Lots of newbie questions...Here's another!

[Skagnetti]

Which brand/model is a good projector? I don't wanna pay too much (shopping on eBay, by the way), but I don't think I wanna some of the cheap $10 ones I see. I want one that does sound, too.

Any suggestions?
Thanks.

[Alex]

Overall, I think Elmo made the most diverse line of projectors, and most of the final run they did were pretty decent.

Anybody want to add to the list?

[Skagnetti]

Any special features I should look for? I noticed on eBay you can buy movies on Super 8, so I want one that can play those (I'm assuming for those, you really just need sound).

[Alex]

Your Basic Features are 18 and 24 frames per second.

a cool feature found on some elmo's is the plus minus 10 percent speed button. This allows one to speed up the film to 19.80 frames per second, which basically gets rid of the flicker, as long as you don't mind your film being slightly speeded up.

20 Frames Per Second would have been a real intriguing compromise film being transferred to video for us here in the U.S., but the cameras were never made to run at that speed.

But I digress.

A sound projector is a good idea. Some had stereo sound.

Some projectors had connectors to mount extension speakers to.

A swing out Lens is real handy, it makes access to the film real easy, and to clean the film path.

Cameraguy and Michael B and S8 Booster and others probably have some interesting takes on this subject.

[Blindowl]

For the money Kodak moviedecks are decent. The Ektasound(sp?)models enable sound projection in both 18 and 24fps and are very simple to use. They are also more or less without sprockets (or teeth) and easier on your film. If you want a high end unit, Alex is right, get a late model Elmo. They are very nice projectors and offer tons of possibilites and conveniences.
However, if the price is right and you find one that works good don't turn down a later model Eumig, Chinon, and even some Bell & Howell sound units.

[Alex]

The Kodak Projectors Blind Owl mentions were really interesting. The major downfall was your film "magically" disappeared into the feeder and then "magically" reappeared after going through a self-threading process inside the bowels of the unit.

If I'm thinking of the right projector, I was fascinated that the Kodak projector functioned properly most of the time, but it seems like a potential nightmare if something goes wrong. It would appear your film could get stuck and be impossible to remove. What if a splice came undone inside the projector, there was no flip out lens to look at the film path.

Are these Kodak projectors easy to clean BlindOwl? And nowadays, are they hard to get repaired?

[BolexPlusx]

I have been using a Kodak Moviedeck since my parents bought me one for Christmas in 1979. Mine is quiet, gentle on the film and has never jammed up once in almost 23 years.

The gate is accessible by taking down the side panel and sliding the built in screen out and off the machine. After the lens is removed then you can get at the front and side of the aperture with a small brush to clean it out.

Most of the film path is accessible by removing a panel on the bottom, and the mechanism involved in getting the film to do all those twists and turns is surprisingly simple and well thought out.

Can't say anything about repairs, it's never needed any.

Cool looking machine too, it still looks like it was designed two weeks ago, and nothing like anybody expects a S-8 projector to be like.

Drawbacks? Well, it's a maximum of 400' capacity, and everybody thinks it's a slide projector!

[Alex]

For Further info on the Kodak Movie Deck Projectors...

here is another thread started just for this purpose...

http://www.hostboard.com/cgi-bin/ult...ic&f=405&t=193

[Mike Buckles]

I use several projectors...for rough transfers, I use a Chinon 5000gl...not bad, but hard to get the projector to take the leader sometimes, and starts "jittering" quite easily. I also use several regular 8 projectors...a bell and howell and a kodak brownie...real good registration, especially with the sprocket system the old Brownies used to have. My main squeeze is a Bolex SP-8...I use it the most..very good quality, metal construction, decent sound reproduction (but not great compared to video)...but not very forgiving with older films that have minor sprocket damage! I would recommend it if they were still making sound movie film, as you can erase and create new multiple tracks, which is cool. It has a big, bright picture that makes the films look more professional. I would go with a higher end projector, as they usually have a better film transport system, and are less likely to damage your films, and at the prices they are at today, you should be able to get one for not too much $$$.

[BolexPlusx]

Hmm!,
Do you have any idea what the difference is between the Bolex SP-8 and the Bolex SP-80? I just bought an SP-80 on E-bay about 3 days ago, it hasn't arrived yet.
I have grand dilusions of doing dual system sound with some sort of digital audio recorder, then getting my film sound striped and adding an audio track post production.......

Or maybe I just wanted it.......