8mm Forum: st1200 v s940/938

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Topic: st1200 v s940/938

Stuart Mercer Thorburn
Junior
Posts: 20
From: Edinburgh, Midlothian, U.K.
Registered: Mar 2006

posted March 16, 2006 07:28 PM

As these are 2 projectors I can actually afford (as long as mein fuhrer doesn't find out) which in your opinion is the best?

Expensive Elmo or the cheaper Eumig - is the extra cost worth it??

Thanks

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My God, it's full of stars

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 17, 2006 12:34 PM

These are both superb projectors, with the Elmo having the obvious advantage of 1200ft reel capacity. But the Eumig S938 or 940 both have truly superb stereo sound recording capability, which the ST1200 does not have. You might want to read my 'personal opinion' test report on this forum. Go to search word 'Eumig S938 Stero Test Report'

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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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Stuart Mercer Thorburn
Junior
Posts: 20
From: Edinburgh, Midlothian, U.K.
Registered: Mar 2006

posted March 17, 2006 12:46 PM

So would you say basically it comes down to a choice between 1200ft capacity or stereo?, what about (standard) picture quality, reliability, etc.

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My God, it's full of stars

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 17, 2006 01:14 PM

Hi Stuart,
It's not that simple unfortunately. You see both projectors have their own virtues (and vices!). The ST1200 is a beautifully made projector, a little more robust than the Eumig with lots of metal used in its construction. Where plastics are used in the Elmo, such as the film channel guides, the plastic mouldings are thick and beautifully polished. On the other hand, the construction of the Eumig's is a little lighter, a little less sturdy, but still of excellent quality. The Eumigs will never ever scratch your films, but the Elmo might if you are not meticulous about cleaning and polishing the film path ,and watching out for parts wear in known scratch producing areas of the machine. Film steadiness on the Eumig is superb. Brightness is about the same as on the ST1200 as they both use the same 150 watt bulb. Picture resolution is purely a function of the quality of the lens you put into either of these machines. The Eumig has the wonderful outboard recording and mixing console, the Elmo's recording controls are less user friendly. If you want the best sound you will ever hear on super 8, my advice would be to go for the Eumig. If stereo recording capability is not important to you, go with the Elmo. On either of these machines, fit the best and fastest lens you can get your hands on.

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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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Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004

posted March 17, 2006 01:43 PM

Sorry to be the party-pooper, Paul, but an unproperly maintained Eumig CAN scratch a film. Because of that smaller projection frame, the film path can vertically scratch the very edge of the image. You will notice it if you project the same film with a projector equipped with a bigger frame (such as the Elmo). Of course, I doubt YOUR Eumigs will ever scratch a micron of film. [Big Grin]

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The Grindcave Cinema Website

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Stuart Mercer Thorburn
Junior
Posts: 20
From: Edinburgh, Midlothian, U.K.
Registered: Mar 2006

posted March 17, 2006 02:03 PM

Oh dear, I thought it would be clear cut but it seems there's a bit of a toss up between the two.

On purely financial terms, with the Elmo around four times more expensive than the Eumig, the possibility of a Eumig with a fast lens at the same price as the Elmo - would it now become much easier to pick between the two?

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My God, it's full of stars

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Tony Milman
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1336
From: United Kingdom
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 17, 2006 02:34 PM

Stuart,
i am suspicious of the Eumig selling for that much less than an ST unless there really is a supply/demand issue here. It is true that the Elmo is most sought after if it is the HD model with mag/optical and in good nick.

Jean-Marc

i was wondering about the Eumig and scratching as I seem to recall a posting one time that indicated some models were potentially more at risk of inflicting damage than others. How easy is it to clean Eumigs?

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Tony

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Paul Adsett
Film God

Posts: 5003
From: USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 17, 2006 03:03 PM

Hi Jean-Marc,
Comment allez vous?
I wish I could claim that none of my films have scratches, but unfortunately that is not the case. It seems no matter what you do a film is occasionaly going to get a scratch on it, at least for a few feet. But I would have to say that the Elmo GS1200 has put more scratches on my films than my Eumig's ever did. It seems when you get a scratch from an Elmo it is usually a bad one, often running through an entire reel of film, and often so deep that it appears as a white or green line rather than a thin black line. So I keep my Elmo's ultra clean to try and avoid this scenario as much as possible.

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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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Douglas Meltzer
Moderator

Posts: 4554
From: New York, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted March 17, 2006 03:17 PM

Tony,

That's the problem. I think my Eumig 940 is a great machine but it is much easier to clean the film path of an Elmo. Similar in design to the Bauer, cleaning the 940's film gate requires moving the pressure plate out of the way, and this only gives you limited access. A similar method is used in cleaning the sound head. In fact, there's one short part of the film path (directly after the sound head) that I can't get to!
Nevertheless, the 940 is a beautiful projector with amazing sound reproduction and recording capabilities.

Doug

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I think there's room for just one more film.....

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Jean-Marc Toussaint
Film God

Posts: 2392
From: France
Registered: Oct 2004

posted March 18, 2006 02:08 AM

Paul and Doug: thanks for the input. Indeed, the film gate and projection frame are more difficult to clan on the Eumig. And yes, there's that totally enclosed inch of film path after the sound heads that's unreachable.
There's only one thing to do, whatever the brand and considering that these machines are 30+ years of age: Just keep them clean and lubed.

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The Grindcave Cinema Website

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