|
Author
|
Topic: Why dont Eumig's scratch?
|
|
|
Paul Adsett
Film God
Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003
|
posted July 22, 2012 08:06 PM
Hi Graham,
I have heard that statement before about not being able to see Eumig scratches because the Eumig aperture is just smaller than the Elmo aperture, but I do not believe it. I run my films on both Eumigs and Elmos and the only scratches that I have on my prints are quite definately Elmo induced. Eumigs do not induce deep green scratches 1/4 of the way into the right of the picture -that is a distinct Elmo characteristic.
Its hard to understand exactly why Elmos scratch and Eumigs don't, and I want pretend to have the answer but here are a few thoughts of mine for what its worth:
The Elmo's have that little black flapping film tensioner below the sound head, which their designers must have found out was necessary to smooth out the inconsistent and varying tension from the take up spool which causes WOW. This tensioner eventually develops grooves in its surface that can scratch film. Eumigs have no such feature, as it is not necessary on their machines which have much bigger sound capstans and pressure rollers which really clamp the film very firmly compared to the very small diameter Elmo capsan.
The film path on Elmos goes through two tight reversal loops before entering the sound head, whereas Eumigs just have a single gentle turn. The loop reversals on the Elmo necessitate an additional pressure roller at the input of the sound head, which pushes the film down onto a metal guide which can wear and scratch film.
Also the top feed sprocket on the Eumigs has a much more relaxed bend for the film, and does not force the film tightly against the plastic film channel in the way that the Elmo does. This is known to be a definate scratch hazard on the Elmo, and some people ,like Dave Locke, have fitted rollers to eliminate the feed channel scratches.
Whatever the reasons, in my opinion Eumigs are just much kinder to film, and the Eumig designers must have paid much closer attention to their film path design than the Elmo designers.
Having said all that I should state that my Elmo's currently do not appear to be scratching film - if I meticulously clean the film path before EVERY reel. Eumigs are much more relaxed in that regard, not requiring nearly as much film path TLC.
By the way, are you planning on going to the October BFCC?
--------------------
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
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God
Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012
|
posted July 23, 2012 09:35 AM
I was just about to apologise for my faux pax ,and beaten to the
post before I could rectify,of course Eumig is Austrian,but the fact remains,these machines are legendary especially the older models,before plastic moldings took over, and well do I remember being told by a well known UK supplier when
I asked about the Elmo's scratching,"Well they do if you use them a lot!",which beggars the question as I use my old Mark S
machines a lot and not a frame marked.When they were called
"The Wizards of Vienna" by a well known journalist some years
back,he knew what he was talking about.
Pat,don't be complacent with your Elmo's,no matter how clean you keep them,that isn't the problem,it's down to the plastic wearing.The late Paul van Someren itemised all the points of
wear in his mag,and identified the position of the scratches on
screen,he didn't have to do that with any other make.
Someday,you'll watch a favourite film and discover some nice
green scratches that were'nt there before,and then another
print and another,they are not to be trusted without modification.I found that out through bitter experience.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Hugh Thompson Scott
Film God
Posts: 3063
From: Gt. Clifton,Cumbria,England
Registered: Jan 2012
|
posted July 23, 2012 09:04 PM
On the whole Graham, the Elmo is a nice projector, the ST1200
gives the impression of a scaled down 16mm machine,bar for the
snubber roller being before the bottom sprocket.Cleaning is relatively easy,but you can clean the thing till the cows come
home,it is STILL gonna scratch,and that is a serious defect,especially
on prints costing many hundreds of pounds.Making excuses for their designers oversight cuts no ice with me,the projectors are a menace to film until they are modified,Which is why I said earlier,the Japanese are not innovators.
The problem with the majority of these machines lies with
auto thread,and that was fetched in by a designer because he
thought joe public could'nt lace up a projector.If the Elmo's
had been designed like a true pro machine,they would not have
been auto threading, because that is where the trouble lies.
| IP: Logged
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
UBBFriend: Email this page to someone!
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Eek!]](eek.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
.
Printer-friendly view of this topic
