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Hello,
Just joined up.
I have many projectors (Elmo, Eumig, Sankyo, Yamawa, etc.) I recently picked up a NOS Chinon 7500. I know it is not nearly one of the best and have read thoroughly all the issues.
It definitely had never been used -- I could tell from both the inside and outside. That's the reason I bought it since I didn't want one with worn plastic parts that could scratch.
As you may know, the gate is metal, but the pressure pad is plastic, just like the 330 model which everyone seems to say was the problematic one that scratches because the metal part of the gate is fixed width. Well, the same goes for the 7500, also fixed width. I haven't had any scratching issues, and I've run many tests.
I'm having a fairly common problem with an unstable image -- slight up and down movement, but not with all prints. From what I've read, this is usually a problem caused by the shuttle cam possibly being worn, which results in the claw not penetrating the sprocket holes far enough. I checked the claw, and it looked to me like it was fine. Manually inching the film looked fine. Since it was NOS, I assumed that all was OK. Some prints were as rock steady as my Elmos and Sankyos. Some were acceptably steady. Some were unwatchable. All were rock steady on other projectors.
I did read about how to adjust the claw penetration, so I tried it. My thought process was that it couldn't hurt, and given Chinon's reputation as a budget projector, I assumed that perhaps QC wasn't the best, and that it wasn't adjusted correctly at the factory.
I increased the penetration just a bit more, ensure that it didn't scrape the film as it rose up to engage the film once again. It turned out that when manually inching it, it didn't touch, but when running a film it did, which made the picture worse.
I've spent several hours experimenting with penetration depth, and I now have it set pretty much to what it was set to originally, as I had marked it with a Sharpie on the shaft. Only issue was that the marker was too thick to make an exact mark, but still I'm confident it's very close to the factory setting. I've tested it with that setting on a few prints -- some rock steady, some with slight movement, some unwatchable. The penetration is set to pretty much the max without touching the film when it is retracted. I've tested with both polyester and acetate, and one of my acetates runs rock-steady while the polyester has slight but acceptable movement. Another acetate is unacceptable.
The claw is clean (no "fluff" on the tip), and I've lubricated the shuttle/cam, and other parts inside that needed it, but it is not overly lubricated. The projector runs at the correct speeds (18 and 24.) Definetly not too slow.
Also, even on the worst films, running it with the cover off shows that it is not losing the loop. I've tried to increase the lower loop a bit, but the way the Chinon is designed, when you go from "stop" to "play" you need to go thru the loop-former stage, which resets the loop. Also, while running, switching back to "loop-form" and then back to play doesn't help.
Running in reverse, the image becomes almost rock-steady on the worst films. I've notice this on other projectors, too, in the past, and it makes me wonder if the engineers got something backwards, lol. In reality, that tells me the gate tension is fine, and the claw penetration is fine, but it must be related to the lower loop not being large enough. Of course, in general f sprocket holes are pulled, running backwards elminates the issue, but I can assure you that the sprocket holes are not damaged on the problem films.
Now I know the answer is most likely that the problem prints need lubrication, but in my experience, lubrication in general can't hurt, but unsteady images are almost always a maladjusted claw or gate. One of the prints that runs rock-steady in the Chinon I've had almost 50 years and I know that I have never lubricated it. I also know that given the Chinon's fixed width gate that films not precisely cut can have issues, which was the reason Chinon gave back in the 70s when Derann claimed they wouldn't rent out films to people with the 330 model because of scratching. Chinon blamed the films not the projector!
So my question: Is my analysis spot on? Can the Chinon ever be as consistently rock-steady as Elmos and Sankyos, etc? I am not averse to lubricating films, as I have a supply of Film Renew, but I reserve it for extreme cases and mostly for cleaning. To me having to use it for every film just to guarantee a steady picture is a waste of time and perhaps the Chinon's reputation as an avoidable projector is deserved.
Also, since Film Renew is not plastic-friendly, couldn't a film coated with it ruin the plastic pressure-pad? I guess you need to let it dry first before running the print -- another "inconvenience."
Again, I have many other projectors, and the reason I bought the Chinon was that they are fairly inexpensive and I was curious, since I've read several people say they never had issues, and said people also have several higher-end projectors, so I know their standards are high. I also liked the fact that the lamp (DNE) was 150 Watts, but frankly it is not as bright as an EFR in an Elmo (even with the Elmo 1.3 lens), and I actually think the EFP in my Sankyos and Yamawas are brighter, even with their 1.3 lens (same spec as Chinon, although we know not all 1.3s are equal.)
Thank you very much!
Just joined up.
I have many projectors (Elmo, Eumig, Sankyo, Yamawa, etc.) I recently picked up a NOS Chinon 7500. I know it is not nearly one of the best and have read thoroughly all the issues.
It definitely had never been used -- I could tell from both the inside and outside. That's the reason I bought it since I didn't want one with worn plastic parts that could scratch.
As you may know, the gate is metal, but the pressure pad is plastic, just like the 330 model which everyone seems to say was the problematic one that scratches because the metal part of the gate is fixed width. Well, the same goes for the 7500, also fixed width. I haven't had any scratching issues, and I've run many tests.
I'm having a fairly common problem with an unstable image -- slight up and down movement, but not with all prints. From what I've read, this is usually a problem caused by the shuttle cam possibly being worn, which results in the claw not penetrating the sprocket holes far enough. I checked the claw, and it looked to me like it was fine. Manually inching the film looked fine. Since it was NOS, I assumed that all was OK. Some prints were as rock steady as my Elmos and Sankyos. Some were acceptably steady. Some were unwatchable. All were rock steady on other projectors.
I did read about how to adjust the claw penetration, so I tried it. My thought process was that it couldn't hurt, and given Chinon's reputation as a budget projector, I assumed that perhaps QC wasn't the best, and that it wasn't adjusted correctly at the factory.
I increased the penetration just a bit more, ensure that it didn't scrape the film as it rose up to engage the film once again. It turned out that when manually inching it, it didn't touch, but when running a film it did, which made the picture worse.
I've spent several hours experimenting with penetration depth, and I now have it set pretty much to what it was set to originally, as I had marked it with a Sharpie on the shaft. Only issue was that the marker was too thick to make an exact mark, but still I'm confident it's very close to the factory setting. I've tested it with that setting on a few prints -- some rock steady, some with slight movement, some unwatchable. The penetration is set to pretty much the max without touching the film when it is retracted. I've tested with both polyester and acetate, and one of my acetates runs rock-steady while the polyester has slight but acceptable movement. Another acetate is unacceptable.
The claw is clean (no "fluff" on the tip), and I've lubricated the shuttle/cam, and other parts inside that needed it, but it is not overly lubricated. The projector runs at the correct speeds (18 and 24.) Definetly not too slow.
Also, even on the worst films, running it with the cover off shows that it is not losing the loop. I've tried to increase the lower loop a bit, but the way the Chinon is designed, when you go from "stop" to "play" you need to go thru the loop-former stage, which resets the loop. Also, while running, switching back to "loop-form" and then back to play doesn't help.
Running in reverse, the image becomes almost rock-steady on the worst films. I've notice this on other projectors, too, in the past, and it makes me wonder if the engineers got something backwards, lol. In reality, that tells me the gate tension is fine, and the claw penetration is fine, but it must be related to the lower loop not being large enough. Of course, in general f sprocket holes are pulled, running backwards elminates the issue, but I can assure you that the sprocket holes are not damaged on the problem films.
Now I know the answer is most likely that the problem prints need lubrication, but in my experience, lubrication in general can't hurt, but unsteady images are almost always a maladjusted claw or gate. One of the prints that runs rock-steady in the Chinon I've had almost 50 years and I know that I have never lubricated it. I also know that given the Chinon's fixed width gate that films not precisely cut can have issues, which was the reason Chinon gave back in the 70s when Derann claimed they wouldn't rent out films to people with the 330 model because of scratching. Chinon blamed the films not the projector!
So my question: Is my analysis spot on? Can the Chinon ever be as consistently rock-steady as Elmos and Sankyos, etc? I am not averse to lubricating films, as I have a supply of Film Renew, but I reserve it for extreme cases and mostly for cleaning. To me having to use it for every film just to guarantee a steady picture is a waste of time and perhaps the Chinon's reputation as an avoidable projector is deserved.
Also, since Film Renew is not plastic-friendly, couldn't a film coated with it ruin the plastic pressure-pad? I guess you need to let it dry first before running the print -- another "inconvenience."
Again, I have many other projectors, and the reason I bought the Chinon was that they are fairly inexpensive and I was curious, since I've read several people say they never had issues, and said people also have several higher-end projectors, so I know their standards are high. I also liked the fact that the lamp (DNE) was 150 Watts, but frankly it is not as bright as an EFR in an Elmo (even with the Elmo 1.3 lens), and I actually think the EFP in my Sankyos and Yamawas are brighter, even with their 1.3 lens (same spec as Chinon, although we know not all 1.3s are equal.)
Thank you very much!
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