8mm Forum: Recommendations For Editor / Viewer

This is topic Recommendations For Editor / Viewer in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Bill Walters (Member # 6438) on April 26, 2018, 08:39 AM:

I have a quite a few old 8mm reels that I need to review and edit. I'm in need of an editing machine (viewer) where I can easily see on a screen the content of my films. I see there are a number of machines including Baia, Kalert, Suntar, Argus, Sears, Mansfield (950, 650, 2080, 2010) and others. I have no clue as to which machines are preferable for my needs. I would like to keep the cost to under $50 if at all possible. I'm looking for recommendations as to what unit(s) I should consider (and possibly which to stay away from). I appreciate any suggestions or ideas. Thanks.

Posted by Kev Morrison (Member # 6338) on April 26, 2018, 10:08 AM:

Bill,

I can give you my recently acquired experience and thoughts on viewer/editors along with the feedback you’ll receive from others. I have an Elmo 912, a Goko 3003, and a Minette S5.

Elmo 912 – a good solid editor/viewer, easy to use, good viewer optical quality, works great as a rewinder. Used Elmo viewers are easy to find on eBay.

Goko 3003 – very similar to the Elmo 912 in design (I’ve read that the Elmo was designed, and maybe built by Goko), except it has a motorized take up drive. The motorized drive speeds up the editing process, makes your viewer a poor man’s movie projector, and can be valuable if you’re nursing an occasionally cranky rotator cuff! In my opinion, the optical quality (in my Goko unit) isn’t quite as good as the Elmo – I wish I had the motorized drive on the Elmo. Like the Elmos, Gokos are fairly easy to find in eBay, although my Goko 3003 is rarer than other models.

Minette S5 – unlike the Elmo & Goko, the well regarded Minette S5 is mostly metal, quite solid, and most importantly, has significantly better optical quality than the Elmo & Goko. Two reasons I see for the improvement are, 1) Unlike the plastic screens of the Elmo & Goko, the Minette’s screen is glass, and, 2) The Minette’s screen is smaller in size, which tends to result in an improvement of the quality of the projected film. I would also suspect that the Minette’s internal mirror/prism configuration and quality is better than the other viewers, but I’ll leave that area to the pros. Minettes are found on eBay on a regular basis, and the S5s aren’t difficult to find.

Two additional points about the Minette S5 is that it is, like almost all Minettes, limited to handling reels up to 400 ft. (I know from experience that the Elmo & Goko can handle at least 600 ft. film reels), and, IMHO, the film threading mechanism is a bit more complex/awkward than the other two editor/viewers. I don’t think either of these points are a showstopper in considering a Minette S5. You can always get a pair of winders/rewinders, mount them to a board, run your film through the editor and you’re good to go for much larger reels.

Cost-wise, each of these viewers cost less (for me) than your budget of $50, and that’s with shipping. If you’re shopping on eBay, be patient, make sure you’re dealing with a reputable dealer, and ask questions. Realize that there are also some eBay sellers that partake heavily of the wackweed, and ask ridiculous prices. Steer clear, do your marketing research, and you’ll eventually get your viewer.

Now – are there other brands film editor/viewers (or models of the above brands) worth considering? I’d certainly think so – for example, I’ve read some positive things about the Vernon 808, but I’ll limit my opinions to what I actually have and use. There are also editor/viewers that aren’t very good, and I’m sure you’ll get some guidance from forum members on those, too.

Bill, when you finally make a decision and acquire your editor/viewer, it’ll probably need cleaning and adjustment. I found this web article very useful in tuning up my viewers:

http://www.littlefilm.org/RehabLeaves/TechTips.20010510221959.html

Hope this helps, and read what the veterans in this forum have to say – that is where I’m getting my Super 8mm ‘education’. Good luck!

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on April 26, 2018, 10:29 AM:

I have a Vernon and it's nice: 600 foot capacity, very nicely made. It's simple, but solid.

There should be about 60 Billion Baia editors on E-bay. They are definitely mass-market cheapies: I'm sure a great many of them came off the shelves at K-Mart (etc.)

-but

I used one for about twenty years and I didn't ever suffer for it. If you can find one in good shape and it suits your needs, why not?

-just like any "new" piece of film handing equipment: Clean it thoroughly and trial run film you pretty much hate until you are sure it isn't causing damage.

What's nice is these are like exercise equipment: many people buy 'em and use them five times before they go in the junk room with the ice cream maker, the fondue set and the wok.

How many people really "edited" films? You get 8 rolls back from Fotomat, you splice 'em one after another onto a 400 foot reel and suddenly you're the local Martin Scorcese!

Posted by Bill Walters (Member # 6438) on April 30, 2018, 10:27 AM:

Kev & Steve... Thanks for the replies (and for that website). I've looked up some of these brands you guys have suggested and there are a number of them available on Ebay. I don't need sound as my films are silent and the biggest reel I'll use with be 5". I'll also be editing some 3" reels as well. When I'm done, I think everything might fit on a 5" reel as I'm sure there is a lot of junk to be edited out. A question about splicing.... In the past, I've always just spliced by overlaying the two layers and cutting diagonal without the use of a splicer, but my taping was crude using scotch tape and poking holes thru the sprockets. Do you have recommendations on a splicer and most importantly a brand of tape I should be using? Thanks.

Posted by Glenn Brady (Member # 715) on April 30, 2018, 02:54 PM:

I think all of the viewers mentioned accommodate Super 8 format film, but Bill said he had "old 8mm reels". He may mean Super 8, but it's not clear, and a regular 8mm viewer (or dual 8) might be needed. Also, Minette made versions of the S5 viewer with 600-foot reel capacity (they were labeled Minette 600).

Posted by Daniel Macarone (Member # 5102) on April 30, 2018, 03:59 PM:

I have used a Baia Mark II for years. It's as basic as it gets and it's all you need. Many other Baia models will be similar.

Posted by Kev Morrison (Member # 6338) on May 01, 2018, 04:23 PM:

From my limited experience, the Minette S5 600 ranks with the mythical unicorn in availability. If you have to have 600 ft reel capacity using a Minette editor, I think you'll probably be better off finding a set of rewinds & mounting them on a board.

See viewer/editor 4 in this picture:

http://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/20171014/307ad016c66c0d10d93651de1eea3d5f.jpg

Posted by Kev Morrison (Member # 6338) on May 01, 2018, 08:30 PM:

Bill asked:

"A question about splicing.... In the past, I've always just spliced by overlaying the two layers and cutting diagonal without the use of a splicer, but my taping was crude using scotch tape and poking holes thru the sprockets. Do you have recommendations on a splicer and most importantly a brand of tape I should be using? Thanks".

Wow - this is really another topic in itself, one that has been asked periodically many times over the years.

I'm currently using a Kodak Universal Splicer that uses Kodak Presstape. Overall, for what I need to do, it gets the job done pretty well, though the tape makes the splices and surrounding tape a bit stiff to thread through areas like the take up rollers on a Wolverine digital converter. Janice Glesser has created a great tutorial on Youtube on the use of the Kodak Universal splicer & Presstape.

There have been numerous questions asked in this forum about what are the "best" splicers - just do a search, and you'll see all of the discussions regarding splicers and the preferences of forum members. I suggest that you scan through some of them, and you can pick up some very good info on the better splicers and the tape that they use. I think almost any of them would be preferable to using scotch tape!

[ May 04, 2018, 09:13 AM: Message edited by: Kev Morrison ]

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