Please help - Projector problems

[Darren Williams]

Hi all you helpful people,

 

A while ago I got myself a super 8 camera and some super 8 film and shot a test movie.

 

I got a super 8 projector a Duo - 100 standard and super 8 projector.

 

I set the projector to Super 8 rather than 8mm

 

I set the film on the front and switched onto thread, and guided the film into the slot above the lens - THEN nothing!

 

I then fiddled about a bit and pushed it in a little more very gently and the film was grabbed by the cogs but it didn't go through the channel but shredded the film.

 

I eventually managed to get the film into the channel and played the film and it worked well at both speeds and reverse.

 

HOWEVER, I made sure that the film was cleanly cut at the end and straight BUT I had the same problem. After the initial uptake of the cogs the film seems to be passed into the bowels of the projector but not through to the channel via the lens and out the other side.

 

What should I do? Do I need to use a leader? OR is the problem actually in the projector?

 

Many thanks for your help. It may actually stop the projector from falling out of the window or going through the TV screen ....

 

Darren

Edited February 9, 2010 by Darren Williams

[Claus Harding]

Hi Darren,

 

I can offer two suggestions:

 

One, you didn't say what you trimmed the end of the film with, only that you cut it straight. And the film should have leader on it from the lab?

 

Depending on the projector, it may want a differently shaped cut of the tip of the film in order to take it in cleanly when auto-loading.

For comparison, on my Elmos, there is a film trimmer on the front which gives the tip of the film a half-moon shape which makes it feed in correctly. Try cutting the tip at an angle and test it with that if you have no manual for this projector. Discard crumbled film as it won't thread right.

 

(I don't know the machine in question. Is 'Duo' the model name or the brand name?)

 

Two, it's certainly possible that the projector autoload function could have a problem; it wouldn't be the first projector with that issue. However, as you say the machine runs well otherwise, once the film is in, I'd go with no.1 and check the film first.

 

The fact that the projector feeds the film into the mechanism is not necessarily a flaw, but possibly a safety feature, as my Elmos will do the same if the tip is not trimmed as the mechanism likes it. You do need to stop it fast as the film will bundle up quickly and start getting destroyed. It just gives you a few seconds extra if the film isn't threading right.

 

Hope some of this helps,

 

Claus.