NOVICE Looking to buy an 8mm film projector with sound

[Jennifer Fein]

Need something that is reliable enough that won’t ruin anymore vintage film reels. So I can film off the projection to digitize. Budget is very small so I’m looking for the best option on a small budget. Am willing to forgoe the sound recording if I can preserve the film after projecting assuming it doesn’t get ruined. And go back to sound at a later date.

some recommendations on brands would be amazing. I’m a novice so any materials ect I would so appreciate the advice. )

[Robert Held]

Hi Jennifer,

I'm assuming that if your films have sound, they're Super 8. If that's correct, I project my sound Super 8 films on a Chinon Sound 6100, which is a Japanese model from the 1970s. They can usually be purchased on eBay for under $150 shipped, but usually need a bulb, etc. (see below). The Chinon Sound 7000 is also a good option with some additional features for around the same price. You may be able to find them locally on Facebook Marketplace for less. Chinon made some great projectors. Sankyo did as well. 1970s Japanese projectors tend to have really nice auto-loading and smooth operation. In any case, a commonly found Super 8 projector from the 1960s - 1980s that is in good working order should not harm your films. The qualifier of good working order can be an issue, as most vintage projectors need some work to operate properly (even new-old-stock ones), such as cleaning and lubrication, a new belt and most commonly a new bulb.

If your goal is digitization, I recommend reading some of the threads on here to see some options other than projectors. Used frame-by-frame scanners such as a Wolverine Moviemaker are similar in cost to a decent projector. They won't give professional results, but will give much better quality than filming the projection. In addition, people here have built some impressive "real time" digitizers with older camcorders (e.g. https://8mmforum.film-tech.com/vbb/f...sample-footage).

Robert

[Melvin England]

Jennifer - I totally endorse everything Robert says. If you decide on a Sankyo, which are excellent machines, please make sure it, like any you may purchase, has a variable speed control. The reason is the speed can be adjusted slightly to stop those awful bars dropping across the picture when transferring with a camcorder if that is the method you intend to use.

Good luck.

[Jennifer Fein]

All the film reels are 8 mm actually I didn’t see any super eight only 8 mm and I can see they have sound because there’s a little bar on the bottom of the film. When you hold it up to the light that being said, is there a specific model you could recommend to project the film? That’s easy to thread and relatively reliable also thank you so much for your responses.!!!

[Robert Held]

Can you share a picture of the film with the sprocket holes and the sound area? Thanks!

[Jennifer Fein]

Does this work?

[Robert Held]

The pics are a bit blurry, but to me, it looks like just regular silent 8mm. Regular 8mm with sound typically has a light brown magnetic strip along the outer edge on the sprocket side. The magnetic strip was usually added after the film was developed; I'm not aware of any regular 8mm cameras that recorded sound and video at the same time. In any case, regular 8mm with sound is pretty rare and therefore projectors for that format are not that common. One example that can play regular 8 mm with sound is the Eumig 709. Other dual format Eumigs like an 822 might be able to as well. If it is just silent 8mm, there are lots of good, inexpensive projectors. I like the Sankyo Dualux 1000, like this one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/177181415612.

[Thomas Dafnides]

Fairchild made regular 8mm cameras that recorded sound on film, I believe introduced in 59 or 60 .

[Jennifer Fein]

I uploaded a video here. Along with the 285 ektasound projector I got deadstock on eBay. It feeds the film for a moment and then just stops on an image like it’s stuck. Even though I cleaned all the pathways. What I read online was that 8mm has a smaller opening inside the film reel as well as the spacing of the holes and shape. When I put the film up to the light (like in the video attached, it appears there is a metallic strip by the holes which I thought indicated sound.) I’m no expert at all. So any insight and help and recommendations are very much appreciated. I just don’t want to ruin any more film trying to get it to feed into the ektasound. So I’m looking for something that’s a relatively reliable option that won’t mess up the film. Even if I don’t get the sound. If there is sound ?

[Robert Held]

Thanks for sharing the video. I think it's silent 8mm. The sprocket edge on 8mm film often has an orange color to it. I'm not familiar with the Ektasound 285 projector; it has very unique design (looks kinda complicated). With any old projector, there are lots of opportunities for issues. The timing of all the drive components has to be just right or the film can bind up or stop. There may be a belt slipping inside or a broken piece of film wedged somewhere that you can't see. Sometimes the film itself has some sprocket hole issues, although I find that's usually not the case. Regular 8mm does have a glue joint halfway through the film and it's a little thicker there; sometimes that can bind. For other projector recommendations, the Sankyo I mentioned before is really great. It does have auto-feed, though and if there are film issues, it will bind as well. A really simple (and cheap) regular 8mm only projector that is manual feed and is pretty gentle on the film is a Keystone 100 from the late 50s/early 60s. I have several and, other than the bulb, they're pretty much indestructible. There's also many available for sale. Here's one: https://www.ebay.com/itm/297533794269. With manual feed projectors, the whole film path is open, so it's easy to clean and see any issues.

[Robert Held]

Fairchild made regular 8mm cameras that recorded sound on film, I believe introduced in 59 or 60 .

That's very interesting. Thanks! I learned something new today!

[Thomas Dafnides]

I also believe the Fairchild 8mm sound camera was the first with a built in ni-cad rechargeable battery to drive the 24fps motor.
Remember, the first Super 8 sound on film camera was not introduced until late 73 or 74 from Kodak , and its recording design used a patent they purchased from Fairchild.