Canon S-2 projector issue - trouble with film guides in gate assembly?

[Steven Michelsen]

I recently bought a Canon S-2 dual-8 projector. I am attempting to capture film to 1080p off the screen (yes I know the limitations) and figured that a projector that can be driven at variable speeds like the S-2 may be just what I needed. It turns out that adjusting the speed does in fact HELP eliminate rolling due to mismatched frame rates, but is not a cure-all.

The issue that I am having is that the projector is VERY unforgiving about splices of any kind. It jams up readily and is eager to burn holes in frames. Occasionally the projector will hang up on a section of film without a splice as well.

This projector uses a separate gate assembly, one each for regular and super-8. Though it seems at first to be a really nicely engineered piece of gear, I am beginning to wonder if there are flaws in the design. on the assembly there are two guides - one spring-loaded - that appear to have the job of holding the film against the edge of the path where the pulldown claw is. The film path is about 10mm wide so the guides are critical in positioning the film. However, I am not certain that the guides are doing their job. The top of the guides seem flush with the film plane and do not appear to sit high enough to push the film into place. Please see the two photos below and let me know what you think. They show the guides from the front and back of the assembly. If the guides are the issue then the projector is not engaging the sprockets as precisely as it should, which could result in all my issues.

I may be going down the wrong rabbit hole here. Has anyone else had a similar problem with the Canon S-2, and found a different solution?

Thanks for your input. The S-2 is a nice machine; there must be a solution here somewhere.

[Nantawat Kittiwarakul]

The spring position is off, is it?

[Steven Michelsen]

Thanks but it seems my premise was entirely wrong. On further study I see that the film guides are in fact doing their job - holding the film against the sprocket-hole-side of the channel the film runs through. The machine remains VERY unforgiving of tape splices that are not perfect, and glue splices that create a tiny double-thick spot in the film.

I bought the Canon projector for it's variable speed, which turns out to be no cure-all for off the wall digital captures. So I will set that machine aside for a while and use my trusty B&H Autoload for watching film on screen, and go get a Wolverine for capturing to digital. For all the faults the Wolverine apparently has, it seems it's still the best DIY solution for those that are not prepared to build their own capture device (my hat is off to THOSE guys).