The Beaulieu 4008 was built until summer 2002. During the more than 30 years of production, Beaulieu different models of the 4008 were produced. This page should be useful to identify a 4008 on sale, those with clueless sellers and blurry photos, and help you to make up your mind which 4008 suits you best. When comparing pictures, don't be mislead by the colors. In general Beaulieus are dark grey, the M3 is black.
| Model | Notes | Lens | |
|
4008s | No power zoom, no macro lens | Schneider-Kreuznach 1:1,8/7-56, no macro |
| 4008 ZM | Power zoom | Angénieux 1:1,9/8-64, no macro | |
| Angénieux 1:1,9/8-64, macro | |||
| 4008 ZM II | Tape recorder start/stop socket, Erlson pilottone socket, later models declutch button for rewind | Angénieux 1:1,9/8-64, macro | |
| Schneider-Kreuznach 1:1,8 / 6-66, macro | |||
|
4008 M3 | No power zoom, black crinkled paint. Not all seem to have the declutch buton | Schneider-Kreuznach 1:1,8 / 6-66 |
| 4008 ZM 4 | Power zoom, declutch button for rewind and 80fps max speed | Schneider-Kreuznach 1:1,4 / 6-70mm, macro only at 6mm | |
| Angénieux 1:1,4 / 6-80mm, macro only at 6mm |
I have seen 4008ZM2 with a very desireable Angénieux 1:1,2 6-80mm lens, but have no idea if this was a standard or custom model. As you can obviously see, this overview is not complete. Should you have addditional information, especially about the M3, I'd appreciate if you drop me a mail :o)
Let us discuss the differences. Basically, all 4008 models share the same design and main features, that set them apart from the rest of super8 cameras. In the table above you can see which features were added from the entry offer, the 4008, to the top-model 4008 ZM IV. The choice is yours!
Next to useless, in my opinion. Indispensable though if you are after the "home movie" style, where continuos zooming and panning are the typical elements. A manual zoom will not deliver the smooth zoom needed for "home movie" look. Zoom lenses are fine for accurate framing and chosing the best focal length, and exact focussing in the tele position if the zoom holds focus throughout it's range. A manual zoom lens makes you do all that within the fraction of a second, a power zoom lens takes an eternity.
Not al lenses have a macro option, and the macro does not work the same on the lenses that have it. Some offer macro through the entire zoom range, the latest only at the shortest focal lenghts.The lenses that offer macro in the entire range seem more practical to me, I feel that the latest lens with the restricted macro is some sort of a downgrade. Funny that they're mounted on the most attractive ZM4 series.
Here's an important and much talked about feature. The ZM 4 and late ZM II models offer the possibilty to rewind the film, and double exposure. This opens the door to some inetersting effects, he most important being the dissolve, but also ghost images, filming separate parts of the frame and so on. If you want to project your film, all these effects can only be done in camera. If you're final product is digital, all these things can be done easily on your computer.
But, like always, there is a "but". This is not so easy to do, due to the very nature of super8. rewinding film has been easy on all other formats, like regular8, single8 or 16mm. Like on a tape recorder, you have two spools there, and can rewind when ever and how much ever you want. With super8, things are different. In the beginning, rewinding was not possible at all in super8. Nikon invented a way to overcome this limitation, you can read all about it here.
Well, then are you likely to do it with a 4008? I don't know, while I have all necessary equipment, I never tried it because it is just to much hassle for me. You have to press the declutch button, which makes the takeup spool stop. Then you close the variable shutter lever for the fade. You screw on the "rewind button" and rewind, using the frame counter as a reference. Then, you continue filming. Hmm, up to now I found no opportunity to do this in real filming situations. A tripod is mandatory, unless you have three hands. Other cameras. like the Bauer s715XL, do the rewind and dissolves automatically. This is far more useful, IMHO.
For a slow motion effect, you need to film at an higher fps rate than normal. More frames are exposed than normally. Since the projecting speed is constant, this results in a slow motion. The ZM IV offers a maximum 80fps, while all other 4008 have 70fps. If you ask me, both numbers are very impressive, and way ahead of all other super8 cameras. Just to compare - my Bauer s715XL, Bauers all-time top camera, offers only 48fps. What's the difference between 70fps and 80fps? I doubt that I will even come close to using these in my films, but it's nice to have the option - and you will with all 4008 models be able to slow down fast action in an impressive, and incredibly smooth way. Forget the stroboscope-like slomo that you're used to in video! But lets do the math:
One second filmed real time results in these projecting times, according to the fps values:
| Normal fps | 70fps | 80fps |
| 18 | 3,88sec | 4,44sec |
| 24 | 2,91sec | 3,33sec |
Now, if you ask me.. I certainly would not say "no" to a ZM IV coming my way, but I would not pay any premium for it. If you are in desperate need of extreme slow motion scenes, the extra 10fps might justify the extra expense.
My favourite model is the 4008s, since it has a manual zoom, and is the cheapest of the 4008 family. I have little use of the macro capabilities, so I can live without them. Most important for my filming is that it has no powerzoom. To me, powerzooms are a nuisance.
Following that logic, the 4008 M3 would be my preferred camera of the 4008 series, since it has no powerzoom but all other features except the 80fps! Unfortunately, this is the rarest of all models, and much sought after by collectors. Read: very expensive.
If you have no problems with powerzooms, the late ZMII models will probably the best choice. These offer all possible features less the 80fps, and a zoom lens with macro at all focal lengths. Watch out for the declutch button to take them apart from the early models, if you really want to try the rewind feature.
The ZM4 is the least interesting for the filmer, in my opinion. The lens is somehow a downgraded version of the earlier models. Unless you need the 80fps, I'd steer you away from this model. It costs considerably more that the other models (except the M3, of course) , and the money is probably better spent on film.