Martin Baumgarten

[1]. {a}. For B&W Reversal processing of KODACHROME 40A (K-14) films that have been cold stored and thus should be as normal, they can be normally processed in the older B&W Reversal Formulas (prior to the current D-94a & Permaganate Bleach) as a starting point. You might have to increase First Developer time anywhere from 1-2 minutes to get your density correct. The matter isn't the processing, but the darn Remjet Anti-halation backing removal. This is best done after processing is complete. Make a mix of 2-4 Tablespoons household BORAX per Liter of Water at 70 F to 80 F. The film should be soaked in this solution for at least 5 to 10 minutes, and then slowly wiped off a foot at a time, using a solution soaked Photo-grade Sponge or Soft Cotton Flannel Cloth. Make sure you frequently rinse out the sponge or cloth with fresh water since it will rapidly accumulate the remjet coating. I recommend setting up a Film Rewinder on a board and clamp that to a table or lab sink to allow film takeup. Once the film has been all wiped off, you may want to go over it one more time running it between a set of film rewinds mounted on a board, with a tray of solution and wiping sponge/cloth, to get any remaining traces of the remjet coating. --- Then, reload the film onto the processing reel (which you first cleaned off using an old soft bristle toothbrush and solution) for proper rewashing/Washing and then your Final Rinse (KODAK Photo Flo or similar) prior to hanging it up to dry. For spot free drying, you can wipe the film off using a Photo Chamois slowly as you wind the film onto your Film Drying Rack, or loop it onto a vinyl clothsline emulsion side facing upward. {b}. For those old films, you will have to experiment, but generally very old KODACHROME films should be Negative processed, and best done using a higher contrast technical Developer such as D-19. Otherwise the negative won't have any tone separation at all and would just be a flat muddy mess to try and work with. Reversal processing such old films has the same problem as B&W Reversal films......totally flat, no contrast, and/or all washed out images regardless of adjustment time cutting in the First Developer. Such old films, along with old KODACHROME-II (K-12) films done in D-19 as a B&W Negative, with the First Developer time cut to 2 to 3 minutes and the Temperature at the minimum of 66 F for the entire process, will yield fair to dense negative images, but with sufficient contrast to transfer a pretty good image to video. This is ONLY recommended for such old films that were filmed on years ago. If you attempt to film on such old film, the extreme age fog in it will prevent you from any acceptable image capture. [2]. Regarding the ELMO SC-18 projector recording indicator lamp, there isn't any exciter lamp fuse or any exciter lamp at all UNLESS you have the rare Magnetic/Optical version. Most of these projectors are magnetic recording/playback only. Check the fuses in the machine, should be 3 of them, with the machine unplugged of course....also check the continuity of the lamp itself to make sure it hasn't blown out. If the lamp is fine and fuses are fine, the problem is somewhere in the power supply to the lamp. You or someone adept at electrical work, can easily rewire the lamp to a power supply line coming off the main transformer so that it will come on when the projector is plugged into the mains, as it normally would. [3]. The cartridge notch epoxy method is very ingenius! I so often just use bits of old cartridges and Super Glue them in after cutting them to fit, with a small plastic piece behind it acting as a brace from it to the back wall. I've had to reset the Metering Notch also on ones where I had custom slit down DS8 KODACHROME 25 Daylight or reloaded FUJI Single-8 R25 film into Super 8 cartridges. For those films being used in a manually ISO set camera such as the BEAULIEUs, the metering notch is not a problem. I also cut out a filter notch on all those cartridges that don't have one, so I can make use of the internal filter if I choose to. For example: KODAK used to have the filter notch on PLUS-X 7276 films and then did away with it on the 7265 version. It's nice to have the Filter Notch on both Plus-X and Tri-X films, since it saves having to add a medium yellow or orange filter to the camera lens. Black & White films are best shot in Daylight with such filters to render the tones correct and absorb excessive blue which helps darken skies and make the clouds stand out, and avoid complete white to the sky...giving it some shades of gray relative to exposure and how the sky actually appears. Anyhow, it also saves darkening the viewfinder by using the internal filter for that purpose. I often use an ND6 Filter on the camera lens when shooting with TRI-X 7266 in Daylight, so in combination with the builtin 85 Filter, the effective filmspeed is now down to a managable ISO 25 or thereabouts allowing better depth-of-field and exposure control. Or use other filters for exposure and contrast control. --- While I'm on this side topic here.....Plus-X 7265 processed normally in the older reversal formula is still ISO 50, not ISO 100. So it can still be rated at ISO 50 for those processing the film themselves. The filmspeed gain has a lot to do with the process now, as it was all a compromise so that labs would stop using heavy metal Bleach in lieu of the safer Permaganate Bleach. This is all topic unto itself. Hope this clears some things up. Best regards, Martin Baumgarten

Hello Alvin Breathwaite, As long as it's only the indicator light and not the meter itself, you can still use the projector okay. The light being out will just be an annoyance matter. it could be the lamp itself, or perhaps a fuse. These projectors have 3 fuses inside, and I don't remember if the lamp itself is fused separately. You could double check the wiring harness to the lamp bulb itself, and even put an electrical meter on it to check for continuity; putting to rest if the bulb is out or not. Just make sure the unit is completely unplugged from the main power supply of course! --- Yes, these are good machines and every bit as well made as the ELMO ST-180 and ST-600 series projectors. The filmpath is compressed a bit more in design to allow the use of the front surface mirror and builtin rear projection screen, but all other functions are identical. --- Lastly, if after checking and the bulb is still okay, but not finding a fuse or wiring harness trouble.....you could always hard wire it in somewhere in the system so that it comes on when power is plugged in as it's supposed to. If you're not savvy enough with this type of work, I suggest asking someone in your circle of friends that might be. Good luck and best regards, Martin Baumgarten in Plattsburgh, New York USA

Hi Paul. You didn't state if the film itself is jittery or the way it looks in the video transfer you had done. One of the most basic variables here is film lubrication prior to transfer and/or projection. If you have a good film editor, such as a GOKO or better, take a look at the film again and see if the jittering is in the actual film image. This would indicate cartridge or camera difficulty at the time it was shot. If the footage looks steady, then you'll know it was an unsteady transfer...in which case I would have it professionally transferred again with the film first being cleaned and lubricated. I mention this, since if the film is fine, why play around in post with software that so often means having to compromise? So, if the film isn't fine, well, then consider your post options. Good luck!

Hi, I found your posting quite interesting. I have been reloading Super 8 cartridges since 1981, both silent and sound. And yes, those darn 200 footers can be downloaded into 50ft segments and loaded into either sound or silent cartridges; as I have done this many many times over the years. In fact, I still have the very first 2 silent cartridges I have ever reloaded, and have used them about a dozen times each, and it shows that these cartridges are tougher than what many give them credit for. Actually, the 50ft sound cartridges come apart much easier and with less residual damage; one reason for my having saved hundreds of them for an eventual creation of sound-stripe film one day. I have experimented with this project but put it on a backburner for the time being. It would only be single-stripe (main track) when I get back to it again. Some customers wanted the FujiChrome Single 8 films in Super 8 and vice versa, especially the sound films, since FUJI ceased making their sound film about a couple years after KODAK. Another advantage of reloading the cartridges is that it's very possible to reload already exposed Super 8 film so that it can be exposed again; such as for making split-screen effects, or burn-in titles into background shots, and for other specialty purposes. I've done this for some of those film competition participants, whereby the original film has to have everything shot on it (such as the Straight-8 one in England). These days, so many working with Super 8 end up doing all their editing digitally so with their final project ending up on video anyhow, all their effects and title work is done in the computer. That's a far cry from how terrific a projected film appears! Especially in CinemaScope, and with dual-track or stereophonic sound. A filmmaker I knew some years back also shot his films with quadraphonic sound...true surround sound, and in Widescreen. I've worked with those Russian cartridges also, and while novel, have found it just easier and more practical for me to reuse the KODAK ones. I can salvage better than 50% of the silent ones, and 90% of the sound ones. I've sealed them up with high grade electrical tape, the type that doesn't leave any sticky residue behind; sealing the seams on both sides, and then a piece of tape around the complete side of the cart to secure that, and then a piece of clear good packing tape around the rear end of the cartridge to allow it to slide in and out of side loading cameras easily without any risk to the integrity. I have also sealed them with model cement and super glue....model cement works best and is slow since they have to be clamped to get a really secure seal. Also have designed custom cartridge labels for the various odd film types I've custom loaded. ----- Anyhow, just thought I'd input my 2 cents here, since this is something I do often enough here. ---- On a side note: any KODACHROME sound films that don't get used before the lab shuts down the K-14 process, can still be processed as B&W...either as reversal or negative. While this can be done for silent films also, it allows some extended longevity to any unused KMA sound films. Kind regards to all posters here, Martin Baumgarten

Hi, what is most likely happening here is that the lens's macro position switch has come loose, is broken, or you have it switched to macro mode. Thus when you zoom out fully, the lens is moving past the 'normal' wide angle end setting to the macro range. The macro range part of the lens optics is shifting and thus your out-of-focus images. Double check the macro setting on the lens. Since this lens was a bargain offering by BEAULIEU when the 6008 series was introduced, you'd be better off spending money on either the ANGENIEUX or SCHNEIDER lenses. The lens you have was made in Japan for BEAULIEU. --- For ease of focusing on this model (applies to 6008S also), remove the lens or throw it into full macro mode so all is out of focus. Then adjust eyepiece diopter until the center ground glass circle is sharp. Set lens to full telephoto and adjust focus at either 10ft or 15ft with some contrasty newsprint taped to a wall. Check the focus using a tape measure to the focal plane, and reference the lens setting. If both are in agreement, and the image is sharp in the groundglass circle, all should be okay. I recommend conducting a short film test to double-check this of course. --- Lastly, while annoying the groundglass circle does work. BEAULIEU realized this 'flaw' and went back to a full proper ground glass screen located near the front of the camera; and offered a retro-fit for all 6008 series cameras. The 7008 and 9008 models no longer used the groundglass circle method. In my opinion, I felt the movable groundglass screen as in the earlier metal bodied silent and sound cameras, was a better concept. Hope this helps, good luck with your camera!