Standard 8 mm film, also known as Regular 8 mm, Double 8 mm, Double Regular 8 mm film, or simply as Standard 8 or Regular 8, is an 8 mm film format originally developed by the Eastman Kodak company and released onto the market in 1932. In the 8 mm system, the photographic film is manufactured as 16 mm film on a spool for use in a home movie camera. The film then gets exposed on one half of the film, the operator flips the spool, and then the opposite half of the film gets exposed in the reverse direction. The exposed film is then processed, slit down the middle, spliced together, and finally wound onto a spool for viewing on an 8 mm film projector.
8 mm cameras and projectors were originally designed for 16 frames per second, but this was later changed by some manufacturers to higher speeds to reduce flickering. Most cameras designed for 8 mm film were made with consumers in mind. Typical features include spring-wound operation, lightweight camera bodies, small viewfinders, and single, fixed lenses. Only brief scenes could be filmed without pausing to rewind the spring or flip the film spool. During loading, the film has to be manually handled to guide it into a camera's film gate and onto a take-up spool, best done in a darkened area.
