Life in the slow lane...the analog world

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

My Sony cassette broke today. Looked for a new one. Seems only a handful of low grade junk is being produced nowadays. And the analog devotees are grateful even from junk.

Really sad how things have turned out in the analog world. Big demand for old, expired film on eBay. But it is not due to trying to get special effects or lo-fi looks. Old film is the only choice for many of the type of film being sought after.

And it is not just film. Projectors, reel to reel tape recorders, bulbs and parts analog related are all highly sought after. 

Although not from cine' gear, here are 4 untested used bulbs for a Zeiss microscope on eBay. Price $39 + $9 shipping from Germany with no guarantee they work.

It is similar for projector bulbs, editor bulbs, etc. I was lucky to buy a batch of a dozen used bulbs for my Zeiss 16mm viewer. Got them for $2.50 each, no guarantee. They all worked. Some lasted a few hours, others are doing better. 

Internet Photo: Fair Use

...off to eBay to shop for a new (used) cassette deck.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Daniel D. Teoli Jr.

[Phil Rhodes]

If you want the bulbs to last longer, you could make some sort of modification to under-run them a little. Massively extends life, at the expense of output and a slight warm shift.

[Simon Wyss]

The only film format not sustained these days is 9.5mm. We have fresh raw stocks in 65, 35, 16, Double-Eight, Double-Super 8, and Super-8. Some folks are filling Single-8 cartridges with fresh film right now in Germany. There’s fresh film cement available, ultrasonic welders can be repaired. We have fresh pressure-sensitive tape. We have full-coat magnetic stocks, sound recording tape, and editing tape.

[Mark Dunn]

1 hour ago, Daniel D. Teoli Jr. said:

My Sony cassette broke today. Looked for a new one.

As I listen to radio on the computer now, I consigned mine to the garage the other day.

Yesterday I found some cassettes. I need to check them. So the radio cassette's coming back indoors.

Last month a Steenbeck client asked if by any chance I had a VHS player- I had. We saved one last year after a clearout, and a CRT analogue TV with a SCART socket. Extra (very reasonable) rental fee of course. So it's now earned its keep after spending 7 years disused.

Keep the flame alight.

Edited November 27, 2019 by Mark Dunn

[Tyler Purcell]

I've just learned how to service my own gear. I've re-built cassette decks of various kinds, many reel to reel tape decks, VTR's of pretty much every format imaginable from 2" to HDCAM SR. I mean there are a lot of parts available online and I'm usually able to find the right thing. Recently I stumbled upon a problem I couldn't resolve, related to a special type of capacitor that was used on some very vintage projector amplifier. I talked to the re-build experts and they were at a loss on where to get them and why normal caps weren't working so I kinda gave up and bought another whole projector on ebay for cheap. That's really the only thing that stumped me in the more recent years. 

I still have a lot of analog gear hanging around, but I got rid of my reel to reels ?

[Webster Colcord]

6 hours ago, Simon Wyss said:

We have fresh raw stocks in 65, 35, 16, Double-Eight, Double-Super 8, and Super-8.

Simon, what is the Double-Eight and Double Super 8 stock that you're speaking of? I only know of professionally produced B&W stocks in 8 and DS8 - except for Kahl, but it has to be sent back to them for processing.

[Simon Wyss]

If you mean colour film, Wittner could deliver any time, question of volume. We also have 70mm stocks, I forgot to list.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

On 11/27/2019 at 7:18 AM, Phil Rhodes said:

If you want the bulbs to last longer, you could make some sort of modification to under-run them a little. Massively extends life, at the expense of output and a slight warm shift.

I tried that (not willingly) by converting a Zeiss 220 to 110v. Too dark for me. But you were probably talking a smaller reduction.

There is a guy on ebay that converts Zeiss viewers to halogen. Pretty $$ with shipping back and forth + conversion. But if you got some $$, that is the way to go. I'd like to get my projectors converted to LED if it was possible.

[Daniel D. Teoli Jr.]

On 11/27/2019 at 9:08 AM, Tyler Purcell said:

I've just learned how to service my own gear. I've re-built cassette decks of various kinds, many reel to reel tape decks, VTR's of pretty much every format imaginable from 2" to HDCAM SR. I mean there are a lot of parts available online and I'm usually able to find the right thing. Recently I stumbled upon a problem I couldn't resolve, related to a special type of capacitor that was used on some very vintage projector amplifier. I talked to the re-build experts and they were at a loss on where to get them and why normal caps weren't working so I kinda gave up and bought another whole projector on ebay for cheap. That's really the only thing that stumped me in the more recent years. 

I still have a lot of analog gear hanging around, but I got rid of my reel to reels ?

I open em up and am stumped right away. No talent for repairs. Great for you that you got skills.

I do a lot with R/R and have a few machines. Very hard to deal with nowadays. I bought a number on ebay. Some arrived with bent spindles. Others were lied about and didn't work right. Then you have to fight for a refund. I don't use R/R to record on. I use for transcription of vintage audio for my archive.