8mm Forum: Super 8mm optical sound results?

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Posted by Clinton Hunt (Member # 2072) on March 04, 2018, 07:01 PM:

I only own 1 optical sound film on Super 8mm ... Life And Times Of Grizzly Adams on 3 x 600ft reels.I’m not impressed actually,the optical sound was a hit and miss for quality,sometimes it’s clear and other times it’s a bit garbled,I’m not sure if it’s my Elmo projector (threading etc) or the optical soundtrack? The picture is faded to totally red.
Flicking the “loop” knob sometimes helps.
Anyone else have this situation or have any thoughts?

https://youtu.be/OOj7brCnwv8

Posted by Andreas Chmielewski (Member # 2208) on March 05, 2018, 06:17 AM:

You can make a magnetic stripe on it, i have a adress in Italy. The quality is great! And you can re-recorded new from DVD [Smile]

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on March 05, 2018, 06:39 AM:

Well, my view is only from my own experiences,
We have had three or four films with optical sound,
Crocodile Dundee, sold as it was censored for general audience,
Spaceballs
A Chaplin short, (The Tramp)
Movitone News reel.
All of them had ok sound but three out of four suffered with bumps and hiss, all had crappy tinny sound, even via our amp they wernt anything special.
I know super 8 optical sound can and does suffer from Hiss pops and bumps but, some Super 8 projectors are better than others for optical sound.
Another collector sent me a very informative email the other day on this subject, here is an extract from that email, I hope he wont mind me using this but this chap is a very knowledgeable collector and a past member from here, in part it reads,

"assuming you are watching optical on Elmo’s no doubt, which are not the best machine to replay optical sound. The ST1200 is slightly better than the GS1200, the Elmo’s for some reason soak up static charge, it used to fascinate me, when rewinding on metal spools, the little blue spark flitting between the spool and the reel arm, Paul van Someren cured his with a paper clip, so a lot of these crackles and pops just could be static, but BOTH these machines pale against the Fumeo, it doesn’t need any ancillary amplification,

So that, for me, explains it, we no longer have any optical films as one the things i cannot stand is buying a film on super 8 which is censored when you can buy the uncensored version on a disc, whats the point in that?

Posted by Maurizio Di Cintio (Member # 144) on March 05, 2018, 10:11 AM:

Clinton the problem is in the pinch roller: check that it rests on the film/capstan with due torque; you can increase that (if necessary), by tuning the position of the pinch roller green arm and have it moved a little more anti-clockwise when in stop mode; this way the pinch roller will press the film more firmly.
Looking for what is causing this problem might be a little shocking, though: perhaps the plastic the P/R arm is made of, has cracked a little, tipically around the two allen bolts that keep in fastened to its actuating shaft. That would explain why it is no longer excising the necessary torque. But it's possible to mend.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on March 07, 2018, 11:22 PM:

The optical sound performance on both my GS1200'S is extremely poor, almost worthless in fact. Looking at the design of the optical lens mounting, and the way the films optical track does not stay a constant distance from the exciter lamp lens, it almost seems that the optical sound capability of this projector was an afterthought. Which raises the question " what super 8 mag/opt sound projectors got the optical sound design done right"?

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on March 08, 2018, 01:44 AM:

Paul,
My GS1200 optical playback is really good as it had a modification a few years back to improve it,I have had four of these machines over the years and all were good optical sound wise,saying all that I have an ST1200D and optical is lovely on it,the ST1200 has as a rule better optical sound quality over it's big brother but it's the luck of the draw with them as from machine to machine they vary(I have 7 ST's) Mark

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on March 08, 2018, 01:48 AM:

I heard the Fujicascope projectors got the optical sound right. I wish I could tell you...but i haven't been able to find the bulb on my Fujicascope!
My GS1200 optical doesn't sound too great either.

Posted by Mark Mander (Member # 340) on March 08, 2018, 02:05 AM:

The Fujicascope SH30 has really great optical sound Alan,my mate has one and it's a nice machine. I had a Sankyo stereo 800 opt/mag and sound was poor on that,a lot of machines got the mag/opt treatment but again with varying results,it's as if they didn't expect it to be used,Mark

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on March 09, 2018, 10:10 AM:

Well I removed the sound head pressure roller arm and noticed mag-oxide dust on the photo electric cell. So I wiped it off with alcohol and also cleaned the outer lenses of the optical tube assembly. It made a definite improvement in optical sound quality.
Has anybody ever tried re-aligning the optical sound lens assembly to the optical sound track? It looks like a nightmare to me?
How often do you have to replace the exciter lamp?

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on March 09, 2018, 12:10 PM:

Fortunately, the exiter optical sounds lamps seem to last a very long time. I've never had to replace one ... yet, (knock on wood!) [Smile]

Posted by Joe Caruso (Member # 11) on March 09, 2018, 12:55 PM:

Os, can't reply, empty your in-box or mail-box - Shorty

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on March 10, 2018, 10:59 AM:

Shorty, I put my e-mail address on that PM, just send me an e-mail. [Smile]

Posted by Alessandro Pavoni (Member # 1739) on March 10, 2018, 12:24 PM:

https://www.antanbazar.fr/fujicascope-sh30/1140639-lampe-fujicascope-sh30-ampoule-fujicascope-sh30-lampe-pour-projecteur-fujicascope-sh30-excitatrice-son-optique.html

optical lamp for Fujicascope SH30

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