My ultimate Eumig HID lamp upgrade project 2021

[Lee Mannering]

Well..
Pandemic or no pandemic its been a interesting time for me and my 8mm film projector upgrade projects. My Eumig High Intensity Discharge Lamp conversions have been a popular development in England pleased to say with the proposed discontinuation of the Halogen lamp and perhaps HID. Lets not be negative tho...

Upside. Since I started my idea of HID lamps in the humble Eumig born from a dose of Covid which perhaps the only good upside if that's possible I have continued to develop improvements to the good old Eumig.

I'm now working on which for me will be the end of the line.. A Eumig with 2 blade shutter for around 25% more light, improved amplifier, HID lighting, additional cooling and perhaps more importantly multi lens barrel conformity.

I dearly love my Elmo GS1200 and other projectors but to squeeze beyond top end performance from the little Eumig is something else and a tribute to the Austrian company and I hope it turns out well without so many complications.

I stripped down to the bones this projector checking everything for wear and all good. The 2 blade shutter is in and the new cooling to cope with the HID lamp is also completed. The claw cam is in good shape as well which is perhaps a top priority in vintage machines and the amp is also looking good.

I'm presently removing the old focus knob system and installing the more traditional system for greater accuracy in focusing also offering a greater choice of lenses.

For now then that is as far as I have got but I will update you are we go along in the next few weeks.


I would like to mention to anyone contemplating repairs/upgrades to equipment who is not qualified. Be vary careful these are mains operated goods and can cause terminal damage. Be careful my friends. Well worth doing a few years at college getting a small qualification as I did.

[Paul Adsett]

The best of luck with your project Lee. I have no doubt that it will be a great success and you will have the best Eumig in the world upon completion.
I had not heard of any proposal to discontinue Halogen specialty lamps or HID. If that is true a good LED source will have to be available to replace them in specialized equipment such as projectors.

[Tom Photiou]

The ballast used for for these conversions is already no longer available in the UK, im sure itl be available somewhere though. I myself having just replaced the claw arm assembly on my 810DLUX will stick with the brighter lamp projectors rather than tinker with these, ive sorted two of these now, (the 810 and the 822 sonomatic) and still not overly keen with the clutch mechanism. Its a poor design and unless they are used regularly they suffer with the speed. An easy fix i know but still a pain.
The HID lamps are great for a very big screen or long distance, (such as the one Bill Parsons did for the GS used at Ealing on a 24ft screen), but i genuinely cant see the advantage in an average room. The lighting from these lamps can make the image way too white and loose detail with it's over exposure and colours are also changed on screen.

[Charles Titone]

I saw an LED conversion for some projectors listed on Van Eck, he uses a dimmer to allow the light to be turned down. I would like to see the details of this project as I may attempt it on one of my projectors. I do not understand why no one has built replacement bulbs for these that are color corrected and dimmable. It may be possible to build a wifi connected bulb that could allow the color temperature to be anything necessary. I am going to open a thread for all LED conversions.

[Paul Browning]

Like polishing a turd and then rolling it in glitter.............

[Stuart Budd]

Like polishing a turd and then rolling it in glitter.............

What value on the Bristol Stool Chart are we talking! Eumigs aren't just any'ol turd! They're the best turd money can buy.

[Lee Mannering]

Good idea Charles as eventually we will be LED lit I'm guessing in projectors.
Had a chat with the lighting tech in a local theater as I commented how powerful the new LED stage lights were and we got to costs. A small set of LED up lighters will set you back nearly £1500 which has little to do with Cine but does give a rough idea of costs at the far end of LED tech perhaps.
For the moment I'm happy doing my Long Covid therapy lamp conversions and more than happy to do so.

It's been a long time but perhaps it's time to do a CRISWELL PREDICTS moment as I used to do on the good old 8mm forum.

"I predict we will be singing the praises of powerful LED Lighting in our environmental friendly projectors in under 10 years"


In all seriousness it has been good to drive the humble Eumig into the 21st Century with my lamp conversions and various inner modifications. Something good actually came out of a bad situation which has to be oh well good.
Just finished fitting the additional cooling circuitry today to the project then it will be the digital audio out board next week.

Enjoy your Sunday friends.

[Paul Adsett]

I wonder if Lee has considered putting a stereo amplifier into his upgraded Eumig 800 series projector? After all, the twin heads are already in place on the Dual track models, and a stereo 824 would be really something special.
I have often thought that the 800 could be mated directly to the beautiful electronic base unit of the 926 or 938 stereo. Mechanically it would be a perfect fit. What a projector that would be!

[Lee Mannering]

When I was a somewhat younger we did have a chap who split stereo off the switch block but please don't start me on something new ha 😉
Doable yes with exsternal amp

[Paul Adsett]

Just something to keep in mind Lee :

[Paul Browning]

Stuart, its the turd that won't flush, what ever rating that might be on your scale, as i was advised many moons ago" if you want to go fast, buy yourself an E type " ............

[Stuart Budd]

I'd definitely apreciate some pictures of the conversion as you go along Lee. There isn't much in the way of vents if these lights get as hot as I assume and then the effect of the heat on the film too. Not sure if you've seen DIY Perks

The LED used needed a bit of heat dispersion. It's for a 4K projector.

But he got there in the end 👍

[Brian Fretwell]

Just put his LED light source (LED and Lenses) on it's side next to the Eumig with a mirror where the lamp use to be. :-)

By the way I still think of CRI as a Colour Reversal Inter-negative, not Colour Rendering Index.

[Tom Photiou]

CORRECTION TO #3

Having had my facts checked, the HID is NOT the lamp conversion used at the Ealing conventions in the GS, indeed, Bill Parsons conversion was a HTI with a 250W lamp, not the HID, there is a huge difference, the HTI is a whole lot brighter than the HID, so i needed to ensure i got this correction in. Bills conversions also allowed the projectors to use normal lighting as well with a switch fitted to the rear of the projector, He had already been doing HID conversions for years previous to Ealing so that a while ago now.
I have also read that quite often, the colours on screen with HID lighting are often altered on the projected image, and not always favourably.
Also, Osram ballasts are still available but due to be fazed out.
Regarding stereo conversions, wouldn't it just be a whole lot easier to buy a proper stereo projector? How well would the soft Eumig heads withstand all this?

[Brian Fretwell]

I think that the soft head problems started with the 900 series so the 800 series ones being suggested wouldn't have that problem. I suspect that's why people were thinking of combining an 800 mechanism with the 926 amplifier part.