8mm Forum: My Beautiful Eumig S926

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Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on July 08, 2008, 03:58 AM:

I have just bought a Eumig S926 and I think it is the most beautiful projector I've ever seen. The two-tone colour scheme, the unusual "box" shape and the "Blackpool Tower organ" control panel. Even the two concentric spools fit in with the harmonious whole.

These projectors, and its brothers, were originally supplied with a sound-head "spanner." It had a box spanner on one end to remove the sound head assembly for cleaning. The other end had a wedge shape handle to open the pressure pad.

As is usual with a second-hand projector, every original supplied accessory is missing.

Does anybody have one of these for sale please?

[ July 08, 2008, 05:39 AM: Message edited by: Maurice Leakey ]

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on July 08, 2008, 05:14 AM:

Maurice, I would suggest you put a request in the wanted section as well.

Kev.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on July 08, 2008, 05:42 AM:

Kev

Thanks. I have done as you suggest.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on July 08, 2008, 08:16 PM:

Aaaah, a magnificent machine, and dig that wonderful stereo sound!

Posted by Mike Tynus (Member # 1108) on July 08, 2008, 08:38 PM:

Hi Maurice,
I have a spare Eumig soundhead tool I'll be happy to give you.
Just e-mail me.
I too love the Eumig 900 machines. Perhaps the most scratch-free projectors of all time.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 09, 2008, 08:41 AM:

I totally agree with Mike - the 900 series, particularly the 938 and 940 are very kind to film indeed. I have never put a single scratch on my films with these machines.
Maurice, yes the 926 is a great looker, its the kind of machine you want to leave out so that everyone can admire it. Just make sure that you keep that film path meticulously clean, particularly all surfaces of the curved plastic film chute where you feed the film in. You need to take this apart quite frequently and clean all the surfaces and tiny plastic rollers with Pledge or Favor furniture polish. Same for the back chute, after the rear sprocket. The lack of a feed sprocket makes the projector a littles harder on the film, so keep that machine ultra clean! The 926 sound recording is superb, you will get awesome stereo if you record at the correct level. I get the best results by NOT setting the record level sliders to the full AUTO LEVEL setting, but by manually setting the level so that it is close to the red level. I use my 926 to do all my re-recording (- it is IMO a much better recording projector than the GS1200), even though I mostly project with my Elmo GS1200.
If you love the 926, the 938 or 940 are the top of the line in this series. Same machines as the 926, but with conventional in-line film path with 2 sprockets, 800 ft reel capacity, and a 150 watt lamp. You may want to monitor ebay for one. Also look out for an f1.0 lens to fit your 926 - it will substantially increase brightness and image quality.
Enjoy that machine- and expect the best sound you have ever heard on super 8! [Smile]

Posted by Mike Tynus (Member # 1108) on July 09, 2008, 02:21 PM:

Hi Paul,
If I may ask, where did you acquire a 1.0 lens for your Eumig?
In my opinion, the Eumig 1.2 lens on my S940 makes b/w films look more white than the Elmo 1.1 lens on my standard GS1200, so your 1.0 lens must look outstanding!

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 09, 2008, 04:55 PM:

Mike, the lens I use on my 938 was taken from a Kodak M100 S8 sound projector. The lens is actually a fixed focal length (non-zoom) Kodak f1.0 20mm Ektar lens. It is a superb piece of glass, much sharper than the Elmo f1.0, and because there are fewer glass elements than a zoom lens there is much less light scatter. It projects a needle sharp picture across the whole picture, and contrast is superb. Alan Rick also managed to get a hold of one of these lenses and I think he was also very enthusiastic about it. The lens barrel has to be turned down to fit into the Eumig 938 lens holder. Here is a pic of the Kodak M100 S8 sound projector:

Posted by Mike Tynus (Member # 1108) on July 10, 2008, 03:55 AM:

Thanks Paul for the great info. What a fascinating machine, very open design akin somewhat to a 708EL. But what do I know.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on July 11, 2008, 05:15 AM:

Mike

Many thanks for your kind offer. This tool should enable a clean around the sound heads etc., although page 21 of the instructions say ".......and a special pressure pad system cleans the sound head."

But then it goes on with a heading "Removing film deposits from the sound head pressure pad."

Perhaps the pressure pad cleans the sound head but not itself!

Posted by Mike Tynus (Member # 1108) on July 11, 2008, 12:45 PM:

Hi Maurice,
I sent out the Eumig Spanner Tool out yesterday and they told me it should arrive to you in a week or so.
Cheers,
Mike

Posted by Tony Stucchio (Member # 519) on July 11, 2008, 06:36 PM:

Personally, I don't care for the claw-driven projectors such as the Eumig 926.

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on July 11, 2008, 06:46 PM:

And they dont project the full available frame, in fact no Eumig does [Frown]

I have a film here that I have just bought off a Eumig user and it has scratches up the extreme edges of the picture. The Eumig user will probably have been quite unaware of these but an Elmo user will see them as the whole frame is visible.
Maybe some people just never clean the film path on their Eumigs?
Run an SMPTE test film through a Eumig or Noris (to name a couple) and see just how much you are missing!

Kev.

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on July 12, 2008, 03:18 AM:

Kev

Have you any explanation about the different gate sizes?

Gate cleaning on these Eumigs is not the most easy of tasks whereas with its swing-open gate the Elmo is a doddle.

Posted by Graham Sinden (Member # 431) on July 12, 2008, 03:32 AM:

Kev, ive also been amazed why no eumig's show the full frame. Is it just Eumig and Noris?

Also are there any differences between the 926 and 938/940 sound control panel in terms of lights, switches etc.? One of my main gripes about my 926 is that there is no seperate volume controls for left and right. I always prefer the Elmo layout giving me easy control over both sound tracks.

Graham

Posted by Mike Tynus (Member # 1108) on July 12, 2008, 04:45 AM:

The 926 and 938 share the same exact sound console. The 940 has the same fader layout and track select buttons, but the huge difference is of course with the programmable recording section of buttons placed in the center of the console. The track to track buttons have been removed and is performed via the programming section. And the vu meter consists of five led lights and there's a sleek digital frame counter. A couple of nice console lights have been added underneath the programming section to light the two fader sections.
EDIT: Forgot to mention the Treble/Bass fader has also been divided into 2 faders: 1 for Treble and 1 for Bass on the 940.

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on July 12, 2008, 10:29 AM:

I have no idea why Eumig and a few other manufacturers did a smaller gate. Maybe with the all plastic design it was easier to mold it slightly smaller which would hide any slight differences in the molding.

With the all metal gate and adjustable edge guides the gate has to be subsequently adjusted so it could be adjusted precisely to show the full available frame. I think with the plastic gates the fixed edge guide is all part of the molding and there could as I said above be slight variations.

All down to cheaper manufacturing I'm afraid to say. Helped to keep costs down.

The Eumigs do scratch if not maintained but it is just that it's outside the Eumigs visible frame area. Try the same film on another machine such as an Elmo and you may be surprised to see some extreme edge scratches. Maybe this was the reason for the smaller frame area....who knows?

And before anyone flames me down the Elmo's can be a pain in the butt for scratching. Once again it's down to vigilance by the user and keeping an eye on the vulnerable plastic parts which WILL wear with use and do something about it before it gets to that stage.

Paul, that Kodak M100 has always fascinated me as it looks a simple but well built machine. I have never seen one in the flesh though. Did Kodak make them or were they made for them I wonder.

Kev.

Posted by Mike Tynus (Member # 1108) on July 12, 2008, 03:05 PM:

Kevin, I couldn't agree more; Elmo's have a number of potential scratch points. I always end up having to do whacked mods on the GS1200's to keep them scratch free. I've never had to do a mod on a Eumig 900 series to keep them clean. In fact, when doing test loops through my machines, the normal abrasion factor hardly even shows up on a 900. As if nothing is touching the frame area at all.
But I must very respectfully submit: The Eumig S940 shows the exact same amount of frame as an Elmo GS1200, St1200 and St600, if not a twitch more top to bottom frame. The Eumig 800 series is a different story of course, trimming off the sides a significant amount.
Love 'em all, though!

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on July 12, 2008, 04:39 PM:

Maybe on that series they took a leaf out of Elmo's book.

Where the GS is concerned there are a number of mods you can do to completely stop the wear you get in the guides and then you don't have to worry about wear on those either.
The part most people forget is the black swinging tensioner. If that is replaced with a rubber roller it can be totally forgotten about. Rollers in the upper guide and input guide as well and you end up with a machine which again is scratch free.

Kev.

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 12, 2008, 04:41 PM:

Graham, I am puzzled by your comment on the 926 volume controls - the 926 and 938 both have separate slider pots for both track 1 and 2 recording levels and playback ( a total of 4 slider pots) plus a single (TRIC) mixing control.
Kev, the Kodak M100 was totally manufactured by the Eastman Kodak Company in Rochester New York - back in the good old days when 'Made in the USA' really meant something. The M100 is a spin off of the 16mm Kodak Pageant machine, as such it looks and feels more like a 16mm machine, built like a tank with all metal parts, except for the speaker cover which is cloth covered wood. The Super 8mm picture quality on this machine is superb with 150 watt lighting and that great Ektar f1.0 lens. It runs very smoothly, very steady, and has 2000ft spool capacity. Sound quality is not the best however. It uses a hybrid amplifier design - the Eumig 800's had much better sound. But, if you were looking for a S8 silent machine, the M100 would be hard to beat.

Posted by Martin Jones (Member # 1163) on July 12, 2008, 05:27 PM:

No Paul, the 926 has Left & Right Record, Mix, Tone, Playback Balance and combined Left/Right Playback....6 in all.
Martin

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 12, 2008, 05:48 PM:

Yes you are right Martin. I just looked at my 938 and confirmed your correction. Thanks!

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on July 13, 2008, 05:54 AM:

Paul, What about changing the amp to a more modern job or does it have an output for an external amp?

I wonder if they sold them over here in Europe? I will have to keep my eyes open for one of these machines. I have to admit that I havent even seen the 16mm Pageant on my travels [Frown]

Kev.

Posted by Martin Jones (Member # 1163) on July 13, 2008, 12:36 PM:

Kevin,
Output to external amplifier (I hope you mean the 926 and 938).
Yes, there is a pre-amplified output on pins 3 & 5 of a standard Din socket at the rear of the machine. This output is unaffected by tone, balance or volume settings.

Martin

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on July 13, 2008, 12:55 PM:

Kev I think the problem of sound quality on the Kodak M100 probably has more to do with the sound head design than with the amplifier. Kodak's head design was really weird, with a tiny sound head located at the end of a long thin leaf spring which pushed down against the stripe. I would think that misalignment of the head would be a real issue with that kind of design approach. The sound quality on the machine that I had was OK, speech was quite acceptable but music was not that great. As I said the Eumig 800's had much better quality sound, at least on the machine that I had. The M100 was the first S8 sound projector made by Kodak to showcase the new Kodak super 8 sound film. The forerunner to the M100 was the regular 8mm Kodak Sound 8 projector, which looks very similar to the M100 excepr for the spool layout:

PS. Did American boys really wear bow ties back then?

Posted by Kevin Faulkner (Member # 6) on July 13, 2008, 05:11 PM:

Yep you are probably right about that design from the sounds of it and an external or revamped amp would probably not help.

They still sound like great machines though.

I have to say that the bow tie looks like it might have been painted on afterwards [Big Grin]

Kev.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on July 14, 2008, 12:00 PM:

The only "reel" problem with the 926, (and it HAS been mentioned before, is the rear reel assembly, which does jerk the film a little, (more so towards the end of the reels).

I just wanted to add that along with giving the surfaces a good claning with "pledge", also a great film cleaning solution with wax mixed in is a sure bet. Since I have done that with my earlier Super 8 prints, I have not seen my 926 scratch any of my old stock films.

The one I've presently switched to is "Film-Renew" (at least i think that this is the title), sold by Steve Osbourne, as it does, upon drying, not only cleans but adds that "waxy layer" to the film and, in some cases, even lessoning the existing scratches!

926, yummy machine, now, if I could just get my hands on a ELMO
mag and optical unit!

I'M ON OPTICAL SOUND SUPER 8 WITHDRAWAL!!!!

Posted by Jean-Marc Toussaint (Member # 270) on July 14, 2008, 12:22 PM:

Osi, you're doomed! Muwahahahahahahaha!

Wonderful machines these Eumigs. Had bad experiences with the 926 but the 93X series (2, 4, 6, 8) are splendid projectors.

I wore a bowtie when I was a kid...

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