Mark S 709

[Shane C. Collins]

I've been following this thread since you first posted on here. I'm happy to hear everything has worked out. This post will be helpful to anyone in the future, that may have similar issues with a Eumig projector. I am also on the hunt for a 709. For whatever reason, they just don't seem to come up for sale here in the US very often. I currently have a Eumig Mark S Super 8 only projector. This was Eumig's first Super 8 sound projector. It was based on the same design as the Eumig Mark S Regular 8 projector. These early designs, in my opinion, are some of Eumig's best. For one they are semi auto-loading which is much gentler on film. Once you get the hang of loading a film it's really very simple, as you probably have found out yourself.
I have to give credit to Joseph Banfield for pointing me in the right direction with finding an early Eumig. I had started out with a Mark M Super 8 only model. At first I really liked it but then started to have mishaps with the auto-loading eating the film leader. It always seemed to happen at the point where the film entered the bottom sprocket area. After talking with Joseph I decided to hunt down a Mark S Super 8 machine. When that came I did all the restoration stuff I did to the Mark M. In fact I swapped the new motor mounts I had put in the Mark M to the Mark S. The Mark S is running like a new machine. I only project silent films. Home movies I've made over the last 15 years. I currently still shoot Super 8 color reversal. The Mark S has not once tried to eat or chew my films. The semi auto-loading works every time. Joseph and I both agree Eumig got it right with these early machines.
Just a tip in case your projector speed starts to slow down. I have found a technique for cleaning those rubber discs that seems to work. I first clean them with alcohol soaked Q tips, doing it several times for each discs. I then follow up with some CRC automotive belt dressing. I apply this several times to both discs. I clean them until the Q tips stop soaking up the rubber residue. On the first application I did with the CRC dressing, I allowed the discs to sit for several days after cleaning. I then followed up with another coating of the dressing. After doing this both rubber discs look brand new. The rubber is blacker in appearance and seems to have better grip.
Welcome to the Eumig club! I think you'll enjoy the experience of owning these early machines!

[Joseph Banfield]

Shane, that's one heck of an excellent plug for the early vacuum tube Eumig's! I couldn't have said it better myself! But I could have added that the vacuum tubes amps don't hum, beautiful smooth twist focus with nice heavy lenses, sound mechanism does not lower and engage for silent film, two bright automatic pilot lights, ect...

[Jim Patton]

Shane, I ended up going over the rubber three times with some 408C Rubber Renue, after a quick spot test on my dad's old 709 first, and it worked out well. Nasty stuff though, which I used outside along with a fan. There's definitely a dearth of 709s in the States. The 709 I got going, with some parts from my dad's, was from the UK. I was also negotiating with a charity shop outside of London that has a 709 for sale that looks to be in decent shape, although I didn't get far enough to see if it had a claw pin. It doesn't show up browsing through the US eBay site. After looking into shipping to the States they ended up deciding against shipping it overseas, as they weren't confident they could package it properly. I have an old classmate living about three hours away, and I was going to see if they'd ship it to me if I got it to them.

These projectors are definitely tanks, although I'm amazed that their Achilles' heel is a piece of steel 0.5mm in diameter and about 1mm long.

[Shane C. Collins]

Shane, I ended up going over the rubber three times with some 408C Rubber Renue, after a quick spot test on my dad's old 709 first, and it worked out well. Nasty stuff though, which I used outside along with a fan. There's definitely a dearth of 709s in the States. The 709 I got going, with some parts from my dad's, was from the UK. I was also negotiating with a charity shop outside of London that has a 709 for sale that looks to be in decent shape, although I didn't get far enough to see if it had a claw pin. It doesn't show up browsing through the US eBay site. After looking into shipping to the States they ended up deciding against shipping it overseas, as they weren't confident they could package it properly. I have an old classmate living about three hours away, and I was going to see if they'd ship it to me if I got it to them.

These projectors are definitely tanks, although I'm amazed that their Achilles' heel is a piece of steel 0.5mm in diameter and about 1mm long.

Jim I looked at the very same machine, and even contacted them about shipping to the US. They also declined, and I was sort of bummed out, so the hunt continues. Yes it's a shame the claw pin can be the death of these wonderful machines! The Eumig Mark S Super 8 projector I have does not have this issue, since only the front portion of the pressure plate can be removed. As Joseph stated the other qualities of these early machines is the vacuum tube amp, and the lens. The twist-to-focus is such a dream to use! The only time I need to refocus is when certain films, spliced together, are of different thicknesses. Even then it's easy enough to refocus quickly from one film to the next. Joseph I agree, the fact the sound mechanism does not engage during silent films is a big plus. I marvel at how Eumig was able to accomplish this!

I've been reading archived issues of Amateur Cine World, and Movie Maker Magazine. The late Ivan Watson really liked these early Eumig's. He raved about them in his reviews. His favorites included the original Mark S Regular 8, and Super 8 versions, and the 709. I also read from his reviews the improvements Eumig made with their lenses when the Mark S Regular 8 projector was released. Joseph and I really like the Austrovar 1.4 zoom lens. I've also been using the Eumig Suprovar 1.0 zoom lens. This was probably Eumig's most expensive lens. It cost 59 euro at the time, and was used on the DL model. But, this lens will fit all the early Eumig's using the twist-to-focus lens system. The DL cost 79 euro so you can see just how expensive the zoom lens would have been at the time. It's nice and bright at full projection.

[David Roberts]

Another fan of these early eumig sound projectors here. Other advantages, the soundheads just pull out and can be replaced in seconds.
The lamps are cheap because the projector has the reflector and condenser optics built in. You get a nice side cover which the later series dont have.
The lens mount is 32.5mm which means you can use other lenses,I use a xenovaron in mine with an 11mm wide angle,for a nice big picture.

[Shane C. Collins]

Another fan of these early eumig sound projectors here. Other advantages, the soundheads just pull out and can be replaced in seconds.
The lamps are cheap because the projector has the reflector and condenser optics built in. You get a nice side cover which the later series dont have.
The lens mount is 32.5mm which means you can use other lenses,I use a xenovaron in mine with an 11mm wide angle,for a nice big picture.

I agree with everything you mentioned here! It seems Eumig wanted these early machines to be very serviceable for the average person. Once you dig into these they really aren't hard to work on. Your point about the lens mount size is something I hadn't thought about. I also have a Xenovaron I use in my Mark S Super 8 projector from time to time. I tend to use 3 lenses: The stock Austrovar 1.4, the Suprovar 1.0, and the Xenovaron 1.2. I would really like to be able to use my Bolex 1.3 prime lens. That lens is much smaller at 28 mm. I would need to find a barrel that has the grooves, and slide the Bolex inside that. I have a spare Austrovar 1.4 that I liked to be able to take apart, but I haven't figured out how. I think once I had the lens out I could slide the Bolex inside the rear black casing. The Bolex prime is the best lens I have in my collection. The definition, sharpness, and contrast are tops! While the zooms I mentioned are wonderful lenses the Bolex just sparkles on screen.

[David Roberts]

I think we agree on those Bolex prime lenses Shane. Why dont you try CHC in the UK for a sleeve,I think he still does them.
A small item to post out too.

[Shane C. Collins]

I think we agree on those Bolex prime lenses Shane. Why dont you try CHC in the UK for a sleeve,I think he still does them.
A small item to post out too.

David,

Would that be Classic Home Cinema?

[Jim Patton]

I was watching home movies last night, from when my parents were dating, and started having intermittent slowdowns and then some minor grating noises and then a complete inability to get the motor moving.

It looks like the one place they didn’t put a circlip, the metal band holding on the impeller fan loosened up enough for the fan to drop and contact the body. I noticed one part of the shaft was shinier than the rest and figured out the issue. Hopefully I was able to tighten the metal band enough. A small hitch clip may have been better. The difficult part was finding the sweet spot for the motor to engage the rubber discs again.

I’m learning to keep my hand not far from the controls.

[Joseph Banfield]

That's a new one with the fan moving its position on the bottom of the motor shaft. I've never seen that happen before. In addition to the metal band I would roughen that area with a file and apply epoxy on the interior of the fan bushing and slip it back in place and let the glue set. That should keep it from ever dropping again in the future.

[David Roberts]

Shane,
Yes, Classic Home Cinema.
I bought a 28 to 32.5 sleeve off him years ago.