Took receipt finally this morning for The Fujicascope SH 30 I have been waiting on arriving.

First impressions from the parcel arriving on my doorstep were all good.
It came packaged in it's original box, which is always a bonus. Then upon opening the box, the case accessories and manuals all appeared to be very well cared for and preserved indeed for a 1970's machine.

I did my usual ritual of first reading through the instruction manual to get a basic feel for this machine, which was totally Alien to me as I have never owned any other machine from this manufacturer.

The next thing on my list was to check the basic operations of the machine all appear to work as they should.

Well initially, all was not well, I can tell!

The lamp on these goes into pre heat mode just as soon as the machine is plugged in. I learned from the manual that with or without the main Power button depressed, the basic functions of this machine still operate.
Placed the machine into "Load" position on the main control knob - Motor started up and machine sounded fine.
Going in the opposite direction, placing the machine in "Rev" mode the motor ran again, sounded fine and the rewind spindle turned as it should.
All good so far!

Next move was to place the machine in forward direction again, this time going to position 2 on the main projector knob to "Lamp" mode.

Here lay a problem...the lamp did not illuminate beyond Pre Heat state no matter how many times the main machine control knob was switched forward and back again to "Lamp" position???

Equally, it made no difference if the separate lamp switch was positioned in LO or HI for reduced or full Lamp power.

Checked the lamp again and it's holder, all felt and appeared absolutely fine???

So phones up the seller to report the fault, has a word with the maestro himself, Mr Bill Parsons, to see what issues he had ever encountered while servicing and repairing these.
As suspected, it more than likely pointed to faulty or temperamental microswitch, but that was no quick and simple two second remedy by any means!

Anyhow, low and behold, while speaking to Bill on the phone and only saying how these things really do not transport too well at all, and then actually playing around with this thing... suddenly the lamp illuminated to full brightness.
Then a few seconds later, off it went again to just pre heat brightness levels!! GRRRrr

Gradually by operating the switch many times over, carefully but vigorously,.. the switch gradually came back to full and reliable working state!
Now I simply cannot get it to fault again!!

Lets just hope it stays like this then Ha ha ha

Who knows, vibration in transport from the delicate microswitch levers and rollers/ plungers, maybe it had even been dropped by the couriers for all I know? It wouldn't be the furthest removed probability would it?
Whatever it was / maybe still is, for now I don't care it now works as it should and have just been putting it through it's first steps here since cleaning it all and performed really really well!

Tried a few 200 shorts then gradually finished up on 1x 800ft of Ichabod after confidence was cemented, next move is to get some Optical prints now back from the lock up for viewing, which was my entire reason for buying this in the first place!

More on that aspect later, but here are some early photographs of the machine since arrival here.

Finally get to use my lens now also!

Well, I managed to get through my first Optical Sound film this evening, no issues at all!

Lamp behaved without a glitch I am pleased to say, optical sound never sounded better either to my ears at least!
No frames were damaged or scratched and no hassles on any threading throughout the day, so what started off as high, then a bit of of downer, has now finished up being a very nice day indeed. Christmas came a little late this year for me, but today was just like 1979 again by the end!



Here's a few from tonight's screening of "Wanda"

Which category of lover do you fall into this evening?

Looks a gorgeous machine yet again Andrew, your a very lucky man, A Fish Called Wanda looks good too

Thanks Del. Yes I've waited quite a while now to try one of these from the glowing reports I've heard.

It's great to finally have found one in such nice condition and I have to admit, I'm currently like a kid in a sweet shop now being somewhat at ease at viewing my optical films again.

Wanda is quite a nice film still, very funny, very nostalgic for me and still has all its colours present I'm pleased to say.
It's not perfect so far as condition is concerned, but I doubt there's much any better out there these days.

I'm currently now seeking any optical films that do still have good colour so let me know please Del if Over The Top is still available?

As said, first impressions of this machine on screen last night were highly favourable but it is noisier than the Bauer or Beaulieu in the middle of the night and this lamp isn't as bright as a 232 Xenophot imo, even with the f1.0 lens in place.

Still I'm not complaining, I am delighted to have finally found one of these.

I know Maurice rated this machine as his "desert island" Super 8mm Projector.
Well I can quite categorically say, it will never be mine, but there is no doubt about it, it has many good things going for it!😊

One particular strong point is most definitely the spindle hub design. You can fit just about any kind of reel on these no problem with the sprung ball bearing latching mechanism and the slim solo key on the hub to drive the reel.

One other slightly annoying factor with these, that some would think is a good thing, is the lo and Hi lamp switch automatically switches back to "Lo" setting each time the main control knob is set back to zero.

What this means in use is, you have to remember each and every time a different reel of Film is loaded to switch back to "Hi" setting when a new reel of Film is loaded.
For those who favour lamp economy over brightness, this is of course an advantageous feature, however if like myself, you favour brightness over lamp economy,it's just something you have to remember to do in between reels of a feature.
No biggie, but I have to say I prefer the traditional set up where this switch is concerned, where the switch simply stays forever wherever you set it at.

Well done Andrew, it looks a very nice machine and quite a rare model now, I've only seen just one over the years and was quite impressed with it, I should have bought it but had too many others at the time. Wanda is a lovely print, looks like 16mm and the best of the optical prints, Mark

They are without doubt, a rare beast to find now, especially like this I have to say with its original box and all accessories.

Whoever had it last, sure did a fine job looking after it!

Whollop!!! Thats a nice looking machine there Andy, Very nice.

Thanks Tom, yes I'm very pleased with it so far thanks.

Just need to find out what kind of exciter lamp these use now.
I was hoping Maurice would have got back to me on this one, but so far at least, nothing sadly.

I know it's 4V 0.75A bulb, but it doesn't appear to physically look anything like G27 or a G29 from what I can see of it so far???

Certainly looks all absolutely brilliant you must be very pleased Andrew.Looks like you will have many happy hours viewing.
👍👍📽📽

Keeping projectors in there original box certainly helps, but not using them doesn't. I suspect this projector will have a much more active life from now on .

It sure will Paul and ironically, I was told this had been used frequently beforehand, just very well cared for seemingly.

90% of the accessories have never been used!

Without yet trying out the recording side of things on this, so far I cannot find a single fault with it yet, not since the lamp micro switch suddenly began working as it should again at least.

As ever, I'd like to attempt to quieten it's operation down a little if I possibly can but the claw penetration certainly doesn't need any looking over.
It's spot on and produces a rock steady picture.

I'd just begin by placing some of my magic Dow Corning grease on that cam lobe and see where that gets me to begin with.

I suspect it would have been a very long time ago when this machine last had any kind of PM work.

Looks very well made, with the cover off picture's Andrew, lots of metal parts in all the important place's , great find.

Yes Paul it does have an all metal gate assembly and even a protective metal shield over the lamp to keep the heat away from the lamp house cover.
The amplifier section (seperate section of the machine for all intents and purposes) seems particularly well made.
I'm particularly pleased also to find it has an enormous oversized capstan rubber roller, something that is often a large Achilles heel with machines with a smaller sized roller.
It does look and feel every bit a quality built projector but ultimately, as I always say, it doesn't even come close to my favourite I'm afraid and that has nothing to do with this being a mono only machine.

Nothing like waiting for a long time for something you really wanted. Congratulations with the new projector! Looks like a really nice one!

It's true to say the longer the wait, the bigger the thrill when you finally unearth whatever it is you've been seeking!

"It's true to say, the longer the wait, the bigger the thrill, when finally, finally, finally..we unearth all of the things we have looked a very VERY long time for!" 😊😊😂