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Good 16mm Projector


David Cunningham

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Hello,

 

I am looking for suggestions about my 16mm projector and what/if I should buy another one.

 

It is a Kodak Pageant 250 series projector.

 

I ask because it has a small amount of noticeable flicker to it. I'm wondering if this is because it's cheap in the first place and has a single opening shutter and if there is a better option out there... and... if it should not have this flicker what the likely problem is that's causing it.

 

Thanks for any advise you can offer!

 

Dave

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My favourites are

 

  • Siemens & Halske 2000 for not too badly shrunken film
  • Paillard-Bolex S series
  • Bell & Howell Filmo and Filmosound series, apt for shrunken film
  • Diksi-Tfp.
  • Dixi 700 series
Edited by Simon Wyss
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Thanks Jean-Louis... investigating.

 

Is there such a thing as a triple flash/shutter 16mm projector? i know there is in 35mm.

 

Dave

 

Nevermind... answered my own question when I started reading the link you sent... apparently my pageant is a 3 blade or 2 blade setup.

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Most 16mm projectors have three-blade shutters, the Paillard-Bolex G3 was available with a switchable three and four blade shutter. It allows to screen at down to 12 frames per second without flicker. Paillard-Bolex S projectors are switchable two and three blades.

 

Siemens & Halske 2000 projectors also can be set to two or three interceptions.

 

Bell & Howell employed a single-blade shutter revolving at triple speed, the claw engaging only every third stroke.

 

Stationary sound machines often have a fixed two-blade shutter, I am recalling Cinelabor, Bauer Selecton, Philips EL 5000, the Eastman 25-30-40. Among the American brands you have more, such as Ampro, Keystone, National, Victor, RCA, TSI, Revere. The Kodascope Pageant, I do admit, is not so high in the ranking with me because of its plywood frame and some other oddities but you can tag that as snobism. On the other hand am I a professional projectionist. Conclusion: there are snobbish projectionists.

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I bought one of these Telex projectors "new" from this eBay vendor about 6 years ago. They are old new stock I believe government surplus. I've had great success with it, threading is easy and less potentially dangerous to prints than some other projectors. He also has multiple lenses available for it including cinemascope I believe.

 

It's not as modern as some other projectors but seems like it was built like a tank to last.

 

http://r.ebay.com/wRKrxt

 

++!B-HYg!2k~$(KGrHgoOKjUEjlLmUhVfBKiG8,J

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That's awesome! Thanks for that link. I wonder how easy that would be to covert to Super16 projection.

?

 

Super 16 isn't a projection format...it's just for transfer. I've never heard of anyone projecting it. I guess you could widen the gate just like with a camera but you run into the problem of the bulb not being centered behind that widened gate...not sure if that would be an issue or not.

 

Now that I think about it, it would be fun to make Super 16 prints (is that even possible?) and view them in widescreen.

 

Let us know how that goes.

 

The guy who sells those projectors may have some insight for you; he's bought and sold projection equipment for many years.

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  • 3 weeks later...

I'm no expert in the field of projectors, but my Ampro Stylist has served me very well. I bought it mostly for its looks, it's a remarkably beautiful machine, and it works well. It is pretty loud, if that's a problem, and it's not the easiest to thread. I always project through a glass door or window and run the sound cables under the door, that seems to get rid of enough of the noise for viewing.

 

Note that since it's so old, the sound is unbalanced. The sound has a lot of noise in it unless you use a great instrument cable, something like Mogami. And on the note of sound, it does have a microphone input, so if you're watching silent film or if you want to narrate something on the speaker, you can do it.

 

On the note of shutter, it does have a two blade shutter, which is fine for sound film but not so fine for silent film.

 

Honestly, it works well but even if it didn't I would use it just for its looks. Hope that helps.

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Personally, I love the Pageant. I've had the B&H's, I've had the Revere and Keystone's, the Elmo/Eiki. Heck I even have a Kodak Model A sitting in my basement, which still works great! For me, the Pageant is the only one I use. I love the projectors ability unload mid shot without damaging the film and sound-block bypass. Showing dailies is so easy because the film is so exposed, it makes for easy marking for edit points. I use to wrap the output of the film into a gang station next to a splicer and make edits right there on the spot for clients.

 

Anyway, that's my personal preference. It's also the first 16mm projector I owned. So it does have some sentimental value for me. The Ampro's are very nice however. ;)

Edited by Tyler Purcell
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