8mm Forum: New (to me) ST1200

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Topic: New (to me) ST1200

John Armer
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 139
From: Lancaster, UK
Registered: Jan 2015

posted June 02, 2018 04:07 AM

I bought a collection of films and projectors last weekend and one of the machines is an Elmo ST1200. I'm a Eumig user primarily and this is my first Elmo. I've always got on with the Eumigs and have consciously stayed away from the Elmos as one or two people have told me of bad experiences they've had with them. I'm not sure if this applies to the ST1200 or the GS1200.

Anyway, I fancy keeping this projector to use. I have a couple of optical prints (it's the M/O version) and I like the idea of being able to play 1200ft spools. There must be something good about them - Steve Osborne says it's his favourite projector!

Before I run any treasured prints through it, are there any important points I need to check on the machine? I've had a look over the forum and there's lots about the GS1200 but less about the ST1200 and I'm not sure how different the two machines are with regard to the film path etc.

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Oliver F. R. Feld
Master Film Handler

Posts: 447
From: Berlin, Germany
Registered: Jan 2010

posted June 02, 2018 04:15 AM

Hi John
I am a huge fan of the ST 1200 and my machine runs and runs and runs and never scratched any of my features.
In my opinion the optical sound system is not brilliant, but good enough to say that You will like it.
I once had an ELMO GS 1200 and it was complete different to the ST 1200.
You need to enhance a lot of pieces to get a very good machine which treats the features without a damage.
My advise would be to check the inside of the ELMO ST 1200 and to clean everything up before You use it for the first time.
Some dirt here and there from not using might make problems otherwise.
Regards
Oliver

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Michael O'Regan
Film God

Posts: 3085
From: Essex, UK
Registered: Oct 2007

posted June 04, 2018 02:13 AM

I love the ST1200.

They are popular projectors, because of the 1200ft capacity, and quite often they are well used when bought these days. Get it looked at by a good technician before use and it will do the job.

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

Posts: 5895
From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted June 04, 2018 02:53 AM

I fully endorse Michael's comments. It's a popular model and may not have been well looked after.

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Maurice

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Tom Photiou
Film God

Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003

posted June 04, 2018 07:47 AM

Is yours the HD model?
We have three of the 1200HDs for 30 years and i would recommend them to anyone. I would also agree with all comments regarding getting everything checked first. That would apply to any second hand projector these days.

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Chip Gelmini
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1733
From: Brooksville, FL
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 04, 2018 10:07 AM

I ran HD’s with optical For 14 years and they ran flawlessly but now I’m a GS man with no regrets just remember this if the GS 1200 was the best super eight sound machine that Elmo ever made and you have an ST 1200 HD then you have the second best Super 8 Sound projector they ever made.

Yes there was a GS 800 but only the GS 1200 and ST1200 handled the bigger reels.

The only thing I did not like about the ST series machines that had optical sound when you put it in forward mode sometimes there was loop loss and film skipping as the optical loop formed it didn’t always Form correctly so it’s skipped and jumped a bit once it was up to speed and the loop was set Then it was fine.

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John Armer
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 139
From: Lancaster, UK
Registered: Jan 2015

posted June 05, 2018 12:05 PM

Thanks for the replies. It's the 1200D model so I've learned something - it's track one only. I think that's good advice to get it checked out first, but I'll try some prints I'm not bothered about through it first. The belt seems OK (one is rubber, the other seems to be a spring-type belt, I couldn't see any others).

Its very clean both inside and out, not that that means anything but might indicate that someone has looked after it in any event.

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Mark Mander
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1236
From: Dunstable ,Bedfordshire.
Registered: Jan 2005

posted June 05, 2018 01:03 PM

If the belts ok John then that's a good start,try some clear leader through it and see if it marks. I'm a big fan of the ST1200 and have 7 of them,If you get one with good optical sound you won't fault it,they are well built machines and produce a nice steady image. Depending which Eumig you use then probably not as quiet running but not overly noisy either,Mark

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Elmo GS1200 1.0 lens
Elmo ST1200HD 1.1 lens
Sankyo 800 1.0 lens
Elmo 16CL
Elf NT1

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 05, 2018 01:04 PM

The ST-1200's greatest strength is also its greatest weakness: those 1200 foot reels.

They make this a lot more likely to run a lot more footage than the other machines in the ST series and the resulting wear on the guides eventually scratches films.

The ST-800, ST-600 and ST-180 have very similar guides and don't have anywhere near the reputation for scratching film. What's the difference? -the others have much smaller "gas tanks" and don't get driven as far so easily! I usually run an ST-800 next to an ST-1200. -the 1200 get the feature, the 800 runs the shorts and usually runs reels 400 feet and less!

The most notorious spot for guide wear is near the entrance to the lower sprocket. I caught my own ST-1200HD pretty close to the point of making trouble myself and through the kindness of a Forum member I managed to get a brand new guide.

I shot some pictures showing the difference between old and new and posted them in this thread:

Elmo ST-1200D Scratching Film

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Tom Photiou
Film God

Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003

posted June 05, 2018 02:07 PM

I'm glad i bought a whole lot of these second green guides, i still have 6 brand new genuine Elmo ones in there sealed bags, sorry none for sale for obvious reasons. We have three machines now, being in my mid 50s and my Brother in his early 60s, these should last us out. [Wink]

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John Armer
Expert Film Handler

Posts: 139
From: Lancaster, UK
Registered: Jan 2015

posted June 05, 2018 05:39 PM

Steve, funnily enough one of the other projectors was an Elmo ST-180. That seems to run quite nicely.

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Steve Klare
Film Guy

Posts: 7016
From: Long Island, NY, USA
Registered: Jun 2003

posted June 05, 2018 08:44 PM

I'm kind of a fan of the lesser STs. Their simplicity makes them reliable and easy to work on. If you can stay within their capacities they can do a great job.

-you connect that aux. audio output to the right hardware, the sound can be very good!

(I still like my ST-1200HD a lot and if somebody left a GS on my front porch I'd gladly bring it inside!...-anyone? ...-anyone?)

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All I ask is a wide screen and a projector to light her by...

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Tom Photiou
Film God

Posts: 4837
From: Plymouth U.K
Registered: Dec 2003

posted June 06, 2018 06:23 AM

Agree with you there Steve.
The ST1200HD's are very good work horses. Like ALL projectors, they do have there own problems but if looked after, serviced etc they go on and on. [Wink]

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