Projector and telecine questions

[Shenan]

Hello folks, just found out about this great board. I have shot 3 super 8 shorts in the past (for film class) and have been thinking about buying a super-8 camera to start playing around with the format again. I was wondering if you guys could possibly answer some questions that I have regarding super 8 projectors and telecine:

1. I looked on e-bay and was surprised to see super 8 sound projectors going for $150-$250! Is this the going price for them nowadays? Am I going to have to start going to yard sales to find cheaper ones?

2. Are sound projectors generally the only ones able to project at 24fps?

3. I just found out about the Goko TC-20 in another post here. Where can you find these and what is the average price they go for?

Thanks in advance!!!

Shenan

[dogstarman]

Im'm not familiar with the Goko machine, but...

If it was designed with the same CCD technology that Elmo used to make their CCD projectors, you REALLY don't want it. The Elmo projectors will run at 24 or 18 frames a second, including the speed control, but you can only transfer at 20fps (+/- 1fps). This is the only way the CCD will transfer images properly. Don't know why, but that's how it is. Like I said, I don't know if they're the same, but I wouldn't spend a few hundred dollars to find out. Better track down someone who owns one first...

[Alex]

If you find a really cheap Super-8 projector, and it tragically chews up your film....

Don't blame Super-8 the format.

In it's heyday, these used projectors currently selling for $150.00 to $250.00 were selling for between $300.00 to $600 and a couple way more than that!

Good Telecine rooms run as cheap as $125.00 an hour to as much as $400.00 an hour!

$150.00 to buy a used projector to run your precious films through for perhaps dozens of hours is really very little to spend, wouldn't you say?

Just by cheaping out a little too much, you may increase the chance of having a bad experience.

Of course, there are good deals to be had, and a used projector won't necessarily work any better just because you paid more for it!

Good Luck.

-Alex

[dogstarman]

I concur.. sort of.

My main projector, a Montgomery Wards (DON'T LAUGH) 2-track sound unit (with capabilaties to record on both tracks, !!!! for all the good that does me) cost me $3.99 at a Salvation Army junk shop. The bulb costs 10 times what I paid for the machine. Practically brand new, in the styrofoam and box when I bought it. Built like a tank and even pretty to look at, it has never once damaged so much as a frame of film, and miraculously, the autoload funtion works perfectly. It may not be the the greatest projector ever built for S8, but why spend $300 for a projector when you can have one that's almost as nice for $3? Frankly, the only peice of S8 gear that I would spend anything more than a few dollars on would be a camera. I'd say yes, hit the garage sales. Thrift shops are better (only if you don't live in a metropolitan area), because you don't have to hunt for the sales. Summer is also a really good time to find gear at thrift stores because people tend to clean out their basements and attics in the late spring, so a lot of stuff end up at Goodwill and Salvation Army. Example: two weeks ago, I got a 16mm Bell & Howell Filmsonic sound projector for 5 bucks. Cleaned it up, purrs like a kitten. Now I need to find a Bolex...
(actually I did, but it was an H8 and didn't work, dadgummit)

[This message has been edited by dogstarman (edited August 09, 2001).]

[ekoe]

yeah, you'll pay a couple dimes for a decent projector.
you don't really want the goko tc-20, do you? correct me if i'm wrong, someone, but i beleive the built in ccd only has 450 lines of horizontal resolution.
that's my only point of contention with that machine. the built in ccd destined it for obsolescence.