Projector Blues

Alan Brown · August 13, 2009

I recently ordered an Elmo ST1200D projector (£250 - ouch!) from the Super8 Camera shop in Germany and it arrived this morning. How excited I was...

First, after unpacking it, I was slightly annoyed to see that it came with a two prong power cord (the kind used for electric shavers and toothbrushes here in the UK). That meant a trip to the shops to buy an adapter. Upon switching the projector on to load a film (The Empire Strikes Back) the transport sound emanating from the machine seemed uneven and throbbing, not the constant, even, clank associated with projectors. Still, this could have been my imagination or a quirk of this particular projector.

And then the image...bobbing up and down and weaving from side to side (I once owned a cheap Chinon that gave a rock steady image but had a habit of chewing up films) not to mention the fact the films soundtrack clearly hadn't engaged the projectors sound head properly and I had to switch the machine on and off a couple of times to get clear sound.

This was a disapointing introduction to a well respected machine but things were about to get worse.

After loading up another film the projector suddenly wouldn't run...or at least the shutter blade would only spin at around one frame every five seconds...before suddenly whirring into life. However, when you switched the projector off and on again it was about a one in four chance that the machine would run properly or crawl along at one frame every few seconds.

And then the Elmo's lamp went dead and the projector functioned no more...it gave up the ghost. It became a 'late' projector. Deceased! Kaput!

Well, now I have to go through the bother of contacting the super8 camera shop to let them know their £250 projector didn't live more than half an hour of being switched on.

Oh...and don't even mention the hassle and cost of repacking the damn thing and sending it back to them...

Maybe next time I'll take a chance on Ebay (:

Art Leal · August 13, 2009

Sorry to hear it. I wish you had read some of the entries in this forum regarding Uhmeyer the crook from Germany. who ripped me off on an S560 camera. I also made the mistake of ordering a Canon 1014 from him which got hung up in customs, which I never got, and once again had to go through the entire cycle of Paypal to get my money back, with little help from him. He delayed the entire process as long as he could go before doing so. As far as the S560, it ran for two minutes, then sputtered and stopped. His only advice was to open it and give it a "little petrol".

Two months later I ordered the same camera from an Ebayer in the U.S. who seemed knowledgeable. He described the camera, it's functions, condition of lens, battery case, answered all questions quickly and even had a sample shoot he made with it. I got it for less then S8 Camera sold it, and has worked great since.

Alan Brown · August 14, 2009

It appears my first post of the Elmo's untimely death may have been too soon. I've just taken the projector out of its case and to my surprise it has come back to life. Not only that but it is now running my films with a much steadier image. And the uneven throbbing hum that emanated from the machine seems to have gone also.

Now this could be because I changed the fuse in the adapter plug from a 13amp to a 3amp fuse. Or it could be that during transport from Germany to England the machine may have suffered a few knocks and bumps that caused it to malfunction a little when first turned on. Either way it seems to be running fine at the moment (though still with a little picture wobble every few seconds) and I will keep monitoring the machine to see if anything develops.

I'm happy with the bright image but wish I hadn't paid so much for the projector! I probably could have found it cheaper elsewhere. Still, I'm looking forward to watching my test rolls of Plus X and Velvia D50 when they return from development (to see if they suffer the jitter problem Ektachrome 64T always seems to have in my 1014XL-S).

andy oliver · August 15, 2009

Hi Alan, what voltage is the projector set for?? As for 64t and the jitters, providing your using batch 311 and higher, all jitter issues should now have be resolved, i recently ran 64t at 54fps for 90 seconds with no jitter at all. I doubt the 50d will be as steady as 64t ( still waiting to shoot my carts of 50d )..

Terry Mester · August 24, 2009

Like Andy said, check the Voltage on the Label! European I believe is 250V/50Hz, British/Australian is 240V/50Hz and North American is 120V/60Hz. A North American electric product will burn out in Europe!!! :o :o :o

Alan Brown · August 27, 2009

The Label states 220v 50hz. There is no switch on this particular machine to switch voltages between European and North American electrical systems. It appears to be a dedicated European machine.

The test roll of Plus X I shot has come out beautifully steady. I'm impressed by the sharp image and lack of grain. That tiny Super 8 Frame still blows me away with what it can achieve. Now I'm just waiting for the Velvia D50 to get back to see if it jitters in my 1014XL-S.