8mm Forum: ESC Lamp for GS1200 Review

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Topic: ESC Lamp for GS1200 Review

Kevin Faulkner
Film God

Posts: 4071
From: Essex UK
Registered: Jun 2003

posted October 09, 2008 06:29 PM

BlueCineTech a small UK dealer of super8 film and accessories asked me if I would test an ESC lamp against an EJL made by Fuji Electric Lamp of Japan.

I jumped at the idea but was rather sceptical having tested other so called ESC lamps in the past which showed no advantage over std EJL's probably being rebadged EJL's [Frown]

The lamps arrived a few weeks a go and I finally got round to doing some tests last weekend.

2 Things we have to remember about the Original ESC lamps sold by Elmo is that they have only 4 very compact twists to the filament compared to the EJL which has 5. This helps to concentrate the light more but due to the very close proximity of the twists it does reduce lamp life down to 25hrs (point 2).

I opened both lamps to compare them and my heart sank [Frown]

Yes I couldn't see any difference between the 2...another rebadged EJL?

Not having a Std GS1200 to hand I decided to check both lamps out in my Elmo 16CL to see if there was any difference. If there wasn't there would be no point in going any further.
In with the EJL and the results were as expected. Nice and bright for a 200W lamp and fairly even with a small fall off on one side of the screen.
In with the ESC next and I expected to see something similar but hey whats this? a hot spot in the middle of the screen [Eek!]

Both lamps look the same and both have the 5 twists to the filament so whats going on?

The next step was to try both lamps in a std GS1200. Having a friend not too far away with a std machine which I had put a 2 blade shutter in not so long a go, I went armed with my 2 lamps and a lux meter to see how these lamps performed.
The EJL again gave very even results over the 8mm gate much like we are used to with any EJL. The ESC was however a different kettle of fish. The Hot spot (seen in my 16CL) was no longer visible but the difference in brightness increase was immediately apparent to the naked eye.
I set the machine up to give a 3ft wide picture and then went to the screen to take some lux measurements with the measuring head facing the projector. The results confirmed what we were seeing but what I didn't expect was the difference I got in the readings. In the center of the screen the increase was a full 25% over the EJL and in the corners it fell to approx 20% over the EJL. Seeing as most action is in the center of the screen and not in the corners the eye doesn't see this slight fall off.
Its a real shame that I no longer have an Elmo badged ESC to hand as a comparison between the 2 makes as this would have been a really interesting comparison.

So we have an ESC lamp which gives more light output than any other lamp currently in the market place for use in the GS and an average 50hrs life! How have Fuji Electrical achieved this? The simple answer to this is that I'm not sure.
I can see a difference between the internal measurement across the front of the reflector which on the ESC is nearly 2mm smaller but I also think they have mounted the lamp slightly further forward in the reflector. Whatever has been done it is giving a real advantage over the std EJL and it's great to see a lamp for the GS which once more gives the GS the light output it was once renowned for.

If anyone wants to buy these lamps they can be obtained from BlueCineTech

and this link will take you straight to the lamps page of which they have all popular makes at very good prices. BlueCineTech lamps

BlueCineTech take all major credit cards as well as PayPal in their online store and offer a discount on 3 or more.

Before anyone asks I have no interests with this company but am just pleased to be able to help out with the valuable tests etc. The lamps for test were just taken randomly from stock.

My thanks to Bart for supplying the lamps for test and I can give actual Lux measurements if anyone is really interested.

Kev.

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GS1200 Xenon with Elmo 1.0...great combo along with a 16-CL Xenon for that super bright white light.