do B&W, natural color, warm, cool or whatever else. Also the software provided allows for export of TIFF image format.

The Nizo 801 Macro we used has some motor instability, leading to a bit of flicker.

Digital Super 8 outdoors test

Posted on by digitalsuper8

We took the wearable control unit and the Digital Super 8 cartridge outside for some portable testing.

At dusk we shot the grapes growing in the garden. First part is dark at 200 ASA but we also tested the autogain function that increases the CMOS sensor gain as necessary, leading to better brightness. At the cost of noise in the images of course.

We decided to not color correct the images, just take the 12 bit RAW images (as always) and do the gamma correction. But leaving brightness, saturation, contrast, red, blue and green in their default state. Pretty pleasing results, filmed with the Nizo 481 macro lense at dusk.

 

Black Edition Nizo 801 Macro

Posted on by digitalsuper8

Last week we picked up a mint condition black edition Nizo 801 Macro super 8 camera. And it came packaged in an original Braun Nizo ‘Trickbox’, including working charger and power supply.

We’ll check the camera and service it. Also apply the mod where we build in a voltage regulator circuit so the camera will not need 1.35V button batteries that are hard to come by.