WANTED: Kodak Ektasound Moviedeck 285

[Joe Rigby]

Will pay a reasonable price for a tested and working Kodak Ektasound Moviedeck 285.

Maternal grandmother recently passed away, we had previously discussed digitizing the box of 8mm and super8 film she had tucked away, so the grandkids could watch it with her (she was ill at the time).

It all kind of fell by the wayside after an adjacent house caught fire and they had to redo her house interior (water and smoke damage). That process took so long that she passed before she could really move back in.

While they were prepping for an estate sale, they found the box of film in the basement and gave it to me. It appears to be in great shape, considering .. granted the basement was basically untouched.

I am going to try to digitize it in time for Christmas for my aunt and father.

I read a few recommendations to just use the screen on an Ektasound 285 to record the output with a 4K camera (which I own), and it looks pretty straightforward.

Barring that, I will have to get a Wolverine Pro, or similar Kodak machine, the idea of which does not appeal to me.

[Ed Gordon]

Joe, if you haven't already, take a look at https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/vbb/f...tal-conversion

You might post there for advice on how to proceed.

[Steve Klare]

Joe,

I'm actually a fan of the Moviedeck, since one was the very first projector I ever owned. (Christmas present as a teenager.)

-so I won't bad-mouth it, but just give a little caution that there is an integrated plastic molded gear and shutter assembly in there that is subject to becoming embrittled with time and the thing can be operating beautifully one minute and fail without warning the next.

There is even a service available to fix it.

Just please be advised that this is a potential issue.


I'm sorry for your loss: best of luck preserving your family's memories!

[Joe Rigby]

Ed, thanks for the suggestion.

I was able to find an Ektasound 265 on Ebay that appears to be in good shape.

Also purchased an Elmo 912, plan to bypass device and go reel to reel for cleaning/drying, and then to review film for cleanliness.

Steve,

Do you happen to know the part numbers, or name of the kit? I got a 265 since that's all I could find at the moment, might get a 285 if it would be better down the line.

I'll do my best to do them justice!

I've even considered building a custom rig for this process, as some others appear to have success, though to do so would be pushing my technical know-how.

Thank you both so much.

[Joe Rigby]

I found the manual, and found this shutter gear.

Does this look accurate?

[Steve Klare]

That's the one!

Full disclosure: my Moviedeck has the shutter intact, but I haven't used it for years because I'm fond of the thing and don't want to be there when the thing breaks! (I suppose I should just get a new shutter and side-step the problem.)

It's sad that this plastic failure plagues a lot of Kodak's consumer-grade equipment of the era. Not very long after I inherited my Dad's Kodak Carousel slide projector, this happened to the advance mechanism in there too. (In his honor, I got it fixed.)

On the other hand, I have a Kodak Pageant 16mm machine, which is meant for educational use. -it is built like it was meant to survive a war!