How are your projectors doing?

[Paul Adsett]

With some of my projectors now more than 50 years old, I thought it would be interesting to post on how they are holding up. So here goes startung with the oldest first:

9,5mm
Pathe Baby Fully functional
Pathescope ACE Fully Functional


Standard 8mm
Kodak Model 50 Fully Functional
Revere Model 80 Fully Functional
Bolex 18-5 Fully Functional


Super 8mm
Eumig S802 Not working/ parts only
Eumig S820 Sonomatic Fully Functional
Eumig S824D Sonomatic Fully functional
Eumig S926GL Track 2 not working
Eumig S938 Stereo Track 2 not recording but stereo playback fine

Emo GS1200 VERS 1 No sound from track 2 thru back panel sockets, but fine thru line out socket
Elmo GS1200 VERS 2 Fully functional

Not bad at all after all this time! Eumig 900's seem to fail on track 2.

[Osi Osgood]

All but my ELMO GS1200 are functioning brilliantly. Yep, Cadillac, (or mustang?), is in the garage, waiting for Osi to be able to afford a good tune up. But my Eumigs purr on brilliantly, and my Chinon 9500's are always up to the task. In both cases, I have a spare for spare parts.

[Matthieu van der Sluis]

My Elmo ST1200D still fully functional
My Elmo GS1200MKIII still fully functional
My Bauer T610 still fully functional

[Dave Bickford]

Regular 8mm
Bolex 18-5: Runs. I don’t have regular 8mm films so can’t test. Got it as part of a eBay deal many moons ago.

Super 8mm
Bolex 18-5L: Runs great. Soft focus. Lens needs to be dismantled and cleaned. Old grease dried out. Needs a re-lube, but otherwise fine.

Sankyo Sound 762: Mechanically fine. Sound sucks. Lots of hum, hiss, and static. Amplifier needs to be re-capped. Weak rewind.

Sankyo Sound 500: Mostly not evaluated yet. Needs bulb. Runs, although speed switch is dirty or defective. No noise from amplifier, but I haven’t run film through it yet. So, basically this projector is an unknown at this point.

Eumig S910: Runs fine. Sound is great. Focusing mechanism is f’ed. I can’t get a retaining clip to stay put so focusing is a chore. No front leveling foot.

Elmo ST100: Aside from weak tension on the takeup reel, it’s almost like new!

Kodak Instamatic M70: Immediately in the dumpster. Broken gear. At least I didn’t pay much for it and I salvaged the lens and takeup reel. 😁

[Thomas Knappstein]

I´ve got 5 ELMO GS 1200´s all fully funktional and with long Arms for two Hours playing without a breake.
The Picture is a few Years older when I only had three of them.

[David M. Leugers]

Projectors have always been a big part of the hobby to me. I have way too many projectors to list them all. About half of them are awaiting repairs or service or use as parts. All my 16mm machines that I use are working great. B+H JAN, B+H 2585, Kodak Pageant, Kalart Victor 7515, Kalart Victor 7525 arc, along with several silent projectors B+H Filmo, Kodak Royal and Kalart Victor 70. For S-8mm sound I use the Kodak M100 working great. I have 8mm and some dual 8mm/S-8mm silent projectors most are working.

[Osi Osgood]

Paul, just curious. What would cause the balance stripe head not record, but be OK with playback? Is it a matter of debris in the head?

[Paul Adsett]

I don’t believe it’s a problem with the head Osi, but an electronics issue.

[Richard Bock]

I have a Super 8 Elmo ST1200. Fully functional
Also a Standard 8 Bolex M8- still working well (what would I ever do without it?!)
Bell and Howell Filmo Regent 122-nothing will ever break this machine it seems-built like a tank
Bolex Super 8 18-5L- Keeps on working with a nice bright image.