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Author
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Topic: Report on Braun Visacustic 1000 Stereo
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Maurice Leakey
Film God
Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007
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posted June 01, 2008 04:50 AM
When I acquired my Braun Visacustic 1000 Stereo Super 8 projector I said I would report back to our members.
Right from the start this projector is different. The box contains the projector on its side and a separate 20 watt loud speaker is packed alongside. On taking it out of the box the first thing noticeable is the speed control selector. It has four speeds. 16-2/3, 18. 24 & 25. And when it is plugged in it will not run in its forward position!
It is extremely compact, measuring 11-1/2" x 10-1/2" x 6". This is achieved by not having a built-in speaker, The separate speaker can be used in three ways. The projector sits on top and is locked into position; for monitoring and sound recording a small screen (5-1/2" x 4"), on the left side at just the right height, is used; for larger shows the 25' lead enables the speaker to be placed alongside the screen.
Maximum spool size is 600' and its lamp is an A1/232, 150watts, 15volts. This has a two-level brilliance selector and the lamp is pre-heated in the lower position, approximately 3-1/2 volts allows editing on the small screen with frame advance via the inching knob. In the run position the lamp receives 11 volts which is bright enough for home use through the f1.1 lens (14.5mm - 26mm.) At the full bright position there is no pre-heat or monitor and the lamp receives its full 15 volts. The gate opens more than 90 degrees for cleaning and the rear pressure plate is sprung. Braun says that by having the front pad fixed (with its aperture plate) ensures good focus of films with varying thickness as the emulsion faces this pad.
The four speeds correspond to the same settings on Braun Nizo cameras, two of the speeds allow filming from a television screen without the annoying lines and bars, One would assume that the reverse (if you see what I mean) could allow video filming of projected film.
The projector will only run in the forward position with actual film threaded. To set up initially on your screen it is run in reverse. To use auto-thread the button is pressed and held down whilst the film passes through, to save damage to the threading film it runs at 13 fps. When in use the auto-thread button acts for the loop forming device.
I understand that because of this quirky arrangement many people new to the projector, and without an instruction book, promptly think it is faulty and sell it on for spares or scrap!
The twin amplifiers of 20 watts output stereo sound through two DIN speaker sockets. There is no need (as in some Elmos)to feed the signals through a separate stereo amplifier. There is one tone control. The illuminated panel also contains concentric volume controls, each independent of the other but can be clicked together to be used as one.
The vertical and side tilts are controlled by two knurled wheels and the projector tilts within the amplifier base (Debrie D16?), i.e., the base itself remains level. This is necessary if the projector is mounted on its speaker. The speaker has four corner cut-outs to acccept the projector's feet. The speaker has two sets of feet, one as for the above with the speaker horizontal, and also to set it apart from the projector in the usual vertical position.
There is a very poor frame counter where one digit represents 50 frames! For recording from track 1 to track 2 (and vice-versa) a supplied internally wired plug is inserted into the Phono socket, thus doing away with the need to use various connecting leads.
Oh! Yes. One other difference. The supplied mains lead only has two pins, however, a standard IEC (kettle) lead will fit into the projector's back female plug. There is a separate socket (which accepts a banana plug) for earthing. Should hum occur when connected to a tape-recorder, etc., the lead is earthed to that item, i.e., not the standard UK earth (ground). If the latter is used the earth could result in feedback and increase the hum even more.
The Instruction Book takes a bit of reading. It is an extremely poor translation of the German original. Some phrases are quaint, others are just not comprehensible!
When Amateur Photographer reviewed this projector in 1978 its price was quoted at £500, whilst the Elmo ST 1200HD was £400. This probably explains why the Braun is now a fairly scarce collector's item.
I love it and can thoroughly recommend it.
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Maurice
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Mark Todd
Film God
Posts: 3846
From: UK
Registered: Aug 2003
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posted July 05, 2009 03:43 AM
Is it the 1000 David or the 2000 with the xenovaron lens, the better of the two models, also an extra 200 feet reel capacity.
What to pay is always an issue, but I would say around £125 for the 1000 and £150 for the 2000 if nice.
They both suffer from a problem with a nylon cog in the rear that goes thats part of ther sound set up, if you hear any wowing type noises etc it will be on the go, it will need doing while you can still buy a brass replacement, from Wittners at least, check the price as things seem to be going up a bit there, but they were available.High post overseas usually as well.
Another thing to check if you can run it is for a sqweeling noise they can give off, it appears to be coming from the gate but is actually related to the soundhead area and can be very hard to sort, if you can even, it can be quite loud, so take a few films along of different types to check it out, particularly a couple of oldies like a B+W and walton print.
I have a friend with 2 and both have had this problem, its sort of sortable if you get one with it but can be quite bad on odd ones strangely it seems.
The film path is very kind, a no marking ever job and the picture is stunning, the sound itself is OK better usually once the cog is done.
The 2000 with a the xenovaron coupled with the rear pressure plate gives a simply awesome picture, bung in a xenophot as well and you will be very surprised how it can make a middling print actually take a decent step or two up.
They are a decent machine, the prices I thought about reflect the cog usually not having been done etc.
Basically take a few 200 footers along to try if you can, if a good un they are fantastic, either model.
Best Mark.
PS an odd probs machine £40-£60 ish max really I think.
PPS they can have speed issues which usually means relacing a certain board, can be hard going.
[ July 05, 2009, 05:07 AM: Message edited by: Mark Todd ]
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted July 05, 2009 12:17 PM
Thank's for that great report Maurice.
The great feature to me, that you mentioned, is the rear sprung gate, which totally eliminates the problem of focus shift with varying film and stripe thickness. I have a Bolex 18-5 8mm silent projector, also designed with a rear sprung gate, and the picture is razor sharp from side-to-side, and stays that way through the entire reel. Too bad Elmo did'nt do the same thing, then I would'nt have to constantly fiddle with the focus when running films on the GS1200 with the Elmo f1.0 lens! ![[Mad]](mad.gif)
How many times have you projected film, and can't seem to get both sides of the picture razor sharp at the same time. This is due to stripe thickness variation between the main stripe and the balance stripe - a problem that the rear sprung gate totally eliminates. Why, oh why, did Elmo, Eumig, and just about everybody else, go with a front sprung gate when clearly a rear sprung gate is the only way to go!
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The best of all worlds- 8mm, super 8mm, 9.5mm, and HD Digital Projection,
Elmo GS1200 f1.0 2-blade
Eumig S938 Stereo f1.0 Ektar
Panasonic PT-AE4000U digital pj
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