Eumigette 2

[Martijn Schrager]

Hello everyone!

I recently bought my first analogue camera and since I'm only 20 I still remember my parents using them but never used them in the past myself.
I have been doing that now and have been enjoying it so much, although I'm still very new to it.

Yesterday i bought myself an 8mm filmcamera! It was only a few bucks so it was pretty much on a whim. It's an 'Eumigette 2'.
I've just put the batteries in and it still runs pretty well! al the functions also work but there's a slight problem.
i'm not getting anything out of the sight. Pitch black. I know there should be some kind of mirror contraption but I don't know exactly what or how.
I'm also hesitant to entirely unscrew the thing and open up the insides to possibly fix this issue. I have only gotten to opening the wall where the cartridge is supposed to be placed.

My question now is if anybody would know what exactly might the problem and if they might know how to fix it? I'll add a picture of the camera with the wall unscrewed. I'm still an absolute beginner with minimal knowledge on these things. So any info is appreciated. Perhaps a manual?

Thanks in advance!

[Maurice Leakey]

Martijn

Perhaps the instruction manual would help you. You can buy a copy in English.

Eumig Eumigette 2 Printed Manual (camera-manual.com)

It is possible that it will only operate correctly with a Super 8 film cartridge inserted as this has a notch which mates with a pin inside the camera to indicate the speed of the film.

But this is only an assumption as I do not know the camera.

[Shane C. Collins]

If I'm ready this correctly it sounds like your talking about the viewfinder. The round eyepiece you look through to view what your filming. If this is the case then there may be a switch or slider that someone has closed to black out the viewfinder itself. This is often done when someone is self-filming or doing time lapse footage. As mentioned look for a dial or a slide switch under the camera near the pistol grip or close to the viewfinder itself. If I was you I wouldn't take the camera a part. You'll do more harm than good. Hope this helps if this is your issue.

[David Roberts]

My very first super 8 camera was the original Eumigette,non zoom version. This did not have any form of veiwfinder shutter,and I dont think the later version did. I might be wrong,so do check for this. The veiwfinder should work with or without a film in the camera,and it sounds like a fault in the optics. There is a prism that diverts light into the veiwfinder,maybe this is the issue,but not an easy fix.

[Nick Regan]

I don't have a camera in front of me but there are various switches for various things on the camera. This might help?

Eumigette.pdf - User Manual

Nick

[Erik Snel]

Hi, very cool find, i am affraid your camera is broken. a Eumigette does not have a slider or switch to blackout the viewfinder for animation purposes. it may have fallen sometimes and a mirror could have shifted. opening a Eumig camera can be pretty hard to do without damage.

there will be screws underneath the aluminium faceplates, removing them without damage is not a job for the amateur. once it has a fold you will never get it out of sight.

especially because you are a beginner i Think its wise to let a more experienced person work on the camera's internals, or become experienced and try it yourself with the risk of ruining the camera. but to be honest, i repaired a lot of cameras and projector but i did ruin some in the early days, th eonly way to learn.

getting the plates off: the glue is very old and brittle, what i did a few years back was gleuing with (bison tix) contact cement a long screw with a flat top surface to the plate. let it set, the i put the camera in the oven on 50C (celcius) and because of the weight of the screw the plate came off when the glue got soft. the contact cement could be cleaned very nice by just carefully peeling and after the repaur the aluminium plates could be glued back into place wonderfully. i did this many times with Praktica camera's.

with eumig there is a good chance there are more screws underneath the leatherette. this can also be very hard to remove without damage.

[Nick Regan]

Doesn't the Emigette have a selectable conversion filter that affects he viewfinder and comes into play when you select the exposure aperture? This is actually adjustable / selectable? could this be the problem / fault ?

Nick