8mm Forum: Help! Can't Find a Good 8mm Sound Projector...

This is topic Help! Can't Find a Good 8mm Sound Projector... in forum 8mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 03, 2013, 04:24 PM:

So I've been looking around my local Los Angeles area for a good, working Elmo or Eumig sound projector. So far I've looked a 2 Elmo ST600 and 1 ST800...none of which worked for various reasons. I've also seen a Eumig Mark S810 that was missing all necessary accessories to allow conversion from 8mm to Super 8mm.

So it looks like I'll end up searching eBay. I'm seeing many Bell &Howell, Chinon and Sankyo projectors but I don't really know anything about them.

Does this forum have as a reference anywhere a listing of all these various projectors and how they fall in the hierarchy of "good" to "bad?"

Even within the Elmo and Eumig families I'm getting lost as to what should be better than the others.

Thoughts?

Thanks for any help,
Lee

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on June 03, 2013, 05:51 PM:

All the Elmo's are top quality projectors, assuming you get one that has been looked after. The GS1200 is the top of the Elmo line, but also the one that requires some TLC from time to time.
The Eumig 800 series are all good to excellent. They are built like tanks, but many have been run to death. The best Eumigs by far are the 930 thru 940 series.
Sankyo's are high quality machines with an excellent reputation for performance and quality.
Bauer's are superb.
Avoid Bell & Howell, GAF, Chinon's - they all have questionable reputations.

Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 03, 2013, 06:01 PM:

Excellent feedback.

Thanks!

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 04, 2013, 12:29 AM:

Hi Lee

There are Super-8 sites on the 'net which have comparitive data on cameras, projectors and other equipment.

My favorite, the Super-8 Data Base, seems to be down if not out.

This site is made from the same set of data:

Super-8 Wiki

I've found goofs and gaps in this information here and there, but it's generally useful.

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on June 04, 2013, 12:37 AM:

If you can find a nice ST-1200HD MO, I'd go for that. If you do need the Regular 8 though, it doesn't support that.

http://www.fosterfilms.co.uk/accessories.htm

He has one of those, but they are 220V, but I reckon about that price is correct

Posted by frank arnstein (Member # 330) on June 04, 2013, 02:02 AM:

Hi Lee,

In case you didn't know, the Eumig Mark S810 is a straight Super 8 projector and it can't play Regular 8 movies. It has a delivery spindle that is fixed for Super 8 reels only and it never came with the accessories needed to change over guages to Regular 8. It also had a special claw with 2 pins that can't play Regular 8 films.

So if you want to buy a Dual 800 series Eumig then look for the designation "D" as in 810D or 807D or whatever model Eumig it is from the 800 or 700 series. They should have the extra aperture plates and sprockets that you will need to swap guages and it will have the special claw with only one pin. This magic claw can play both guages of film using only the 1 thin pin.

Good Luck on your continuing search. Perhaps reconsider the Elmo ST-800 you looked at earlier as its probably only something simple needed to fix it.

dogtor frankarnstein [Smile]

Posted by Vidar Olavesen (Member # 3354) on June 04, 2013, 02:36 AM:

If you can find a nice ST-1200HD MO, I'd go for that. If you do need the Regular 8 though, it doesn't support that.

http://www.fosterfilms.co.uk/accessories.htm

He has one of those, but they are 220V, but I reckon about that price is correct

Posted by Maurice Leakey (Member # 916) on June 04, 2013, 02:44 AM:

Lee
Click on the projector icon to bring list of projector makes, then click the makes which will then bring up the maker's various models.
Finally, click on the model for full details.
http://www.super8data.com/

Posted by Roger Shunk (Member # 2836) on June 04, 2013, 02:51 AM:

Lee,
Sent you a PM
Roger

Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 04, 2013, 04:27 AM:

All - You folks are awesome!! This information goes above and beyond what I was looking for.
The Eumig model I referred to above is listed as a "D" model so I assume it should be capable of dual 8mm playback. That's not a need for me but if I were to buy a projector that could playback both I'd sure like to have the parts that make it happen.

I'm partial to the Elmo line as I had one when I was a teenager (I think it was an 800...) so am a little familier and perhaps nostalgic for the brand.

Frank - In your opinion what would be a reasonable price to offer for the Elmo 800 with the playback issue?

Roger - I've replied to your PM.

Thanks again to all,
Lee

Posted by Winbert Hutahaean (Member # 58) on June 04, 2013, 04:41 AM:

Lee, I have an Elmo ST-800 like new in box. The original box is still strong nothing break or tear.

All accessories are there that includes the soft case.

I am asking $175 + shipping.

I guess shipping to USA is $39.

Email me at winbert (at) hotmail (dot) com if you are interested.

Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 04, 2013, 05:09 AM:

Hi Winbert. I just emailed you.

Tanks,
Lee

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 04, 2013, 05:52 AM:

This sounds like a better deal!

There's one on e-bay right now that looks nice (Don't they all?), but has no information but the technical specs. These basically describe the machine as it was built and tell you nothing about what condition it's in 30+ years down the road.

I like to know that the seller has some idea whether the thing works or not!

When they say they can't test it because "They have no tapes" (unless they are selling for like 5 bucks), run away!

Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 04, 2013, 06:47 AM:

Steve - If your referring to the Elmo 800 on eBay for $200 with the blue background in the picture, that's the one local to me where the reels didn't turn in forward or reverse. ..

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on June 04, 2013, 06:51 AM:

Oh Wowww!

So I stand corrected: the seller might actually know this machine doesn't work?

Maybe we should be mean and ask some questions?

Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 04, 2013, 06:54 AM:

He knows it as of two days ago. He was selling it for a friend... He was going to go back to his friend to see if he could get it to work but so far haven't heard back from him.

Posted by Hugh Thompson Scott (Member # 2922) on June 04, 2013, 11:56 PM:

Lee, my advise would be to forget ebay,Winbert has a good
machine on offer,no doubt it will be in excellent condition, and
on here you should be quite safe in buying stuff.

Posted by Raymond Glaser (Member # 1766) on June 05, 2013, 01:49 AM:

I have a Sankyo 500 Super 8 Sound projector if you're interested. It's in great condition for $150.00 including shipping

Posted by Zechariah Sporre (Member # 2358) on June 05, 2013, 03:31 AM:

If you are still looking, I have a Eumig 810 High Quality Sound super 8 projector. It would be $195 with free shipping.

Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 05, 2013, 03:59 AM:

I made a deal with Winbert yesterday to purchase his Elmo 800 so it looks like I do have a really nice projector coming in about a week.

Thanks to all for your help on this search. I'm pretty excited to be getting back into this hobby. I had a Elmo 800 when I was a teenager back in the 1970s along with a small collection of films.

Lee
| IP: Logged

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on June 05, 2013, 05:32 AM:

A very wise move Lee.

Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 05, 2013, 06:04 AM:

Thanks Paul. I think so too.

I must say I've been very impressed by the membership of this forum. It's really unusual on the internet for everyone to be so supportive and helpful to one another. It only adds to my excitement to get back into this hobby.

Lee

Posted by Barry Fritz (Member # 1865) on June 05, 2013, 08:39 AM:

Uhm. Maybe I missed something but based on the title of this post it is an 8mm sound projector Lee is looking for. I don't think the 800 Elmo plays 8mm. Isn't it a super 8 machine.

Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 05, 2013, 09:39 AM:

Barry is correct...partially.

Super 8 was a "must have" where regular 8 was a "would be nice."

Posted by Robert Crewdson (Member # 3790) on June 26, 2013, 07:53 AM:

Did you finally get a projector? I bought my Eumig 810D in 1975 and still going, never damaged any film. In the 1970s a UK cine mag ran a test to find which projector was capable of running a film the longest before it started to disintegrate. They had a continuous loop of film and just let the projectors run for a couple of days. The winner was Noris (German), I think Eumig came 2nd or 3rd. Avoid Chinon at all costs, they had a reputation for making good cameras, but not projectors. At one time Derek Simmonds of Derann wouldn't allow you to hire a film from him if you owned a Chinon projector. You could buy a film for about £35 or hire it for £12 or £15; a film was being sent out once and coming back with torn sprockets. Chinon was sold exclusively by Dixons in the UK, another of their brands was Prinz. They brought out a Super 8 film on Polyester base, which they claimed would make the image sharper: I tried a roll, and not only was it not sharp, but weird colours, biased greens and browns.

Posted by Lee Bombard (Member # 3740) on June 26, 2013, 09:19 AM:

Robert - I did find a projector...in fact I've gone from zero projectors a month ago to I think 8 today...don't ask. [Smile]

Thanks to a couple of good folks here on the forum I've obtained a Elmo ST800 (thanks Winbert) and a Elmo ST1200HD (thanks John.). Both seem to be fantastic machines.
Along the way I've picked up a working Elmo ST1200 for pretty cheap (currently up for sale on eBay) and a non-working Elmo ST1200D (also on eBay.)
Also purchased a great condition Elmo 16-CL too as well as a couple of older Bell & Howell 16mm machines up on eBay too.
Way too much time on my hands...
Lee

[ June 27, 2013, 09:31 AM: Message edited by: Lee Bombard ]

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