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Almost every camera store had Super 8 films
for sale and they were frequently displayed in
the front window with more located inside on
display racks. Some stores went into Super 8
films and equipment in a big way, with
Michaels Camera store in particular selling
many different brands of Super 8 equipment
including Elmo, Eumig, Chinon, Sankyo etc
and a good variety of films. In the central city
area of Melbourne many camera stores were
located in close proximity to each other and I
noticed that many of them carried films I had
not even heard of and from a wide variety of
smaller distributors. Most carried the Walton
(UK) range of films whose best sellers were
the Tom & Jerry cartoons. Walton also offered
Pink Panther & The Inspector cartoons and a
very good range of 200ft shorts, many being
originally produced for theatres. The Disney
range also seemed to be offered in many
camera stores.
Somehow, I found out about a record shop in
Sunshine that hired Super 8 films. They had a
large catalogue of films, including features, so
I would often hire from them. Twentieth
Century Fox added Super 8 features to their
16mm hire department here during the 1970s
with titles such as ‘Flight of the Phoenix’,
‘Young Frankenstein’, ‘Race with The Devil’,
etc. I wonder where all of those prints ended
up?

Super 8 films continued to sell well right up to
the early 1980s, but the decline came fast, as
home video rapidly took its place in the
market. The only good thing about this decline
was the greatly discounted prices as stores
tried to clear their remaining stocks of Super 8
films. Most Super 8 film companies had closed
by 1983, but a few soldiered on, including
Derann from the UK, who actually expanded
their offerings with feature films and enjoyed
a thriving market thanks to enthusiasts right
through the 1990s and beyond. In 2025 there
are still new Super 8 releases of recent
theatrical films being made and sold to a hardy
few who still love the Super 8 medium, but
we’ll never again see the large number of
Super 8 films we enjoyed back in the 1970s.

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