The last of the 800's The Eumig 804

[Stuart Budd]

From I think 1979, a Eumig Mark S 804 D 2-Track Super 8 Standard 8.

The video is just a quick up of it playing a Walton Review of "66 standard 8 sound.

The stripe is on the perf side, no main stripe. So audio using the 3 position switch is either centre 1+2 or right, track 2.

Played beautify. A small but sharp picture projected around 4 feet away from the f1.6 17-30mm standard zoom.

Serial number 7949552. Made between 1979 and 1980. One of only 20. No, sorry, 20,800 over the two production years.

During that period, it appears no other 800 series projectors were produced. The 804 D being the last (please correct me if I'm wrong).

It's all black, no embossed emblems or logos, just plain white print. No on off switch or selector lock to worry about.

117v 60cps but does have a multivoltage transformer set to 240v.

[Lee Mannering]

One of my favorite Eumig sound machines was the Bi-Ton model. It was Super 8 but had all black paint and was the final Optical Magnetic sound projector from the massive company purchased in 1984 the receipt says. One of my fave camera shops has a small stock of new films and projectors buried in a small store room and were retiring. As I had been a very keen customer throughout my youth prior to this in the 70's I was fortunate to get a bulk deal coming away with a new GS1200, Eumig Bi-Ton and the box of new films. Those were the days when customer loyalty was valued I guess.

At present I'm converting the Opt Mag machine to HID lighting as the Eumig machines for me were the best for Optical sound films. This model had no serial numbers so were produced fairly late in the day.

[Brian Fretwell]

If you showed a Standard 8 film that track would be the main track, there was only space for one on standard 8.

[Osi Osgood]

Just curious, why was it called, "Bi-Ton"? It was manufactured as late as 84? Cool.

[Brian Fretwell]

Just curious, why was it called, "Bi-Ton"? It was manufactured as late as 84? Cool.

I would imagine because it had two sound systems, magnetic and optical. French?

[Dominique De Bast]

French?

No. I believe it's German.

[Stuart Budd]

Hi Brian.

I'm just going off selector position, 1+2 and 2 have sound. 1 no sound.

From the manual:

[Stuart Budd]

You got a great deal Lee. Probably well deserved.

[Joseph Banfield]

I don't see any difference between this machine and the rebranded Bolex machines of the same era that shipped with even faster lenses and were all twin track machines. For example the Bolex SM80 and a couple of other model variants that were all manufactured by Eumig but to Bolex specifcations, all of which were done in matt black and had the better Eumig high quality sound system and the locking power switch and the film frame counter as standard equipment, in addition to tone controls and lighting indicators for speed and LED recording level meters. Those Bolex clones are really nice...too bad that Eumig still continued with the rubber drive discs and the sloppy Eumig 800 focusing mechanism on the Bolex clones!

But of course none of the Bolex SM series machines were capable of running standard 8 film and were all dedicated Super 8 machines with a two claw pull down mechanism instead of a one pin claw like all dual 8 sound machines have.

[Stuart Budd]

The Bolex SM80 is like a hidden gem. As with all used items though, sometimes quality is in whats left. Out of the box, this 804 holds its own against my 822s and 824s.

Speed of lens is less importand or just as important as angle.

I don't need 200w lamp and f1.0 lens as my viewing distance, or projector to screen distance is less than 10ft and in most cases, between 4 and 6ft. A fast lens has shallow focus a small distance but is needed along with more powerful lamp to project to greater distance and larger screens. The grater the distance the more focus depth a lens has. I must admit the f1.6 17mm is a tad small and could do with wider.

Some of my recent film buys were labled Super 8 but were actually Standard 8. The Case of the Unlucky Gambler, Sherlock Holms being one.
I like old sports cars but most of the time, I'll get in someting warm and reliable. I can't knock this particular Eumig. I know we could list the Bolex SM80, Eumig 824 and even an old 710 D. Each for the same price and all mint, perfect. I'd have the 824. But once 40 years has past, each of the many thousands of units made are unique. I think there are tiers of collectors. I'm a bottom rung tier and sometimes drop on. Top tier collectors, well, they know what they're doing. Me, I've just got to get my projector collection completed before the new year. That's my cut off point