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Author
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Topic: The Almost Perfect Eumig 938
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted May 21, 2013 10:02 AM
I have not used my Eumig 938 Stereo in a while , but I have been doing some work on it. I recently replaced the lamp socket and installed a new Osram Xenophot lamp. One thing I found was that the lamp was only operating at 14.0 volts instead of the correct 15.0 volts, so I changed the transformer tap from 117 volts to 110 volts, which boosted the lamp voltage to 14.9 volts. What a difference that made!
Anyway, I projected a few reels of film last night and realized once more what a great projector this is, and why it is the preferred projector in my arsenal. Threading is always absolutely faultless, the projector is so quiet with just a steady purr, the pictures is always rock steady, and the sound quality is stunning. The thing about the 938 is that everything always works on it and the projector always seems to be operating effortlessly. And I can relax with the 938 knowing it will never scratch a single frame of my films.
But, as wonderful as the 938 is however, it is not perfect. If you pick up a 938 you will not be impressed with its picture quality at all , because Eumig fitted the machine with a poor quality f1.3 lens. This lens, which has Eumig’s optical leveling feature, will project a dull lifeless picture. To reveal the full glory of the 938 you have to ditch that lens and fit an f1.0 lens. Then you will get a brilliant razor sharp picture that will be in the same league as a GS1200 with the Elmo f1.0 lens. I use a Kodak Ektar 20mm f1.0 lens which I machined down to fit in the Eumig lens holder, but Eumig also made f1.0 lenses that will fit this machine.
There are some other issues, most of which do not affect the performance of the projector:
The knobs on the slider pots are fragile and can break off. I have had to bond some of mine back on.
That sliding on/off switch can be a source of problems. Sometimes the knob will skip over the top of the switch, or the switch will seize up. I have found this to a problem on all my 900 series machines. So I keep my machine always in an ON position so that I do not run the risk of the switch seizing up in the OFF position, which would be a major problem.
The sound heads are not as durable as the Elmo heads. This is mainly a problem with the narrow track 2 head.. I think it was Maurizio who posted the great idea of using a special sound head pressure pad for the projection of all mono films, where the pressure fingers for track 2 have been removed,. This eliminates all wear on the track 2 head when showing mono films, and you just insert the original pressure pad when projecting stereo, which is just a 30 second procedure. I modified a pressure pad from an old Eumig 926, and use it for all my mono film projecting.
No doubt if Eumig had stayed in business they would have corrected these issues. But the 938 is the best projector I have ever used, and one can only dream of what the Eumig 950 would have been. Probably it would have had 1200ft reels and 200 watt lighting, and as such it would have competed head on with the GS1200.
[ May 22, 2013, 10:56 AM: Message edited by: Paul Adsett ]
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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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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted May 22, 2013 11:02 AM
Thanks Lee,
As you can see from the photo, I use an Isco 2X scope lens, which does a great job in combination with the f1.0 Ektar.
Since the original post I have found that carefiully prising off the main ON/OFF black plastic switch knob, and applying a little grease to the top plate of the sliding switch works wonders in freeing up the switch, so that it is no longer an issue on my machine.
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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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