8mm Forum: Kodak Instamatic M100A projector manual

This is topic Kodak Instamatic M100A projector manual in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on January 01, 2013, 12:30 PM:

I just scored one of these unique projectors, anybody have the manual in .pdf form? Or an Original manual to sell? I think it's wrong for people to sell duplicates for money. One of the features this projecotor has is auto threading, is there a 1200ft auto thread reel that Kodak made for this? I meanly bought it because it seems like a cool machine to have, anybody on the forum own one of these already?

Posted by Gerald Santana (Member # 2362) on January 01, 2013, 06:07 PM:

Hi Kenneth,

Finding this machine is a true "score" which, fortunately happened to me about 4 year ago at thrift store. I thought it was a 16mm projector at first until I brought it home, started some Google searches and then found this 8mm Forum!

The original manual's are out there but have had no luck at all getting one, even from Forum members that may have one! It looks like you may have to buy it but, I agree it's kind of shame that it's not on the Forums list of manuals.

I can tell you that this is one of the best, large-capacity Super 8 projectors in town. It takes up to 1600' reel but, I have never seen one larger than 400' made by Kodak for this model. You can also find a special adapter for the speaker out and connect it to any speaker. I use the speaker from my 16mm Kodak Pageant near the screen and the sound is great!

Hands down, superior to any large capacity projector that I've come into contact with. It has a 1.0 lens that is bright and razor sharp. It also has settings for light output (in the housing) to extend the life of the lamp. I eventually found a zoom lens for it, which is 1.4 but, since I keep the projector close to screen, it brings out the picture and fills the screen nicely.

Congratulations!

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on January 01, 2013, 07:02 PM:

This projector is rather rare. And also heard about the lens is good.

quote:
I have never seen one larger than 400' made by Kodak for this model.

I have a 1200' reel made by Kodak and it is available for sale too. Kenneth, if you are a kind of perfectionist collector that want everything is made in Kodak then PM me for this reel.

cheers,

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on January 01, 2013, 07:45 PM:

You can get a reprint of the M100 manual from Old timer Cameras in the UK:
http://www.oldtimercameras.com/stock/Model.asp?Model=5422&ModelPage=true

Several years ago I kad a Kodak M100, and it is indeed an impressive looking machine, literally a super 8mm version of the 16mm Kodak Pageant. The machine has really great light output, and has the Kodak f1.0 22mm Ektar lens (non-zoom) which is hands down the best lens I have ever seen on a super 8 machine, and thats including the Elmo f1.0 lens. The PQ is amazing, with a razor sharp flat focus field and stunning contrast. Its worth buying this projector just for that lens!
The thing I did'nt like was the sound quality (at least on my particular machine), I found that my Eumig 802 had much better volume and fidelity. So I eventually dumped my M100 - but I made sure I kept the lens, which I now use on my Eumig S938 Stereo, where its presence raises the perfomance of the 938 to a whole new level.

The f1.0 22mm Ektar lens, with the barrel machined down to 32mm for use on the Eumig S938:

Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on January 01, 2013, 09:57 PM:

yeah the lens is another reason I cannot wait to use the projector, Kodak must have also made external speaker(s)? for this? I do know there was a demo film they made for this projecotr I would love to see that as well., I just hope the bulb works when I get it. It says it has a valve amp, I think this means a tube amp? that would be great as I like tube amp sound. (: I will post a pic when it arrives if I can figure out a way to post pics of it here.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on January 02, 2013, 09:59 AM:

I believe the amplifier is a hybrid design of solid state pre-amp transistors and thermionic valve (tube in the USA) output stages. Another point is that the M100 is extremely quiet and smooth in operation with a rock steady picture, and it has a great power re-wind. The only complaint I had with my particular machine was the poor quality sound. Otherwise it was a stellar projector, built to 16mm quality.

Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on January 02, 2013, 04:05 PM:

I have just learned that there are versions of this projector that have 1.6 lenses on them, I hope this is not the case with the one I Just boought.

Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on January 04, 2013, 06:06 PM:

SO it arrived tonight at about 6:00 o clock. first off, the photo's in the auction cleverly hid the fact that this is a school Projector, and has large black magic marker on the back side and a few drink rings on top for good measure.

They showed the blurry reel spining in the pic, but now that I have it, it RUNS SUPER SLOW barely budges at all like a really really slow fan if you ever heard one. To top it off, there is a atag affixed to the handle that says "sound weak and garbled, runs ok lamp ok" now I dont know how they tested the sound the thing barely moves! One more Ebay belief I have shattered. I used to think if a seller specializes in Lenses and projection equipment you can trust their grading, but alas not in this case.

Later on in that evening....

well I got it working, the sound is clear but you have to turn it all the way up and be in front of the projector to really hear it, I didnt realize you have to flip out the lens to get it to thread or else the film gets stuck....not a bad projector when it works.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on January 05, 2013, 12:22 PM:

Did you get the f1.0 lens? If so, its worth it just for that!

Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on January 05, 2013, 12:39 PM:

yes! 1.0 Ektar, I may attempt to take it apart to see if I can see how the belts are, anybody know what the Kodak external speaker for this looks like?

Posted by Gerald Santana (Member # 2362) on January 05, 2013, 02:05 PM:

Kenneth,

Before you try taking it apart, let me just mention that you will need to remove the entire front end of the machine and you will defiantly need a schematic.

If the take up arm is slow just check the belt on that arm. If the audio is warbled or low, clean out the sound head with alcohol and a q-tip, be very careful not to push to hard or to loosen small wires.

Avoid disassembling anything until you know just what the problem may be, chances are you may do more harm than good if you don't know. It sounds like all it needs is a cleaning and trying another film, some are louder than others.

If the sound is low try pushing up gently on the sound head while you adjust the plate with two screws. This part can be taken off to manually take the film out of it's path in the event of a jam. Make sure the plate is on correctly otherwise your film might get chewed up so try using leader or an unwanted sound film loop.

This is an automatic thread machine so, the film path should be clean, you don't need to swing out the lens to thread, that is, unless it's necessary. Try sharpening the supply reel leader into a point or using a butt splicer.

Glad you have the lens on the machine, I think only a "tune-up" is needed on the machine. If the pots are scratch when you turn up the volume, that is normal, you can always set the volume level and keep it there. Again with a 3/8 adapter (or something like that), you can plug into the speaker and hear different results.

Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on January 05, 2013, 08:37 PM:

I actually really like this projector, I wish there was still a local place I could send this to to have it refubed. An Audio tech I spoke to said the amp may need to have the caps replaced because they leak with age, this is a projector worth TLC. you do need a ton of leader though because some of the silent films I have do not have alot of leader and you are well into the film...haha, it even smells like the old 16mm projectors when you run it and it warms up. I will say that any super 8 enthusiast should make this projector part of their collection. I am going to look into getting it put back into spec, it's a keeper, I do with this lens would fit into my Elmo ST1200HD! that would be GREAT! I will never be able to get the ELmo 1.0.....

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on January 06, 2013, 09:35 AM:

The M100 is definately a projector you can fall in love with. The design is so straightforward and functional, and it is a really rugged machine - just like a 16mm machine, as already noted.
When I had mine, I concluded that the only weakness of this projector was the design of the sound head. The head is mounted onto the end of a cantlever beam spring which is sprung down onto the mag sound track on the film. There is nothing to really align the film with the sound head as it passes over the sound head. The engagement of the sound head is also a pretty complex linkage mechanism. If the sound side could be sorted out, the M100 would be a magnificent machine.

Gerald, could you post some pics of the sound head area?

Posted by Kenneth DePriest Jr (Member # 3212) on January 21, 2013, 05:15 PM:

well something odd happened, the gate fell out of the projector, I salvaged the pressure plate, a screw, and a thin copper metal plate. I really wish someone in the washington dc area could fix this, it seems it could be repaired, but I'd have to mail it somewhere.....looks like it might be dead.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on January 21, 2013, 05:32 PM:

Might be worth a call to Eastman Kodak. I know 20 years ago they still had spare parts for the M100. Nothing to lose by calling.

Posted by Gerald Santana (Member # 2362) on January 28, 2013, 11:59 AM:

How's this projector running now Kenneth? I took a picture of the gate and one of the sound head design for Paul. The view is looking up, there's a lot of aligning to do if you remove the plate to take a good look at it. The last time I did that, I lost sound for a week until I fixed it.

If you decide to keep the projector, look into buying a line out adapter and a coupler that will connect into 1/4" jack of a 8ohm speaker from a junked Kodak Pageant or similar, you don't need anything else and the sound is really good.

Don't give up hope, I know you can figure it out! Otherwise, I'll be happy to buy the projector from you and try to work on it myself.

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