GAF SS-805 Instruction Manual

GAF° SUPER 8

-

SOUND MOVIE CAMERA
INSTRUCTIONS

SS 805

FEATURES

1.

Automatic/Manual ex­posure selector wheel

2.

Movie light socket

3.

Filter button
Zoom ring with focal length

4.
scale and zoom handle

5.

Focusing ring with distance
scale

6.

Neutral density filter
switch

7.

Viewfinder eyecup

8.

Viewfinder eyepiece

adjustment wheel

9.

Footage indicator
Fade control switch

10.

11.

Backlight button

12.

Exposure battery tester/
monitor button

13.

Battery test light

14.

Motor battery tester
Power zoom switches

15.

16.

Film cartridge compart­ment cover latch

17.

Film type identification
window

18.

Viewfinder light stop

19.

Automatic exposure
adjustment switch

20.

Viewfinder

21. Trigger release

©GAF Corporation 1974

2

22.

Zooming-speed control

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.
Remote control outlet
Microphone outlet
Earphone monitor outlet
Electric eye battery
compartment
Audio gain switch
Tripod socket
Battery charger outlet
(also used for battery
booster pack)
Motor battery compartment
cover

@Reg. U.S. Pat. Off.; Marca Registrada;

Marque Deposee; GAF Corporation, New York, N.Y. U.S.A

Camera appearance
subject to minor changes

3

I

NDEX

Features
Condensed instructions
Installing electric-eye battery
Installing motor batteries

Testing batteries

Lens cap
Loading the camera
Film movement indicator
Footage indicator
Film end signal

Unloading exposed film

Locking the trigger release

Using the viewfinder

Focusing
Using the zoom lens
Exposure
Neutral density filter
Adjusting automatic exposure
Making movies
Backlight button
Outdoor movies
Indoor movies
Fade-in/fade-out control
Remote control
Lens shade
Filter size
Camera care
Sound movies
Microphone
Recording level
Recording signal
Microphone used as remote control

Editing sound movies
Monitoring the sound
Tips for better sound movies
Specifications

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2

4

6

6

6

7

7

8

8

9

9

10

12

13

13

14

14

14

15

15

16

16

17

17

17

18

18
18

22

Details
on page

5

6

6

17

18

Set audio gain switch

6.
to desired position

7.

Adjust viewfinder to
your eyesight

8.

Focus

Turn Automatic/Manual

9.
exposure selector switch

to click stop in "AUTO"

position

Observe subject through

10.

viewfinder and depress
trigger release halfway—
if needle at bottom of
viewfinder image moves
into area between red
segments, start filming
by depressing trigger
release all the way

Read entire booklet for detailed

CONDENSED

NSTRUCTIONS

I

Install batteries

1.

5

Test batteries

5

7

8

12

2.

Insert sound film

3.
cartridge

Plug in microphone,

4.
place it close to and
aimed at subject

Check sound record-

5.

ing light inside
viewfinder while
monitor button is held
depressed. Light will
flicker as sound of
sufficient level reaches
microphone. Sound
quality may be checked
with earphone
while monitor button

is held depressed.

Details
on page

17

8

9

10

13

information

18

19

I

NSTALLING ELECTRIC-EYE

BATTERY

A 6-volt silver oxide battery
(Eveready 544) powers the elec­tric eye. It is supplied with the
camera, either installed, or packed
separately in the camera box.

To insert battery:

Place camera on flat surface,

1.

upside down. Turn battery com­partment cover on bottom of
camera about

1

/4 turn in direction
of arrow, counterclockwise, as
shown in

Fig. 1.

Remove cover.

1

2

2.

Place battery in compartment

with plus (+) side towards the

bottom of the compartment

(Fig. 2)

3.

I

.

Replace cover.

NSTALLING MOTOR

BATTERIES

Swing open motor battery com-

partment cover on the bottom of

the camera handle

(

Fig. 3

Load battery compartment with
six AA size 1.5 volt alkaline bat­teries. The correct orientation of
the plus (+)and minus (—) ends

3

4

of each battery is shown on label

Fig. 4

in compartment and in

.

Close cover.
Standard (non-rechargeable)
alkaline batteries will drive up to
8 sound or 15 silent cartridges of

m through camera. When alka-

fil

ne batteries are not available,

li
zinc-carbon flashlight batteries
may be used above 55F, but will
be good for about 2 sound or

).

5 silent cartridges.

I

mportant:

Clean all battery
contacts before inserting and
thereafter at regular intervals.

Wipe both sides of each battery
with a rough material to remove

deposits. Since batteries may
develop a leak, remove them
before camera is stored.

Note:

In cold weather keep bat­teries warm, as cold batteries
tend to become inactive. To assure
adequate power, an auxiliary

battery pack (available as an

accessory) may be plugged into

battery charger socket. Keep
battery pack warm by carrying
it in inside coat pocket.

5

TESTING BATTERIES

Depress tester button marked

"Exp." ("A" in

electric eye battery.

Note:

Electric-eye battery tester

operates only when motor bat-

teries are installed.

Depress tester button marked
"Mot." ("B" in

motor batteries. If the batteries
are good, depressing either button
will turn on a green light in the
battery tester window ("C" in

Fig. 5).

dark while a button is held
depressed, the battery(ies) indi­cated by that button must be

5

Fig. 5)

Fig. 5

If the window remains

to test

) to test

replaced. Rechargeable motor
batteries may be recharged ac-

cording to instructions supplied
'with accessory battery recharger.
Test batteries again after

recharging.

LENS CAP

To remove:

Depress protruding tabs simul­taneously and pull cap away from

lens.

To attach:

Depress protruding tabs, press
cap against front opening of lens

barrel and release tabs.

LOADING THE CAMERA

Pull back latch and swing open

m compartment cover

fil

Insert Super 8 sound movie film

cartridge, label side up, film in
smaller opening toward lens. The
wider notch in the cartridge near
the label must be
tridge-locking pin
down the rear corners of the
cartridge until it clicks into
place.
Close cover firmly.
As the camera is loaded, the
cartridge automatically sets the
correct film speed for exposure
control. Use a film with 25/40 or

6

7

under

Fig. 7).

(

(

Fig. 6

the car-

).

Press

6

100/160 daylight/tungsten ASA

fil

m speed combination, or the

universal (type G) ASA 160 film.

The camera also accepts regular

(silent) Super 8 film cartridges
having the same ASA speeds

mportant: While handling

I
cartridge, avoid touching the
film. Moving film in either
aperture may cause the car­tridge to jam, making it
unusable.

As the footage indi­cator will continue to operate even
when the film is jammed, make
sure that the film advances prop­erly by observing the "Film Move-

ment Indicator" described below.

FILM MOVEMENT INDICATOR

A fast or slow flickering in the

m movement indicator above

fil
the viewfinder image (shown in

Fig. 8)

indicates that the film is

advancing properly. If the flicker-

ing does not start, or stops before
the end of the film is reached, the
cartridge may be defective and
should be replaced.

FOOTAGE INDICATOR

The needle in the footage indi-

cator shows how many feet

(yellow figures) or meters (white
figures) of film have been ex-

posed. All the film in the car-

8

tridge has been exposed when
the needle reaches 50 (feet) and
15 (meters).

FILM END SIGNAL

When almost all the film in the

cartridge has been used, a red
signal appears at the top of the

m movement indicator in the

fil
viewfinder (shown in

Fig. 8).

red area extends gradually. All
the film has been exposed when
the entire circle is covered and
the film advance indicator stops
flickering.

The

*When silent cartridges are used, the

camera will run slightly faster, at approxi­mately 20 frames-per-second.

7

UNLOADING EXPOSED FILM

When all the film has been
exposed, open the film compart­ment cover.
Depress all the way red "Eject"

9

button (shown in

Fig.

) and lift

out cartridge. The word

"EXPOSED" now appears on the

m in the smaller opening.

fil

HAVE THE FILM PROCESSED
WITHOUT DELAY

If a partially-exposed cartridge is
removed from the camera, some

m is lost and the needle in the

fil
footage indicator returns to zero.

LOCKING THE TRIGGER
RELEASE

The trigger release can be locked

in two positions:

1.

To prevent accidental opera­tion of the camera, lock trigger
by pushing it up, in the direction
of the arrow

2.

To get into the scene, place

(

Fig. 10

).

camera on a tripod, aim it at the
scene, focus, turn the light-stop
knob to the left*

(

Fig. 11

),

depress
trigger release, then push it up
to lock it. The camera will keep

running until the trigger release
is unlocked.

USING

THE VIEWFINDER

The bright, through-the-lens re­flex viewfinder shows each scene
as it will appear projected on the
screen.* The rubber shield on the
viewfinder eyepiece may be turned
to fit either eye.
To adjust the viewfinder to your
eye:

Zoom lens to the 60mm tele-

1.
photo position by depressing

front power-zoom switch, marked

"Tele".

2. Align the ∞ (infinity) symbol on

the focusing ring distance scale
with the reference line on top of

9

MPORTANT:

I

with microphone switch or accessory remote control,

When camera is operated in the remote mode, either

10

unlock trigger release BEFORE removing film cartridge.

*The light-stop knob closes the viewfinder

to prevent light from entering the optical
system from the rear. To open the view­finder, turn the light-stop knob to the right.

8

be sure to

11

"If the view is blocked, turn the light-stop

knob to the right.