8mm Forum: Of lesser projectors

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Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on April 08, 2015, 09:33 PM:

When you spend all your film time running high end machines such as GS1200'S and Eumig 938's, it easy to overlook the merits of some of the smaller machines out there. Such was the case today when I decided to give my little Eumig 820 Sonomatic a clean up, lube, and some needed maintainance. I have not run the projector in years, it spends all its time on display in my screening room, put out to pasture on a high shelf, while my GS and 938 get all the glory. The maintainance issue was easy, the top sprocket holder had cracked and the sprocket was spinning on the shaft. A little epoxy took care of that problem. I pulled the back off and wiped the drive discs with alcohol, greased the worm gears, and a drop of oil on a couple of the drive shaft bearings. Then I stripped down the film path, polished up the gate, cleaned the sound pressure roller (which is huge compared with the tiny GS1200 roller), and all those little pulleys at the back.
I threaded up a 400 footer and switched on. Wow! - a bright, rock steady picture, with belting and very clear sound, even through the internal speaker. Yes of course, its only a 100 watt lamp, and its only mono sound. But how really great this little projector is for what it was designed to do. Lightweight, ultra compact, built like a tank, and it does the job in spades. Great movie projection without any hassle or worry. Well done indeed Eumig! [Smile]

Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on April 08, 2015, 10:03 PM:

I want one [Smile]

Posted by Graham Ritchie (Member # 559) on April 08, 2015, 11:28 PM:

Paul

Reading that brought back memories of when Steven was young, and that model Eumig 820 was his projector. It got used a lot [Smile]

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on April 09, 2015, 03:10 AM:

I have a similar admiration for the Agfa LS. A small 600ft capacity 12v 100w lamp machine designed by Bauer and performs superbly. Very quiet, requires very little maintenance, sounds very good when used with an external speaker or separate amplifier and is the only machine to offer noise suppression on the mag track as well as having the unique feature of being able to rewind a part run film through the gate!

Also The most important feature of all, projecting forwards or backwards, rewinding traditionally or through the gate, it does it all without ever marking a single frame of film!!

A lovely starter machine in two variations the LS1 and the LS2

Thoroughly recommended to any newcomer.

Posted by Maurizio Di Cintio (Member # 144) on April 09, 2015, 03:13 AM:

I agree, Paul: I own models 804 and 824 from this series and whilst the former is plagued by a terrible hum, the latter has great sound, even a L/H lamp setting which no machine in the 900 Series has. Image steadyness and lens sharpness (through the more than decent Eumig Suprogon) leave nothing to desire in comparison to a model 940. Yes, indeed excellent gear was available even for those who didn't have to cover a 15' (or bigger) screen, running a show for just about an hour or less. On the other hand, I'd pull out my Ferrari (if I had one) of garage only on great occasion, but I'd drive my sub-compact Fiat for everyday's chores.

Posted by Alan Rik (Member # 73) on April 09, 2015, 03:14 AM:

For me a smaller machine would be the Bauer T610/510. I love those little machines!

Posted by Maurizio Di Cintio (Member # 144) on April 09, 2015, 03:30 AM:

quote:
For me a smaller machine would be the Bauer T610/510. I love those little machines!

Si parva licet...

[Big Grin]

Posted by Paul Adsett (Member # 25) on April 09, 2015, 07:05 AM:

Maurizio, I adjusted the position of the hum bucking coil on my 820 HQS, and now the hum is almost inaudible except in totally silent areas of the sound track.
One nice thing is that I have a spare sound head for this machine, should I ever need it.

Posted by Steve Klare (Member # 12) on April 09, 2015, 08:19 AM:

I have never had a GS-1200, and might never. I'm not against getting one, just not that motivated.

I keep to a limited size screen, so a 100W or 150W lamp does a good job lighting up what I have.

As far as audio goes, a lot of the simpler machines have pretty decent sound capabilities other than the small internal speakers. If you take that signal out of the aux and massage it a little then amplify it and put it through a decent set of speakers it can sound really good.

The high end machines have a lot of capabilities that there are no substitutes for when you really need them, but there's nothing wrong with rolling out the lighter artillery when you don't!

Posted by Douglas Meltzer (Member # 28) on April 09, 2015, 08:25 AM:

I bring out the Elmo ST-600 every so often along with my original sound projector, a Bell & Howell 489z. No need to go with the heavy hitters all the time.

Doug

Posted by Maurizio Di Cintio (Member # 144) on April 09, 2015, 11:11 AM:

Paul I tried to move the hum bucking coils but they seem to be set already in the "best" possible way! On the other hand, sound (and lack of hum) is so good on the 824 that I simply have never felt it necessary to move them.

Posted by Osi Osgood (Member # 424) on April 09, 2015, 01:23 PM:

Wonderful post Paul, and great picture, Graham.

Eumig's have tended to be highly reliable, whether a high end or low end model. They are little work-horses to be sure.

I've never owned any ELMO brand projectors, but I have heard the same thing, high end or low, concerning reliability. the only slight drawback is the heavier need for maintenance on the ELMO's.

Posted by Douglas Warren (Member # 1047) on April 09, 2015, 04:18 PM:

Great thread Paul,as being a collector of modest means my low end projectors do the job for me.As much as I would love to own a high end machine,I don't see that in the cards anytime in the near future.My Bell and Howell projectors get the job done to my satisfaction and still allow me to participate in the hobby.
Douglas

Posted by Tom Photiou (Member # 130) on April 09, 2015, 04:39 PM:

we also have the eumig 822 sonomatic which is in excellent running order, these sonomatics are really good, quite running with top notch sound. At present i also have two eumig machines, an 802 duel gauge sound and a 701,(i think) but both have the leads to the bulbs which need replacing, looking for those ceramic plugs that the bulb fits into which always seem to burn out.

Posted by Andrew Woodcock (Member # 3260) on April 09, 2015, 05:03 PM:

Osi, the Eumigs all have their own set of issues throughout their range, just as in the same way Elmo have, from the big to the small.

You, or anyone else who thinks the only cine equipment worth having starts with the letter E needs to look at the bigger picture.

Sure the 938/40 are excellent non scratching machines, but they have an AC motor drive system and for best results any projector with a DC electronic drive system, wins hands down for many many reasons.

Take a look outside the box and you will be truly enlightened at what is possible by using the better alternative,D.C. driven machines. The only Elmo that ticks this box is the GS1200.

If the GS had a film path similar to a Bauer, it would be a near perfect machine.

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