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Topic: My second Buckingham projector

Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted September 10, 2016 04:06 PM

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As I have a good number of 9.5 sound films, I could no longer rely only on one projector, especially in this less common gauge. Many films being mounted on large spools, the best option I had was to buy a second Buckingham, which I did today. I was offered this projector a few months ago and was Lucky that the seller is both in the business and a cine amateur so he accepted to wait for me to save the money (it was of course not cheap). I travelled to Paris this morning and brought back the projector in the afternoon (all this by public transport, I let you imagine...). We tested the machine with three films, an optical one, a silent film and a magnetic home movie. The opticl film has several damaged perforations at the beginning so it is useless for the seller as it is not ideal to test projectors so I got it for free. I will repair it with my CIR spilcer and add Poulichette (A la manière de Bozambo) in my collection. The projector I bought has a special piece that allows projections at 16 fps which is the correct speed for silent studio films and for many home movies shooted at that speed. So my new Buckingham will not only be useful in case the other one has a problem but will allow me to Watch silent films mounted on large spools (many other projectors have only 18 fps speed or a limited spools capacity). I've just screened a (silent) film and everything was perfect. The projector came with a 38 mm lens but I replaced it by a better one.

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Dominique

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Maurice Leakey
Film God

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From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 11, 2016 02:42 AM

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Dominique
What model number is your new Eiki?
I assume your replacement lens is still a 38mm, an ideal focal length for 9.5mm, something lacking in most Elf/Eiki conversions as they originally had a 50mm lens which, of course, was standard for 16mm projectors.

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Maurice

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

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From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted September 11, 2016 03:30 AM

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Maurice, it is a NT (black) model, optical and magnetic playback. As I have also two 16 mm Eiki projectors, I have several lenses. I put a 12,5 mm lens as the distance between the projector and the screen is short. Otherwise I have also a 16 mm lens and a 25 mm one. For a reason that I don't know, the Buckingham have a smaller picture than the standard one so with the 12,5 lens my screen is full in 9.5 mm but is too small in 16 mm (with an Eiki projector) so I use the 12,5 lens in 9,5 mm and usually 25 in 16mm (my 16 lens is not as bright as the others).

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Dominique

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Paul Mason
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 540
From: Aldershot, Hampshire, UK
Registered: Nov 2013

posted September 11, 2016 01:36 PM

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Congratulations on your new Buckingham projector Dominique!

It is interesting that you are going to run it at 16 frames/sec for your silent films. This is fine of course for early films, amateur films and European ones. However ever since Kevin Brownlow drew attention to the issue, it is recommended that many American silents of the 20s are projected at 20 to 24 if possible. Not easy to achieve with a sound machine, so you may need a variable speed machine as well. [Smile]

[Smile]

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Paul.

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

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From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted September 11, 2016 01:46 PM

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Thank you, Paul. I'm aware that silent studio films were shooted at (and projected) at variable speeds as early cameras and projectors had no motor. I don't know, however, if the films released on 8, super 8, 9,5 and 16 mm have been "corrected" regarding the speed or not. I guess I will find out for 9.5 by screening films but if someone has the information it could be interesting to have it. So far, I never noticed when projecting at 18 fps or at 16 fps that a film should have been projected at a higher speed.

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Dominique

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David Guest
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1704
From: Lancashire, UK
Registered: Oct 2011

posted September 11, 2016 04:05 PM

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I will be auctioning quite a lot of 9.5 films at blackpool in novermber

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Paul Mason
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 540
From: Aldershot, Hampshire, UK
Registered: Nov 2013

posted September 12, 2016 04:48 AM

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There is very little information available about correct projection speeds. It's very subjective so even in the silent era each cinema would have run a film at a slightly different speed before motors became common. Projectionists were often accused of speeding up films to increase the number of performances or come off duty earlier. Nevertheless some non-comedy silent films become "heavy" and ponderous at the slower speed which affects the enjoyment of modern audiences.

The cost of stretch printing (printing every 2nd frame twice in an optical printer to convert from 16 to 24) would have been high so very few 9.5 or 8mm films would have been stretch printed and movement becomes noticeably jerky.

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Paul.

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Maurice Leakey
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From: Bristol. United Kingdom
Registered: Oct 2007

posted September 12, 2016 05:01 AM

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The 35mm Kalee 11 cinema projector had a film speed indicator.

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Maurice

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Dominique De Bast
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From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted September 12, 2016 01:00 PM

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Here is the beast :-)

To change the speed :

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Dominique

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Terry Sills
Phenomenal Film Handler

Posts: 1423
From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012

posted September 13, 2016 12:06 PM

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Dom
I have the exact same projector - great machine. I use a Paillard Bolex zoom to get a big picture at a short throw, slight vignetting but tolerable. I bought mine from Tony Raepert himself!
Would it be rude to ask how much you paid?

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted September 13, 2016 12:54 PM

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I bought my first Buckingham from Terry as well :-) and I choosed a Buckingham as second 9.5 sound projector because I have been satisfayied.

It is not a secret : the second one costed me 2.000 euros. I don't know how rare these projectors are in the UK but you don't see them often for sale on the continent. What decided me is that the seller repairs projectors so he checked everything and I know that if something would go wrong I would have the possibility to return the machine for inspection. Of course, I would have prefered to pay less but I could save the amount during several months, which was another advantage of buying from the seller I choosed, so I felt it less than if I have had to buy in an "emergency" situation.

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Dominique

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Terry Sills
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From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012

posted September 13, 2016 04:52 PM

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well Dom that does not surprise me. These projectors are very rare, especially the NT2 Optical/magnetic and if the seller is offering service/repair as well then that is a great incentive.
They are also rare in the UK. I have only ever seen one on eBay and it sold for over £1100 and that was a few years ago.
Will you be going to Harpenden this October?

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

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From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted September 13, 2016 04:56 PM

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I will come to Harpenden and to the BFCC (I bought my train tickets well in advance). I haven't checked yet if by chance a 9.5 projection evening falls one of the two week-ends I will be in London.

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Dominique

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Terry Sills
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From: Weymouth,Dorset,England
Registered: Oct 2012

posted September 14, 2016 03:25 AM

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Dom
They usually have a screening at Harpenden. Tony Raepert was there last year and I expect he will be there - all being well.
Hope to see you there. I think it's a great venue and always well attended.

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

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From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted September 14, 2016 06:33 AM

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I know about the screenings at Harpenden but there is also a monthly projection evening at London. Last year, it was the same day than the BFCC. Tony is always there :-)

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Dominique

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Dominique De Bast
Film God

Posts: 4486
From: Brussels, Belgium
Registered: Jun 2013

posted September 18, 2016 03:36 AM

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I saw that there will be a Group 9.5 projection at the begining of October, so I assume the next one will be in November. Bad luck for this time, the dates don't match. At least, I will see the projections at the BFCC and at the Get Together :-)

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Dominique

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