posted October 18, 2012 07:06 AM
I would like to buy some 9.5 reels, any size up to an including 6" Any advice on moving film from cassettes to reels - is it helpful in any way? After some decades of using 16 and 8, the world of 9.5 is new to me, any advice would be appreciated. I am in US, but will gladly pay shipping for reels from Europe.
Posts: 543
From: Herne Bay, Kent. U.K.
Registered: Oct 2011
posted October 18, 2012 12:19 PM
Hi Tom, I would suggest that whether it is worth moving your films from cassettes to reels depends on what projector you have. Those films will have notched titles and are best run on a Pathe Baby/Home movie ( to the best of my knowledge the only model sold by Pathex in the U.S.A.) or the Pathe LUX,quite rare, or the Bolex PA or DA. All need to have low wattage lamps to avoid blistering the film when stationary in the gate for the notched titles. Hope I am not teaching Grandma to suck eggs. From personal experience, joining these films to run on a larger reel is a nightmare. It is like joining a number of watch springs together! The splices do not run through the projector very well and are difficult to make because the film does not lay flat in the joiner. I know its a bind having to rewind each film or part before running the next one but at least the film is not at risk from tears at the joins. In my opinion the Pathe Baby is the best machine for running those old 30ft and 60ft cassettes because the others really need extra lengths of leader for lacing up. Hope this helps. Ken Finch