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If 8mm had been chosen as a standard and slit
from 35mm stock, four slitting blades would
have been required and 3mm would have been
wasted. By slitting to 8.75mm only three
slitting blades were required, no waste took
place, and the extra 0.75mm helped to retain
quality. (Why didn't Kodak think of that?)

The use of magnetic stripe sound allowed
maximum space for the image area on
8.75mm. Fig 9 of Ref. 1 is an illustration of
8.75mm quad print before slitting, it appears to
show that the sprocket hole and its position
with regard to the frame line is similar to that
of Super 8. Perforation pitch is close to that of
Western countries 35mm negative film.
8.75 mm (left) in comparison
Print inspection was carried out by means of to Super-8 film
two interlocked 35mm projectors. They had
oversized projection apertures which In the 1970s and later years there were
permitted visual examination of the full film obviously many thousands of 8.75mm
width including the sound tracks in the 35mm projectors in use throughout China, not to
and 16mm formats. Thus two 35mm, four mention related accessories such as rewinders
16mm or eight 8.75mm prints could be and splicers and thousands of miles of film. It
checked simultaneously on a single projection is a mystery that virtually none of this vast
run. collection has even occasionally surfaced
I made a number of enquiries to try and outside of China and is virtually unknown in
discover if any 8.75mm films and projectors the West. It would be interesting to know to
have ever been brought into the United what extent, if any, 8.75mm film has been
Kingdom. I was told that two machines and a superseded by video since the mid 1970s.
quantity of films had been brought in but the
fate of these very rare items is not known. Now that China is opening up to Western
tourists perhaps more information and perhaps
I wrote to the Hong Kong Film Archive Office films and projectors will become available to
in Kowloon and received prompt but brief collectors.
replies to my two letters from the Manager, Ms
Angela Tong. She has informed me that they Ref. 1. SMPTE Journal, Volume 85,
have nothing related to 8.75mm; this was a November 1976. Pages 859 to 865 inclusive.
surprise. Acting on her advice I then wrote to "The Film Industry in the People's Republic of
the China Film Archive in the Haidian District China".
of Beijing, contact Mr Song Kun. After several
The above reference is available online at
weeks I have not received either an
SMPTE
acknowledgement or reply.

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