8mm Forum: Running silent film on an Elmo 16-CL?

This is topic Running silent film on an Elmo 16-CL? in forum 16mm Forum at 8mm Forum.

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Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on March 06, 2012, 08:10 PM:

I haven't even received shipment of my Elmo 16-CL I just ordered...but I'm already thinking I may have made the wrong purchase. My cousin is shipping me dozens of 16mm silent reels my grandmother took. I want to be able to play and transfer them to digital.

Can I adjust the speed on the Elmo 16-CL like I do on my Elmo Super 8 - 800ST? I just found out that the 16-CL only runs at 24fps...so is it possible for me to slow it down to 20fps?

[ March 06, 2012, 09:43 PM: Message edited by: Janice Glesser ]

Posted by Steven Sigel (Member # 21) on March 07, 2012, 04:11 PM:

Hi Janice,
Two separate issues you have here:

1) Can you play the films -- and the answer is yes, they will just be at 24fps instead of 18fps. In practice it's not really that big a deal. The only way to adjust the speed on an elmo 16-cl would be to open up the back and switch the belts onto the slow-speed pulley (assuming your projector has one - some only have 50/60hz pulleys, not 24/18fps pulleys)

2) Making digital copies is not something you want to do with a standard film projector. The shutter rate is wrong and you get all sorts of flicker. Your best bet is to use a transfer projector which has a 5-blade shutter, and (for the better ones) a built in CCD pickup. Then, once you have the video on a DVD, you can pull it into a computer and adjust the speed there.

I do 16mm transfers for people using a proper transfer projector (w/ built in CCD) for $25 per half hour reel (or fraction thereof). If you need anything done, you can contact me at steven (at) 16mm-films (dot) net. Other services charge by the foot - generally works out to more like $200 for a half hour reel...

Posted by Janice Glesser (Member # 2758) on March 07, 2012, 06:02 PM:

Thanks Steve for the feedback. When the projector arrives I will see if it has a speed changing belt. I've done lots of realtime film transfers with 8mm projectors http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EqoF4gqUwh4&list=UUzhVuBJou11ziWdERi0ZGuQ&index=11&feature=plcp and am very aware of the timing issues. I can capture at 24fps and just slow it down in post. I was just hoping it would have an adjustment to tweak the speed...but I guess not.

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