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8mm Film


Christopher Brims

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Hello, this is my first post but I have questions about some old regular 8 film that my dad made many years ago. I need a viewer so I can look through the film and see what's on it so I can decide if I should get it transfered. I've seen a Goko GM-5005 and a Baia Model V-8 viewer on eBay. I've read that the Goko is a quality unit, but I don't know if it's compatible with regular 8.

 

Also, it seems it may have been put on the spool wrong, possibly just not rewound. When looking at the side of the reel with the film coming off on the right side, the holes in the film are away from me. I tried loading it into a Kodak Brownie 300 projector according to the instructions and the holes are on the wrong side.

 

Any help would be appreciated.

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The second of those is standard-8.

Your description of the layout is ambiguous, but if the film is emulsion (dull side) out, put the spool flat on the table with the film coming off in the shape of a 9 and the perfs should be nearest you. If not just wind it onto another spool.

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That viewer doesn't look as if it would be very kind to the film. You might be better off with the projector if it works well and is clean. Do a trial run with some junk film to check it doesn't get scratched.

Edited by Mark Dunn
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I have a Standard 8 Minnette viewer that's very good (Minnete Eight), Goko and Zeiss Ikon were other good brands. The cheaper ones tend to have a crappier picture, Baia being at the very cheap end mostly.

 

There were "dual" models that worked with Standard or Super 8, not so great in a projector but fine for editor/viewers.

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Christopher, do yourself a favour and inspect the projector thoroughly.

 

Check whether there are no burrs on the sprocket teeth, that both sides of the film gate are smooth and clean,

and that the side guide(s) work. There are better and worse projectors, too. What model do you have?

 

It would be a pity, if you got frustrated from your projection experience.

Listen to the pros, I am a theatre projectionist (among other).

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Christopher, do yourself a favour and inspect the projector thoroughly.

 

Check whether there are no burrs on the sprocket teeth, that both sides of the film gate are smooth and clean,

and that the side guide(s) work. There are better and worse projectors, too. What model do you have?

 

It would be a pity, if you got frustrated from your projection experience.

Listen to the pros, I am a theatre projectionist (among other).

 

I've got the Model 1. My dad purchased it on eBay some time ago, I had to take it apart to replace the power cord as it was falling apart. The tapered rubber piece attached to the motor doesn't engage properly both directions without some help, but I can make it work to go through 1 film.

 

I'll take out the sprocket and check the teeth carefully. The gate looked smooth, I'll run some Q-tip heads or something over them to check for any burrs, I know it needs a little more cleaning with detail brushes.

 

Where are the side guides located?

 

I appreciate all the help I can get from the pros, it's one of better ways to learn.

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Excuse me, Christopher, Kodak Brownie 300, Model 1.

 

Well, that is not the best projector for Regular-Eight film but it is one.

A better make is gentle* to film, allows you to keep it clean and lubricated.

As Mark points out, it begins to be tricky already with that. A tube brush will

be practical.

 

I should suggest a Paillard-Bolex M8. Oil lube system, everything

accessible, good mechanics, good lenses, modernisation possible

for halogen bulbs instead of the old tube lamps (if wanted). The best

American 8mm projector is the old Bell & Howell Filmo 8, all gears,

no belts, no plastic.

_______________

 

*Small sprocket drums are better to transport shrunken film.

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I figured the Brownie wasn't that great of a model, it's the one my dad had purchased; it sure is a PITA to clean and repair. It looks like I can get a decent looking Paillard-Bolex for not a lot of money, the Bell & Howell is a little out of my price range. I definately want to be gentle to the film, I know it's already seen a hard life. Thank you all for the advice and guidance.

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  • 2 weeks later...

My Bolex M8 arrived yesterday, I cleaned all the dust off it, plugged it in, and turned it on. The lamp works, motor runs, etc. I ran an inexpensive film I bought through it. All was well except the speed control, that doesn't work. When I opened the bottom of the case, the 2 resistive coils are coming apart. I'm currently contacting some companies that Bolex told me to contact to replace that part. Also I need to clean the film I want to run, when I rewound it I found a some taped splices where the tape has come off and left the adhesive. But I'm slowly progressing.

 

I found running my test film through the projector rather interesting.

 

I also found another regular 8 film, I think a 2 or 3 inch reel; it's in bad shape, the film is twisted. I also found another reel that is super 8; of course that would happen. I've been looking for super 8 projectors based on some searches from this and other forums, but those run from $400 to $1,000 which is a bit out of my price range. Any recommendations for a similar grade of super 8 projectors?

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The resistor thing is known with the M8 but easily accessible and repairable.

 

You’re already in the midst of film. Didn’t know that you have tape spliced films. Some folks don’t like the splicing work but that is the Holy Grail of cinema. Negative cutters and assemblers are well paid technicians, so be proud to share their living. :lol:

 

post-35633-0-36178100-1461304826_thumb.jpg

One of the best amateur cement splicers

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Elmo or Eumig should be fine for Super-8 but if you just want to review a viewer might be cheaper- Goko, or the cheaper Minette or Muray.

Standard-8 tape splicers are pretty rare but CIR is the name to look for. As Simon suggests you may have to use cement.

Or maybe go and have another look in the attic.

Edited by Mark Dunn
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The resistor thing is known with the M8 but easily accessible and repairable.

 

You’re already in the midst of film. Didn’t know that you have tape spliced films. Some folks don’t like the splicing work but that is the Holy Grail of cinema. Negative cutters and assemblers are well paid technicians, so be proud to share their living. :lol:

 

attachicon.gifAgfa Splicer Regular-8.jpg

One of the best amateur cement splicers

 

Is there a source for a replacement resistor or is it just hand rewind it or replace with a potentiometer?

 

As far as splicing, that's how I found the film from when my dad was in his 20s; I'm just trying to make the best of what I've got.

 

Elmo or Eumig should be fine for Super-8 but if you just want to review a viewer might be cheaper- Goko, or the cheaper Minette or Muray.

Standard-8 tape splicers are pretty rare but CIR is the name to look for. As Simon suggests you may have to use cement.

Or maybe go and have another look in the attic.

 

I'll look around and see what comes up for super 8.

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  • 6 years later...
On 4/9/2016 at 11:47 PM, Dom Jaeger said:

I have a Standard 8 Minnette viewer that's very good (Minnete Eight), Goko and Zeiss Ikon were other good brands. The cheaper ones tend to have a crappier picture, Baia being at the very cheap end mostly.

 

There were "dual" models that worked with Standard or Super 8, not so great in a projector but fine for editor/viewers.

Hi! I just bought a Minette Eight from eBay to be able to view some old regular 8mm films shot by grandfather in the 60s & 70s; it's in general good condition and sold as "working"; didn't obiouvsly put the film in, first does come a good check. So, I turned the light on and after a while I started to smell "burnt plastic", which made me dizzy, like a little headache; then I realized there was some kind of vapor or smoke coming out of the light bulb compartment, subtle, but visible enough to record a video with a phone; I unplugged the cable and removed the screen cover, in order to check the light bulb; there was a piece of synthetic foam "fused" with the bulb [see pictures]; and I suspect it's a kind of old foam used back then that is pretty toxic when vaporised by heat; I'm not 100% sure the smoke comes from the foam, but it's my best bet as there should not be any other "inflamable" parts around there, or electronics; I have no knowledge whatsoever why there's a peace of foam on the light bulb; can you help me out? Do you know if foam is regularly present above/over the bulbs of Minette editor-viewers? Can I try to remove it, trying to save the bulb? Should I replace the whole bulb, getting rid of the foam? Is this foam needed? Is the foam toxic/are there other toxic parts?

Thanks a lot to everyone!
For the rest, the screws and knobs seem to work normally.

minette8bulbfoam.jpg

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Hello,

The foam was probably placed there to protect the bulb from shipping damage.

You can use acetone (finger nail polish remover) on a Q-tip, or cotton swab to clean the burnt foam from the glass.  (Not sopping, dripping wet, though). Don't leave fingerprints on the bulb, either.

Be sure and unplug the unit from the wall before removing the lamp bulb for cleaning.

Although pictures can be deceiving, your machine may not have been used in a very long time, and not much even then.

Hope this helps.

 

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9 hours ago, Eric Eader said:

Hello,

The foam was probably placed there to protect the bulb from shipping damage.

You can use acetone (finger nail polish remover) on a Q-tip, or cotton swab to clean the burnt foam from the glass.  (Not sopping, dripping wet, though). Don't leave fingerprints on the bulb, either.

Be sure and unplug the unit from the wall before removing the lamp bulb for cleaning.

Although pictures can be deceiving, your machine may not have been used in a very long time, and not much even then.

Hope this helps.

 

Thanks a lot. I'll try to remove it with acetone then; the unit seems in overall pretty good condition except for this problem;

I'm getting a little preoccupied because I still feel the dizziness/headache from yesterday; do you think that foam vapor is indeed toxic?

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You are probably unlikely to have damaged your health permanently with one whiff of smoke, but if you're concerned, go to see your doctor. Be careful with the acetone as well.

If you are very careful you might also be able to scrape the burnt foam off with a craft knife. As you have isopropyl alcohol, try that first, but it may not be very effective.

If it's packing foam, and it looks old- and wasn't put there by your seller- the machine may never have been used. If you can't fix it, the bulbs are not difficult to replace.

Edited by Mark Dunn
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Thanks so much for the answers.

1 hour ago, Mark Dunn said:

You are probably unlikely to have damaged your health permanently with one whiff of smoke, but if you're concerned, go to see your doctor. Be careful with the acetone as well.

If you are very careful you might also be able to scrape the burnt foam off with a craft knife. As you have isopropyl alcohol, try that first, but it may not be very effective.

If it's packing foam, and it looks old- and wasn't put there by your seller- the machine may never have been used. If you can't fix it, the bulbs are not difficult to replace.

Yes, maybe I'm a easy scare, but that headache which I still feel made me really question the possible toxicity; if tomorrow is not gone I'm gonna alert my doctor for sure.

So, I removed the yellow foam with nail polish acetone on a q tip; it removed the burnt foam almost completely, but there are still traces; I'll very carefully try to scrape the remnants with a craft knife later; and yes, I do have isopropyl alcohol, thanks for noticing, I bought it to clean the unit overall, especially the parts that will be in contact with film.

I don't think the machine has never been used as the foam was well fused with the bulb, which indicates the Minette was surely kept lighted up for some amount of time; now I have a question: there is also a dark gray foam glued on the bottom of the screen; as you see in the pictures [red arrow], it's arched right above the light bulb, which indicates it suffered from the heat too; should I remove this foam too?

Thanks again for your precious help

02-hiabd.jpg

Edited by Monica Rosselli
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Hope you're feeling better now.  Perhaps not the foam... covid ?

I've had these Minettes, I don't think ever seeing this foam attached.  They are excellent viewers on account of their gate pressure pad and kindness to the film.  However it goes without saying, a scrupulous clean first.

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I think that piece of foam is just to stop light from the bulb shining onto the screen so you can leave it. The bulb isn't a halogen type so it doesn't have to be completely clean. Halogen bulbs run much hotter.

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3 hours ago, Doug Palmer said:

Hope you're feeling better now.  Perhaps not the foam... covid ?

I've had these Minettes, I don't think ever seeing this foam attached.  They are excellent viewers on account of their gate pressure pad and kindness to the film.  However it goes without saying, a scrupulous clean first.

Haha thank god I just passed covid, took me 3 weeks to test negative again ?, a nuisance. Anyway the headache is gone today. Now that is cleaned I kept the bulb lighted up for a while, and while there's no smoke anymore, I still notice a strange smell near the bulb compartment, a kind of smell that reminds me of very old electronics my grandfather had in his studio, maybe it's just heated metal, I honestly don't know. Hope it's normal.

Interesting that you never seen the dark gray foam; maybe it was glued by the original owner? who knows.

Anyway, I cleaned wherever I coul reach with q-tips and isopropyl alcohol; it took off also small traces of rust which is nice; some parts under the bulb and the metallic plate that will (I guess) hold the film down & horizontal are hard to reach and I fear to force the q-tip in too much; I took particular care to clean the cylinders (you call them spools?) where the film will be in contact; the above cylinders for fast winding are brownish, kind of brass color, while the two on the bottom are chrome; the brownish stay brownish after cleaning, so I guess it's their color and not rust or anything that could possible damage the film.

 

2 hours ago, Mark Dunn said:

I think that piece of foam is just to stop light from the bulb shining onto the screen so you can leave it. The bulb isn't a halogen type so it doesn't have to be completely clean. Halogen bulbs run much hotter.

Yes, I agree; altough, given the gray foam is arched and is clearly affected by heat, if it's not regularly present on Minettes and was added by the original owner to isolate light further, isn't it better to remove it and replace it with a little plate of wood, or metal?

Thanks everyone for assisting me with your answers and sharing your knowledge ?

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The smell could just be years of accumulated dust on the transformer getting warm, it's harmless.

 

1 hour ago, Monica Rosselli said:

 the cylinders (you call them spools?)

Rollers. You're right to clean them but the only touch the film at the edges, not in the image area. I would be more concerned that the metal gate was as clean as possible. You should be able to get it out by removing the screws. I put small pieces of soft fabric on mine where the film is in contact, but if the metal is clean and well polished that may not be necessary.

I wouldn't worry about the foam. It's not a halogen bulb as I said, so doesn't get very hot.

 

 

Edited by Mark Dunn
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I have lots of 8mm and 16mm Zeiss viewers. They are the best. But I've given up on them more or less. You can get a pretty good snapshot of a film with rewinds and a loupe. I inspect the beginning a few frames withing and the end. When you have thousands of films to take a quick look at, the viewer is just too time consuming.

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