My first Paillard-Bolex H-9 just arrived

[Simon Wyss]

Haven’t I known that I would own one one day? Yeah, it’s here now, a camera from 1936. Dirty, mouldy in various spots, missing a screw here, having a bent lever there, a little rust but mechanically sound. The early spring-loaded cardioid-cam driven claw behind the film, the 190 degrees opening shutter, the early turret, and the trifocal finder. I am going to subject this thing to a thorough overhaul, a complete refurbishing, and—if I won’t forget—to talk about that here.

Not happy with the GIC 9.5 projector I have. There must be a better model. Impressed with the Cinéric at the moment I presume it will be one of these sooner or later. Good light-dark ratio, short gate, open film path in general, and a lid closing the case, far above many others. So what’s left to be desired? Ah, yes, film raw stock! If only the Ferrania people would send a first long roll of P 30 to France . . .

[Janice Glesser]

Congrats Simon! ... very exciting! Keep us updated on the restoration. Would love to see any footage you shoot with this camera.

[Maurice Leakey]

Simon
Look for a Specto as a replacement 9.5mm projector. I can thoroughly recommend them.

https://s3.amazonaws.com/omeka-net/2...Q5sFvVZRbYU%3D



Maurice

[Simon Wyss]

Janice, I will.

Maurice, if you happen to possess a Specto, would you mind to upload a picture of the opened gate? Should very much like to see how it’s designed. One of the reasons why I reject the Paillard-Bolex G. Its gate is not well accessible. As a former professional theatre projectionist I need to be able to clean and check everything. Josef Daněk certainly took great care of the Specto products and I admire the two 88s I have. Still, I want to see the facts with my own eyes. The Ditmar was a candidate and Eumigs want to be more thoroughfully investigated. Why not an English apparatus?

[Dominique De Bast]

Specto are good reliable machines, as Heurtier projectors are.

[Maurice Leakey]

Simon
The Specto has a swing open gate for cleaning. The framing knob presses down (and up) on the whole gate/lens assembly and when fully undone the gate can be swung open.
For lacing, it just opens sufficiently for the film to go in.
Click below to see details of a Specto, including pictures of the gate swung open.

http://www.cinerdistan.com/19-multi-...=1&limitstart=



Maurice

[Simon Wyss]

Very kind of you, many thanks. On the projector search now

[Dominique De Bast]

Simon, if you go for a Specto, check which bulbs it uses. If the projector has not been converted to halogene , it can use an expensive hard to find bulb.

[Dominique De Bast]

To give you an idea about the Heurtier : https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t7qxJM2g7RU (it's in French).

[Maurice Leakey]

The Specto projector used three different lamps in its time.

100 watts. 30 volts. Known as A/3 it had a pre focus cap and an offset filament. Voltage drop via built-in transformer.
250 watts. 50 volts. Known as A1/15 it had a pre focus cap and an offset filament. Voltage drop via built-in transformer.
500 watts. 110 volts. Known as A1/7 with a pre focus cap. To reduce 240 to 110 volts it had a plugged-in ceramic resistance unit.

The 500 watt lamp above is/was available in a higher voltage range between 200 and 250 volts in increments of 10 volts.

I have a 500 9.5mm model which has been converted to use the A1/233 lamp (650 watts. 240 volts). As it's mains voltage (UK) the resistance unit is not required. The existing mirror is retained, but it needed a new 2-pin lamp holder. As the fan no longer cools both the old lamp and resistance unit it seems quite happy dealing with the 650 watt lamp. The 500 model also has the advantage of having longer spool arms.



Maurice

[Lee Mannering]

Specto 500 my dads favourite 9.5 projector in the 1950's Very kind to film and a good light output even with original lamp. I seem to remember he collected his direct from Vale works Berks.
Late 80's I got the ACE optical sound base for mine to show sound films but as Dad remembered it wasn't very successful, he was right.

If you get a Specto two things to look for. Disintegrating of the gate mount as these suffer from Mazak fatigue and also the electrical wiring. With age the wire in them sheds its old coating making them just a bit lethal. Find a good solid machine and rewire it.

Specto 500 the best way to go for 9-5 silent.

[Simon Wyss]

Thanks to you all, not yet there.

[Simon Wyss]

Today the camera got disassembled. A glance of the groups and parts just laid down. The next step will take most groups into plastic bags for a later treatment. Space is needed for calm but steady progress. What cannot be seen is that I have already dressed a few points of the front and the turret disc where sand grains were trapped to leave ugly marks. Now the revolving is smooth again.

In the meantime I collected some information about the Eumig P 1-2-25-26. The point is that although the claw stands at equal height with the claw of this camera the light-dark ratio of the shutter is 1:1 from two times 90 degrees openings. In contrast the Cinéric E-F have about double a light period relative to dark, thus sending simply twice as much light to the screen as a Eumig would. That, of course, at the price of a faster pulldown. Yet, the film canal of the Cinéric is short enough in order to let the film slip through easily. As a mechanic I can adjust the spring pressure at the gate. The innards of the Cinéric convince me quite a bit, to say nothing of the Bakelite housing which intrigues me strongly. I do think it will be a Tiranty-Cinéric with arms for large spools.

[Erik Snel]

The eumig p1 and p2 were very broad platforms for all three formats in amateur film. i wouldnt choose a P1 because its close to 90 years old and things like the motor are made of pre war Zamak which means they fall apart. if you get one without motor 9 out of 10 times the crank is gone. the P2 or Alpha was the successor and is a very sturdy machine. you will need an external glow resistor for the lamp. the p25/26 has that resistor built in on top of the lamp. i have a working P2 but not for 9,5mm but i can tell the quality is good. i have another one that had been in a garden shed for 20 years and is still ok.

[Simon Wyss]

Thank you, Erik, most appreciated

The H-9 is being postponed, some client cameras are coming in.