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The UNIVEX 8 mm System

Mike Trickett

When Eastman Kodak introduced the 8 mm film system in 1932, it was based on 16 mm film.
The film intended for 8 mm use was 16 mm wide and perforated on both edges at the 8 mm pitch
and generally came in 25 ft lengths.

The cameras were designed to expose one one side of the
film only, at the end of the 25 ft run, the film was reloaded into
the camera in such a way that the other half of the film was
exposed. The end result was two rows of images side by
side, one upside down to the other. At the processing lab, the
film was slit down the centre and the two halves joined
together, giving 50 ft of 8 mm film.
Of course, Kodak had a good
reason for this procedure – 8
mm films could be processed
on their existing 16 mm
processing equipment,
avoiding the need for
specialized 8 mm processors.
The need to remove the film
and reload it after the first 25
feet run (often in bright sunshine), together with the usual ‘oops!’
factor, meant that at the half way mark there may be a substantial
amount of the film wasted due to poor handling. The possibility
of the film being threaded wrongly for the second run through,
and double exposing the same side was taken care of by the reels
having 3 shaft notches on one side and two on the other.
A number of manufacturers produced single run 8 mm cameras,
most used systems developed within the company and the issue of compatibility with other cameras
was not a high consideration.
The Univex single run 8 mm
system was developed by the
Universal Camera Corporation of
New York City, (not to be
confused with the Universal
Camera Co of Chicago, makers of
professional 35 mm equipment).

A number of cameras and
projectors were manufactured; the
first camera was the model A8 (at
right) c. 1936, to the H8 in the late
1940s.