8mm Projectors

The Eastman Kodak Company debuted "Cine Kodak Eight," which is regular 8 movie film also called Double 8 and Standard 8, in 1932. The film maker would use a certain 16mm film that was double perforated on both sides, running it through the camera one way, and then reloading and exposing the film's other side, similar to the way audio cassettes are used today. After being developed in the film processing laboratory, the film was then cut longways and joined end to end, making fifty feet of completed 8mm films. This process reduced the amount of film needed to provide the same running time by a factor of four, because the 8mm frame was one fourth the size of the 16mm frame.

8mm film had almost immediate success, and fifteen years later, 16mm film was almost only used by the experienced filmmakers. 8mm home movie cameras appeared regularly at family events, special occasions, and on vacations by the 1950's. With a few exceptions, most regular eight film did not have sound and was usually exposed at 18 frames per second. The emergence of the Super 8 format caused the use of Regular 8 film to fall in the late 1960's.

8mm film was not called regular or standard 8mm until Super 8 film debuted in 1965. Fuji called their Super 8 film Single-8, which was mylar based and came in a different container than their Super 8 for use in cameras. It was given a different name for this reason. Single-8 and Super-8 film share the same format. The older 8mm film cannot be played on a projector labeled Single or Super 8mm.

Both 8mm and Single-8/Super 8 film can be played on a dual 8mm projector. However, this option is a costly one. Dual 8mm projectors are thought by some to compromise the saftey of the film and the performance.