Looking for a good quality 16mm projector

Patrick Cooper · February 12, 2018

Ive heard good things about Elmo slot load 16mm projectors. They appear to be well made and reliable but don't know the model names / numbers.

Alessandro Malfatti · February 20, 2018

Of the common brands, Bauer, Elmo and Eiki are usually a safe bet, always CAREFUL with Bell & Howell since 90% of them have the famous cracked worm gear.

Slot-loaders are a bit more maintenance intensive than auto-loaders. Manual load is theoretically the most gentle on film, but since the 1970's almost everything is auto or slot. I'd say go with auto, they have fewer moving parts, and if you keep them clean they shouldn't damage your film.

I have a Bauer P8 that runs pretty good, bought it as-is some 15 years ago off eBay, never maintained it except for amp that was defective which I had fixed. Still runs all right. Pressure plate is giving out, I've diy fixed it with a little spring, but Wittner has a lot of these basic spare parts, I'm thinking of getting a replacement. Wittner also has a holder for anamorphic lens on Bauer projectors, which is a rare thing and useful if you're going to project scope.

The only bad thing about the P8 is that it has that weird 5-point DIN output. I'm sure there's an adaptor for it somewhere on the internet, but it is easier when it's a standard jack or minijack output.

I also have an Elmo CL slotloader, also bought it some 10-15 years ago. Works, but harsher on film, has scratched it sometimes, I never manage to get it completely clean I think. Also the rear takeup system is very primitive, the belt simply slips off the hub, and as the film is taken up it weighs down and supposedly causes more friction on the belt... when I bought it the rear belt had dissolved, I bought a new one, it works but it doesn't take up the film tight and I fear that the belt won't have too long a life.

my two cents

Simon Wyss · February 20, 2018

My vote goes to the Bell & Howell Filmosound models. Solid all-metal apparatus, oil lubrication, stand warmth and can be cleaned like nothing else. Old but perfect

Will Montgomery · February 21, 2018

or is super 16 not intended for projection,

just video hd transfer/35 blow up-

Super 16 is intended as a "capture only" format. 16mm film prints use that space for sound.

If you really wanted to get into it, through some fancy optical printing tricks you could probably take a S16 negative, crop it a little top & bottom then make it cinemascope anamorphic and print to a standard 16mm release print that would be anamorphic widescreen. Those lenses are fairly common for 16mm projectors.

I'd talk to Tommy at Video Film Solutions in Maryland if you really want to get your S16 image onto a standard 16mm print.

http://www.videofilmsolutions.com/main

John Salim · February 21, 2018

Fumeo made super 16 gates for their machines.

I assume for checking dailies or running sep-mag at festivals.

John S :)

Brian Drysdale · February 21, 2018

The only time I"ve seen Super 16 projected is in the lab, when one of my answer prints was projected by the grader This was before the blow up to 35mm.

Volker Bendt · February 23, 2018

I love my home theater with Super 16 projection and synchro sound.

My ACL is slightly modified and produces a 25hz signal when running,

Besides O-tone this signal is recorded on one track of a 4 track recorder and serves as a slate and synchro signal.

Final sound is recorded on CD.

My projector is a Bauer P5 from 1960, all metal, manual feeding, modified to S-16 and halogen lamp.

The projector gives 1 impulse every frame and can be synchronized with a dedicated CD-player.

Volker

Jon O'Brien · February 24, 2018

Your home theater system sounds great, Volker! Any chance you could write up an article/longer post on how to go about setting it up/modifying the projector? I'm really interested. Now to get Kodak to actually bring back Ektachrome on 16mm.