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Topic: WHAT IS THE BEST PROJECTOR?
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Laksmi Breathwaite
Jedi Master Film Handler
Posts: 771
From: Las Vegas
Registered: Nov 2010
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posted June 16, 2012 11:57 AM
I have heard so much about best projectors EUMIG,Elmo,Sankyo, Bell Howell,Sears, etc. But what is the best for practical use scratch free,break down, easy to load,lamp life,little noise,and just practical. I have been in the hobby for 40 years and have learn to love my ELMO Hi Vi sion SC-18 2- track. It is kind to my films, it has a low maintance,it has very low noise, it has the side TV viewing, it has great sound, it has a nice zoom lens for showing in theatres, and out side on the beach with a sheet. What are all your thoughts in this forum?
-------------------- " Faster then a speeding bullet, more powerful then a Locomotive "."Look up in the sky it's a bird it's a plane it's SUPERMAN"
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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted June 16, 2012 12:24 PM
Egad!
You open up a great can of fun "worms" which this re-accuring topic, but a fun one no less.
My top three picks are ...
1. EUMIG 2. ELMO 3. CHINON
Why?
ELMO is not first as, while in many ways, they are the best performers, they also have far more problems that pop up, (from everything that I have read on this and other forums), where the EUMIG is just a great "work horse" of a projector, with all the bells and whistles as well. To this day, I have never had a problem with my EUMIG 926 stereo.
CHINON's, depending on the model, are exceptional performers as well, especially the CHINON 9500 Magnetic/optical sound line, of which I have two, and this is why I have them as a third choice as best.
-------------------- "All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God
Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012
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posted June 16, 2012 03:21 PM
For the serious showman/collector, it must be FUMEO,I know they weren't popular in the USA because of the very high cost, but the difference of light output and amplification even puts the flagship GS1200 in the shade.It's the dream machine,no plastic tracks,manual thread,a powerful motor and a 2500' spool capacity and 200W lamp.This projector was made to last,and I believe it will. It also has a huge flywheel for sound stability,no wow there,and absolutely brilliant on Optical sound,useful on low recorded tracks and an additional presence filter.The Fumeo's could be built to order.The pinnacle of their projectors was the FUMEO 9154 that had a 500w xenon lamp and stereo & pulse sync,held 6000'feet of film and can deliver 50w across 8ohmalso could do 5 channel and sub woofer.plus the fact it can fill screens 10-12 meters wide! The best has to be paid for,and there's no doubt that FUMEO projectors are,solid,dependable and above all .....kind to film,something ELMO's never were.Oh the price of this particular model,a cool £6,500.00 and that was in 1991,but for those that can't bear to part with that kind of dough,the 9119 takes some beating,and is a bit more affordable.
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Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted June 16, 2012 06:41 PM
My favourite projector is my Eumig 938 Stereo. Extremely kind to film, never scratches, flawless auto threading, ultra steady projection, and awesome sound. No reliability issues in 10 years.
I also like my Elmo GS1200. It has larger 1200ft spool capacity, higher light output than my Eumig 938, and it will play optical sound tracks. But, it will sometimes scratch film for no apparent reason, and projection is not as steady as the Eumig 938 and sound quality is not as good with a propensity for WOW on some films. Plus, like a lot of GS1200'S, it has had reliability problems with microswitches and stereo amp modules.
Bottom line. For great worry-free projection the Eumig 938 wins every time, it just trucks along with no complaining.
-------------------- 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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Osi Osgood
Film God
Posts: 10204
From: Mountian Home, ID.
Registered: Jul 2005
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posted June 17, 2012 08:41 AM
I have had my EUMIG 926 stereo sicne I got back into collecting, nearly 10 years, (and remmber, I got it used in the first place), and, like Paul's 938 stereo (Which I envy Paul for, would LOVE to have one!), my 926 has never scratched a film. Very high quality sound, though I must confess that the balance stripe portion of the stereo is starting to wear a little, so when I play my stereo prints, I use the CHINON 9500's.
I have always been interested in those FUMEO's, but I have never had the pleasure of owning one or even operating one.
-------------------- "All these moments will be lost in time, just like ... tears, in the rain. "
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Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God
Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012
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posted June 17, 2012 02:46 PM
Osi,you owe it to yourself to get a FUMEO, they are reliable and straight forward,with little to go wrong,which is one reason we don't see a lot of Fumeo owners with problems on this forum, it's taken over by the GS MEN.Lets be quite honest about it, the Japanese never made anything with a view to longevity,and the remaining machines are coming to the end of their lives.The Italians always had an eye for style,and if their Colosseum is anything to go by,the last word in making things that last.
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Alan Rik
Film God
Posts: 2211
From: New York City, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003
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posted June 18, 2012 01:40 AM
I have owned the Elmo GS1200,Elmo ST1200, Fumeo 9119, Eumig S940, S926, Chinon 9500, Chinon 4100, Bauer T610, and the Beaulieu 708 Stereo. The Elmo is the only one I have left. I liked the Eumig for its sound quality but the picture wasn't really bright enough. I was using it during a screening and then the bulb burned out. I put it on the Elmo GS and one of the people watching it said the picture was much brighter and better. The Eumig had the 1.1 Schneider lens on it too. I never liked the way the 926 had the take up reel on the same side as the feeding reel. It seems to put unnecessary pressure on the film. I had the Chinon 4100 as new and it chewed up my new print of Enter the Dragon 400. As well as many others. And then I got the Optical/Magnetic 9500. And it did the same! The Beaulieu was a little finicky when it came to reproducing the sound on some tracks but the picture was really first rate. And the threading was flawless with very little clacking and noise. The brightness due to the 2 bladed shutter and the fast pull down made it as bright as the GS1200 with the 200 watt lamp. That was a great machine too. The Bauer t610 was a great machine until the claw needed replacing and no one on this side of the pond could do it. Great picture, great sound, and the quietest machine you never heard. Soon I'll get another one. I do believe the Fumeo 9145 is most likely the best Super 8 machine ever made. However the only thing I liked about the Fumeo 9119 was the manual threading. That was a dream and I wish all the other machines could be threaded like that one. The picture quality with the 1.1 Schneider I had on there was good. It wasn't better than the GS. Comparable. The sound was tinny compared to the GS1200. And the GS has sync pulse for re-recording tracks. And when it comes to the ergonomics of the Fumeo...its really a clunky machine. A workhorse yes but I never bonded with mine. For me the GS1200 is the best machine I have used (Even better in the Xenon flavor) and the one that I have always gone back to. I had the ST1200HD M/O for a month but I missed my old GS so I was lucky to find one on Ebay.
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Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God
Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012
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posted June 18, 2012 04:34 AM
Pictures of this super machine appeared in FFTC # 18 and a very detailed article Michael.Indeed this projector uses the same body carcass as the 35mm version.As for Alan saying he had "tinny" sound with a 9119I beg to differ,the projector has ample bass,treble and a presence filter to alter sound repro according to the room The light out put is much brighter than the GS1200.I have one of the GS machines and do not use it as much as against the 9119,which I know will not put a mark on my films.Unlike the Elmo family that I believe even had a certain mark on film named after them! No the reason it wasn't popular in the US is quite simply it was too expensive,and wasn't a portable recording studio,which the average collector didn't want or require..If the Japanese had paid more attention to film care and had manual thread at the cost of all the micro switches etc then a better projector would have resulted,but take away all the whistles and bells and you have a projector that isn't that good.A lot of collectors inproved the light out put by shutter replacement and more powerful lamps,indeed coupled with all the addtional rollers,for a top flight projector it certainly needed a lot of work to bring it up to speed,The majotity of problems with collectors on this forum are GS and that says it all for me. For reliability and film care then Fumeo can't be beat,and don't require altering in any way, shape or form.Viva Italia!
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