We very often read about various things about our machines with the popular ones being the Eumigs, Elmo's Bauers and a couple of others. I have been looking in some old mags and on-line and have seen some really nice looking machines. If i throw some makes and models on here can anyone enlighten us as to how good these are, how they perform, how noisy / quite they are? Are they know for scratching etc.
It would be good to get an insight into some of these.

The Tacnon range, such as the Tacnon 808 super 8 stereo
SANKYO 700/800
Yelco Stereo 3600 Computer Quartz
The Yelco Range in general,
Chinon Sound 9500 MV Twin Track Magnetic & Optical and other Chinons,
The B & H Range, (one i could never buy again after a brand new one put a green scratch on new film), 16mms fine but for me, not 8mm. Am i wrong? Should i let this one experience put me off?
The Canon range
Minolta Range, like the Minolta 6000
The Sankyo range.
The Optomax range, like the SD-800
The Duo range
The Norris Range
The Heurtier range such as the Stereovox Which Ian recently sold brand spanking new.

Lets start this off, we all seem to talk lots about our Elmos, Eumigs and Bauer so for those of you with lots of projector collecting experience please enlighten me.
Heres an idea, if i can get enough info i will put an article together for the magazine. (I know not everyone reads it or subscribes to it),
What are the pro's and cons of some of the above makes? There must be a lot around still and i would assume many on the forums must use them.
I have to say, some of them look pretty darn good.
Are there any decent ones i have left out?
Are there any technical tips that are easy for any of these?

I can't tell you much; but I do remember one of the mags; I'm pretty certain it was Movie Maker, running a test with some machines and a loop of film. They were trying to find out how many times a film could be shown before it started to disintegrate. 1st place went to Noris, which surprises me that we never hear of them in the forums; 2nd place went to Eumig; I don't know who followed. It was in 1975 when I saw a Eumig in a photographic shop window, and remembering the test, I wanted to buy it. Came home, discussed it with my father, as the projector was £199, and wages about £27-£30 a week. I went back the next day and asked if I could put a deposit on it to reserve, then picked it up on the Saturday.

The only other thing I can tell you concerns Chinon projectors, which were sold by Dixons. Derek Simmonds put a notice in Movie Maker that if you owned a Chinon projector, he would no longer hire films to you, as he pointed out, that he could sell a feature for about £40 or £45 in those days, and he was hiring a film out once to owners of Chinon projectors and they were coming back with damaged sprockets, so he was losing money. Maybe they improved over time, but I always remember that story every time I see someone mention they have just purchased a Chinon projector. Their cameras had a good reputation.

Thanks Robert, this is exactly the sort of thing i would like to find out about as many of these and more as possible. I also read that about the Chinon range. Oddly enough, we did have two of there cine cameras and have to say they were excellent. Very good sound recordings from the direct boom mic.

I have many Sankyos, Yelcos and Chinons, never had a problem with any of them. The Bell & Howell range, which are made by Sankyo, are excellent.
But not the Noris. I had a 342 Stereo, a very fussy projector. Couldn't get on with it and got rid of it. Can't recommend.

Heurtiers are pretty bad for scratching,they look nice and I have one but wouldn't put any film through it.

I have a Chinon SS1200 and it's never marked a film so maybe not all models are bad.

Sankyo models seem pretty good and again I have a 501 and two 800 stereo machines and they haven't marked a film. I'm sure it's down to lots of use on any machines and cleaning of course,Mark

Mark is right
Most Super 8 projectors are auto-thread. These really need good leaders to achieve a decent thread. The adding of white or similar leaders is a cheap and successful way to treat films. The leaders can always be replaced without damage to the actual film.
Tom also forgot to mention two superb projectors, the Beaulieu 708 EL Stereo and the Fujicascope SH30, both of which I have, and can thoroughly recommend as up market projectors. The latter also being able to project optical prints.

Blimy Maurice, how did i forget those two? Thanks for adding them in there, i always like the look of the Beaulieu but they are out of my price range.

Fumeo made some nice machines too,Not the best lookers but well built and large reel capacity,Mark

Never happy with my Fumeo.
Can never really get the tensions correctly set up of the feed and take-up spools. Each spindle has a tension knob on the end of the shaft, and a second one which bears down on the shaft. The instruction book is not really any help which just says "set the tensions". The manual thread is none too easy either.
It's a 16mm projector converted with very little thought given for Super 8 use.

Tom,
This is an excellent question. I wish I had more to add, but other than Eumig, Elmo, and old school B&H silent projectors, the only other brand/model I have used is the Minolta 6000. Seemed decent enough. The only issue I had was the green control knob cracked where it fits onto the metal shaft and I had to use a replacement kitchen stove knob to operate the thing!

This info from Phil Johnson's website,
http://www.8mm16mmfilmscollectibles.com/super-8.htm
"Full featured and great performing projector with f1.3 15 to 25mm zoom lens, 12 volt 100 watt EFP bulb, 600' capacity, fully automatic threading, multiple audio inputs and outputs, reverse, speeds of 18 or 24 frames per second with capability of variable speeds (two adjustable potentiometers on circuit boards inside the back cover) so you can adjust to 20 fps for video transfer of your home movies."

I was not aware this projector had ability to adjust speed, as I have never done any type of transfer etc.
I bought my projector at a used electronics recycling place for cheap, and have not used it since getting into the Elmo's....

I'm in the minority here, but my go-to Super-8 sound projector is made by Copal (CP-S402 model.) Built more like a 16mm machine, very sturdy. Granted it doesn't have a lot of bells and whistles, but for my purposes it works great. Generally I'm not a big fan of Elmo projectors despite the fan base they seem to have.

The Copal Sound CP 402 is an interesting projector as it has a variable speed control with an electronic stroboscope with which you can monitor accurate sound and silent speeds.

Thanks Douglas, i often wondered why the likes of Elmo,Eumig, sankyo or Bauer didnt have a choice of a high quality play only projector. The prices would have been cheaper. After all, not everyone wants recording facilities.
The one thing Elmo never did sort out was the mickey mouse size sound drum. When i had my Bauer t610(all be it a very short time), i noticed the large sound drum which gave a good instant start up free of any wow and flutter.
I know some people have been put off the Elmos due to scratching but once the guides are modified on the GS or worn ones replaced on the STs they are fine. I must admit for a thousand pound machine back in the day those front guides on the GS were pretty dismal from what i have read.
Anyone know about the high end tacnon? They look quite smart.

The two ezcellent machines Maurice mentioned, the Beaulieu 708 EL Stereo and the Fujicascope SH30, (how did i forget these?), does anyone have any test reports? Or for any others in my list?

Tom, the Copal offers basic sound on sound recording capability. As Maurice noted, the stroboscope speed control is a nice feature, and rather unique. The built in speaker belts out good sound in my opinion. I would love to hear what it sounds like through a quality speaker one day. I must be a true fan of this machine, as I own three of them!

Could you pop up an image Douglas as i myself, have not seen one of these? What size reels does it take?

I'll provide a link to Van Eck's page which has a photo and full specifications on the Copal: https://van-eck.net/itable.php?lang=en&s...P%20Sound%20402

Looks a nice machine. It reminds at first glance of the Eumigs.

#13 - Tom,
A couple Beaulieu 708 reports that may be helpful to you (you may already have them)...
(Note: the second file is a MS Word file, not pdf unfortunately).

I think there must be many brands that have just disappeared almost as soon as they appeared. I came across the following today in Super 8.
Fallowfield Europa C250 QI
Cinerex Dual 8
Imac 800
Tower Super 8.

Does anyone else on here with any views or small reviews on any of the projectors in my original list? there must be more than this i would have thought.

I have an excellent Book written by Jürgen Lossau covering all 8 and 16 mm projectors. Lots of Photos. Highly recommended

Whats the book called Mats?

As I'm not at home, I'm not shure. I will let you know, next week. It's german, but text is both german and English.

I found it on the web. Filmprojektoren. It can be ordered from Germany for 99 Euros, shipping included.

I have this book and often refer to it. Highly recommended.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/Filmprojektoren...u/dp/3980723542