8mm Forum: Kodak movie deck repair ?

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Posted by Bill Walsh (Member # 1203) on November 14, 2009, 06:31 AM:

Good morning all,

I have a Kodak Ektasound 275 that is not working right and I want to find out about getting it repaired. What is happening is that the Forward/Thread selector will not stay in position to thread the film. As soon as I let it go, it jumps right into reverse.

I have a Moviedeck 435 as a backup that works fine, except it doesn't have sound and I can't adjust the speed.

I am in process of trying to transfer all of my old Super 8 reels to my PC and am concerned about the flicker. I can't afford to spend much money on professional set ups for this project.

Does anyone have any advice ? I am in NH and called around. It doesn't appear that anyone local repairs film projectors. I'm not sure it even be financially advantageous to do so.

Thanks for your help
Bill

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on November 14, 2009, 07:58 AM:

'Morning Bill,

The Moviedecks have an auto-rewind feature that kicks in when the film tension rises. I think it's activated by a lever inside that first sharp turn after the supply reel (not sure, I've never had mine apart). I believe your auto rewind is stuck "on" and I'm guessing the problem is at that lever.

Finding someone to do a repair on this would be hard, finding parts maybe harder.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on November 14, 2009, 08:55 AM:

Be careful with those moviedecks!

They are an impressive design. I loved that laying flat design of it. Getting tangled film up and out of that take up reel was a reel bitch when it happened, but this brand of projector had a notorious habit of scratching up it's films.

Still I did admire the whole look of it!

Posted by John Pechulis (Member # 620) on November 14, 2009, 09:23 AM:

Personally, i would look for a standard design projector with variable speed control, if your going to telecine your films.

Depending on how much film you have to transfer, it might be better to just have a professional company do the transfer, especially if this is a "once and done" endeavor.

If you're going to edit the footage, just have them load the AVI files onto a portable hard drive and you can then import the footage into your favorite editor.

JP

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on November 14, 2009, 09:48 AM:

Mine (#447) is the first projector I ever had and the only one I ever got new. I use it to show R8 and to preview 50 footers back from the lab (built in screen).

I've heard that thing about scratching films, I've never seen it with mine.

The design has the most reliable auto thread in the business, basically 100% given a good leader. This is s good thing too: there is pretty much nothing you can do from the outside to intervene if it ever did go wrong.

It's not a great showman's projector because as soon as you turn it on to thread up the lamp comes on, so the audience gets to see a white screen and then the leader before the film (could lean a book over the lens I guess...)

The gate is a pain to clean because it's deeply embedded in the machine and the best you can do is twizzle around a paint brush from the side and front and hope for the best.

The ease of use is great: uncase it, plug it in, and you are ready to go.

Another thing: Every time I use mine in front of an audience, they say "Are you showing slides?".

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