Doug Palmer Posted June 22 Share Posted June 22 The mag sound track also gave more protection due to the 'rail' effect, so there was less friction between layers of film. Regarding 'bad projectors' I haven't found many that give shaky images. The gates etc are certainly far better than the cameras' movement. Lenses though were generally inferior, so yes detail was lost for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Tyler Purcell Posted June 22 Premium Member Share Posted June 22 Yea I've never had a super 8 projector that works well. The scans we have of our super 8 stuff from the 80's and 90's always looks great. I agree tho, worn out cameras do play a big role. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Palmer Posted June 23 Share Posted June 23 (edited) 12 hours ago, Tyler Purcell said: Yea I've never had a super 8 projector that works well. The scans we have of our super 8 stuff from the 80's and 90's always looks great. I agree tho, worn out cameras do play a big role. Strange, our experiences differ. Most S8 projectors I encounter work OK mechanically after all these years, excepting the usual broken belts etc. The cheap S8 cameras back then weren't meant to last very long maybe. Kodak could already see video coming ? Having said that, some like the Kodak Instamatics, were quite well made and still work OK today. Did you ever see Cinerama that some enthusiasts created with 3 cheapo Kodaks linked together? I remember Chris Usher's UK presentations and being astonished how the film images welded together so well. Silent cartridges and stable. Edited June 23 by Doug Palmer add words Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Tyler Purcell Posted June 23 Premium Member Share Posted June 23 8 hours ago, Doug Palmer said: Strange, our experiences differ. Most S8 projectors I encounter work OK mechanically after all these years, excepting the usual broken belts etc. Depends on your definition on what is good and what is not. I have 3 re-built Elmo projectors, one of them is an ST1200 which is the "commercial" version and it's very clean and hardly used. I also bought one projector/camera kit brand new in 1987, so it's not like I haven't seen what they look like new. I actually as a kid, had a 16mm projector at the same time as a Super 8 system, so maybe I was spoiled, but my 1960's Kodak Pageant projector to this day is rock steady compared to ANY super 8 system I've owned. When I scanned my Super 8 movies from that period recently, I was flabbergasted to see how stable and clean they were compared to what I was seeing through my projection system all those years. I just think people don't notice gate weave and film plane focus issues very much, I have friends who show me things I can't even look at they're so bad and claim they're "stable" and I'm like... umm, not on my planet. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Doug Palmer Posted Sunday at 10:05 AM Share Posted Sunday at 10:05 AM On 6/23/2022 at 5:57 PM, Tyler Purcell said: Depends on your definition on what is good and what is not. I have 3 re-built Elmo projectors, one of them is an ST1200 which is the "commercial" version and it's very clean and hardly used. I also bought one projector/camera kit brand new in 1987, so it's not like I haven't seen what they look like new. I actually as a kid, had a 16mm projector at the same time as a Super 8 system, so maybe I was spoiled, but my 1960's Kodak Pageant projector to this day is rock steady compared to ANY super 8 system I've owned. When I scanned my Super 8 movies from that period recently, I was flabbergasted to see how stable and clean they were compared to what I was seeing through my projection system all those years. I just think people don't notice gate weave and film plane focus issues very much, I have friends who show me things I can't even look at they're so bad and claim they're "stable" and I'm like... umm, not on my planet. I good S8 projector though, like eg your Elmos, should surely be as stable as a normal 16mm projector? The gate and claw arrangement is similar in many ways, but obviously you are magnifying any discrepancy much more on the screen. The Elmo lenses also very good performers, especially when stopped down a little. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Premium Member Tyler Purcell Posted Sunday at 06:11 PM Premium Member Share Posted Sunday at 06:11 PM 8 hours ago, Doug Palmer said: I good S8 projector though, like eg your Elmos, should surely be as stable as a normal 16mm projector? The gate and claw arrangement is similar in many ways, but obviously you are magnifying any discrepancy much more on the screen. The Elmo lenses also very good performers, especially when stopped down a little. Exactly, you're magnifying discrepancy. Most of that comes from the camera actually, as super 8 cameras really suck and pre-made prints generally are also poorly made. So you're not just seeing projector issues, but issues within all the sources played on said projector. 16mm has much less of those problems. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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