8mm Forum: Bell & Howell 535 vs 540

This is topic Bell & Howell 535 vs 540 in forum 16mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by James Peterson (Member # 3793) on September 18, 2013, 05:02 AM:

What is the difference between the manual thread Bell & Howell 535 and the 540? Both have valves/tubes. Best I can tell is that one is charcoal grey/black and the other is turquoise and says "Specialist."

Which one would you keep?

Posted by Robert Crewdson (Member # 3790) on September 18, 2013, 05:47 AM:

The 535 is an economy model with no Loop Restorer.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on September 18, 2013, 06:13 AM:

My comment is neither.
Why?
They both have a lousy tone control. It is not variable, but has three pre-set positions.
On my 535 there is very little difference in the tone variation between the settings.

Posted by James Peterson (Member # 3793) on September 18, 2013, 07:49 AM:

@Robert: Thanks! What does a Loop Restorer look like--how do I spot one?

@Maurice: Thanks! Yikes! I was looking for the benefits of valves. This is helpful--does your 535 sound bad in your opinion?--Maybe I can EQ it externally if the middle position "tone" is EQ curve-flat? I'm supposed to be getting a 535 and a 540 delivered--both supposedly with good worm gears. Didn't know about the 3 position tone thing.

Posted by Robert Crewdson (Member # 3790) on September 18, 2013, 08:36 AM:

Hello James, on my B&H 655 the loop restorer is above where you feed in the film, the 655 is auto feed. If you lose the loop due to bad perfs or splices, you press down the lever and it restores the loop. Sorry I don't have a photo.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on September 18, 2013, 08:37 AM:

The sound is certainly not bad. The problem is with a film with perhaps a poor soundtrack, there is no real provision to correct it. If the sound track is absolutely perfect then the central position of the control is quite OK.

Having said that, not all 16mm sound tracks are perfect, hence the need for an amplifier which has both bass and treble linear controls.

Posted by Robert Crewdson (Member # 3790) on September 18, 2013, 09:02 AM:

Not a very good photo James, but you can see the Loop restorer above the sprocket wheel where the film feeds in.

Posted by James Peterson (Member # 3793) on September 18, 2013, 09:10 AM:

Yeah, my Eiki (is it called an "Elf" over where you live?) SSL-0 has the separate controls for bass and treble. And it does sound better than other machines I've used. It just has little silly things that happen to it at times (it is my backup projector)-- squeaks in the front arm, rattles in fan shroud (I suspect there's a tiny piece of plastic broken in there somewhere that I can't shake out), lol!

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on September 18, 2013, 09:11 AM:

Note that the type of loop restorer shown only applies to auto-thread Bell & Howells.
Both the 535 and 540 are manual thread and therefore do not have this facility.
I believe the 540 has a loop former device under the gate which actuates if the bottom loop is lost. The film is then automatically quickly pulled down to reform the lost bottom loop.

Posted by James Peterson (Member # 3793) on September 18, 2013, 09:14 AM:

Thanks for the pic Robert--pic is worth 1000 words! My non-working 1552b has that system restorer thing at the top, but (going on pics here because I haven't received the 535 and 540 yet)all I see at the top of those manual threader is an open sprocket and a loop diagram. I'll inspect closer when they arrive. Thanks again!

Posted by Robert Crewdson (Member # 3790) on September 18, 2013, 09:56 AM:

You're welcome James, and thanks. Maybe there is a manual for it in the Manuals section.

Posted by James Peterson (Member # 3793) on September 18, 2013, 10:15 AM:

I really like the manuals section. I see the manual for the 535, but I have never, ever seen a manual for the 540 model on the Internet anywhere. Maybe someone will scan one someday if they have it.

Thanks again!

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on September 18, 2013, 10:22 AM:

Probably hardly any difference, perhaps cosmetic and the change of colour, although later models of the 540 had a transistor amplifier.

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