It's now nearly sixty years when Pathescope went into liquidation in August 1960. This finished 37 years of 9.5mm availability from them in the UK. But who can forget the cute film with its single perforation in the centre and a picture width of almost the size of 16mm, 8.5mm against 10.26mm ?

In 1922 the Pathe Baby was introduced in France, a year later in the UK but now called The Home Movie. Also in 1923 the Pathe Baby cine camera made its appearance making it the first amateur cine camera in any gauge.

Not only could home movies be made of family and friends it was also possible to buy your own abbreviated films once shown in cinemas. It was not necessary to buy as there would probably be a film library near you which hired out films at a very reasonable price. Pathescope's 1954 film catalogue listed 210 such libraries in the UK. All offered silent films, most offered a postal service, and about half also stocked sound films.

Sound came to 9.5mm in April 1938 with the Sound Vox. Now it was a real home cinema. The Vox was built in France but with the outbreak of war in September 1939 the supply soon dried up, never to be seen again. The sound on 9.5mm was very good considering that the sound track was less than a millimetre in with.

After the war things really picked up with plenty of new 9.5mm cameras and projectors, but why was Pathescope also offering 8mm and 16mm projectors? Was there insufficient faith in 9.5mm?

Two disastrous new products didn't help their fortunes.

In 1956 came Duplex with a special camera and projector. In these the film ran sideways. The Duplex film had double perforations and was run twice trough the camera (as 8mm did). After processing the film was returned split to 4.75mm! Apparently it was quite difficult to handle!!

A further nail in the coffin came in 1959 with the Prince camera and the Princess projector. In addition to the normal operating mode they could also project still frames which Pathescope announced that in theory an owner could get over 1000 transparencies from a single film charger loading in the camera.

One interesting introduction was Kodachrome colour film, but by now, most home movie makers were deserting 9.5mm in favour of 8mm. The writing was on the wall. Sales were dropping fast and Pathescope called it a day.

But 9.5mm did not die. There were others manufacturers in the UK and Europe who made 9.5mm equipment including the Swiss Bolex H9, a much sought after camera. Package films were available, but only silent. Various companies kept up the supply of camera raw stock, even the including of re-perforating and splitting 16mm by Larry Pearce at LGP Cine. The Buckingham 9.5mm sound projector appeared, this was a conversion of the 16mm Elf, rather expensive at £795, but it sold well and second hand machines are always in demand.

Now, in 2020, the dark clouds have descended with very little availability of films for cameras and sellers on eBay are asking exorbitant prices for anything cine.

However, after years of research and work The 9.5mm Vintage Film Encyclopaedia has just appeared for sale, a fitting end for the 9.5mm enthusiast.

I should finally like to mention the splendid web-site which was run by the king of 9.5mm, Grahame Newnham of Southampton. Most regrettably Grahame passed away in May of this year. A very sad loss for all. The web site is still active as it is paid for until the year 2030. It is hoped that someone will be able to take it on for the future. I can recommend the site most wholeheartedly.

http://www.pathefilm.uk/95ninefive.htm

Maurice,

Many thanks for sharing this fascinating look into the 9.5mm world! It is interesting to me how WW II and perhaps poor strategic decisions by Pathescope led to their ultimate demise. I am curious to know, what did amateur photographers specifically prefer about 8mm over 9.5mm? Was it due to newer and better cameras? 9.5mm had a head start on 8mm and yet were overtaken by 8mm...

It made me think about the Beta vs VHS formats. I may be mistaken, but from what I understand, Beta had a better picture and sound quality than VHS but for some reason VHS eliminated Beta as a format--similar to how 8mm was preferred over 9.5.

I have seen one Pathescope projector at an estate sale here in Minnesota. It was very pristine, and I hoped to buy it if the price was right, but it was sold before I could even get into the sale. I think they are very beautiful looking antique machines.

I do not have any knowledge about 9.5mm films or equipment, so your post here was very informative---thank you.
I will certainly check out the website as well...

Betamax was superior to VHS, and the tapes had a longer life before the picture started to deteriorate.

Thank you, Greg, for your kind comments.

I must admit that I changed to 8mm (later known as standard/regular) for filming in the late fifties with a Eumig P8 Imperial (with tape sync control) and a Yashica camera which was an absolute clone to then current Bolex B8 with its twin turret. 9.5mm was retained for film collecting and screened on my Specto projector (only could afford silent in those days!)

Perhaps many enthusiasts did as I did. As mentioned above Pathescope designers had some rather stupid new ideas in which no one was interested. It was only five years after Pathescope closed that Kodak introduced Super 8 (1965). Things then really took off with new film makers being weaned with automation. The lovely standard 8 cameras were never bettered.

I included 16mm in 1955 with a pre-war Bell & Howell 138 which was used for mobile work for a while. Over the years the 16mm fleet has grown.

So, I now have Standard 8, Super 8, 16mm, and 9.5mm, the latter both silent and sound. I packed up filming with Super 8 when Kodak withdrew their sound cartridges. As most people know I have a large collection of projectors, and a vast quantity of films. I still have four movie cameras, but they just live in a cupboard. Bolex D8 (Std 8), Zenit Quartz (Sup8), Coronet (9.5) and Kodak Cine Special (16mm).

But collecting 16mm films these days can be something of a lottery, some eBay sellers don't have projectors for this gauge and like to say "buy as seen". It's quite a gamble, I have no patience to bid, I only use Buy It Now and have been quite lucky with my buys.

So, looking back, perhaps if Pathescope had gone on a little longer they certainly wouldn't have survived after the arrival of Super 8.

Thank you for this thread Maurice. I have never owned, or indeed seen a 9.5mm projector. The images i have seen of them and they look like they are all built to last forever. Very sturdy.
I keep my eyes open for one that i could use as a show piece in my film room.
Our earliest home made films were on regular 8. I think my Brothers cine camera was a Sanyo, it had a wind up key on the side of it and you took 25ft and then had to open the door to turn the spool over as it was 16mm wide, expose one side, then the other. I was only nine at the time and our very first film was shot by our Mum as my two Brothers and i kicked a football around. The halfway change has hat few seconds of red/white exposed film as at the time, they didn't know to do the changeover out of sunlight

You also get numbers punched in the film. The few home movies I have seen shot in Kodachrome on Standard 8, looked better to me than Super 8 colourwise. I presume the orange filter must have been slightly different. I just shot one roll myself in that guage to test a camera, the colours were far richer.

There were two types of standard 8 Kodachrome stock. Daylight and Artificial. There was no need for a colour correcting filter.

It is really good how the kodak home movies have kept there colours.
I think Roberts right about the colours of standard 8s being stronger than the super 8s.

Tom
Here's a photo for your collection.
It's the 9.5mm Pathescope Gem made in the UK, also available for 8mm and 16mm. Pathescope putting all their eggs in one basket? I have a Gem.
https://van-eck.net/img/itable/images/fi...60173301559.jpg

Now, here's a video of the sound Pathe Vox. It obviously has some electrical modifications. I have such a projector modified with a transistor amplifier. I also have the great "Betty Boop and Grampy" film showing.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GGTrM0b7Lz0

That is great, thank you Maurice.
It just goes to show how things were built to last back then.
When things like this are well looked after they will hopefully teach newer generation where all there stuff was born.

Maurice,

The Pathescope Gem sure has a unique, non-traditional look to it. Great to see the Vox in action, and appropriate to be running a Betty Boop cartoon too.

I think many of these Betty Boop cartoons are extremely underrated. Some of them are almost surreal and also feature some very classic 1930's music from Cab Calloway. These cartoons are much, much more than the over-used 'boop-oop-a-doop' tagline that Betty is often associated with.

But, back to Pathe. Here are two very recently posted videos on the Pathe Baby. This gentleman really dives into the inner mechanical workings of the projector...There are two parts totaling about 30 minutes....

Part One:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=okg3UCvND7Y&t=220s

Part Two:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OGdW9ZHAa3k&t=3s

I am sure the Pathe Baby (Home Movie in UK) would have had a much longer life if the owners hadn't clambered for more light for bigger pictures. More light, such as with the 200B, meant the death of notched films.

As regards 9.5mm sound, here's how good it can be. The same film as being projected on the Vox. This YouTube appears to have been downloaded by the late Grahame Newnham.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M8sppfLx_Q0&feature=youtu.be

Tom
As you are not familiar with 9.5 equipment I thought it a good idea to show some of the stuff I have collected over the years.

Perhaps other passionate 9.5'ers can show us their treasures.

An amazing collection of 9.5mm there, Terry. I used to fancy owning a Specto. I'll just stick to my Super 8 and 16 now. I do have an old Pathe camera, just as a museum piece.

Thanks Robert
I used to have more but have thinned down recently. Sorry about the quality of the photos. Taken on my iPad and it's not easy to see what you're doing when the sun is shining.

Spot the projector!

Buckingham. Specto. Ditmar. 200B. Home Movie. Bolex. Imp. Bingoscope.

A 35mm toy.

And hiding away, a standard 8 Bell & Howell 606.

How did I do?

Very good Maurice
You missed the Coronet and Dekko, but you probably named them as 'home movie' ? The Ditmar is a 9.5/16mm. The Bolex DA is 9.5/16mm. The Pathe 200b is also 9.5/16mm and like the Bolex DA comes with all changeover parts. The Ditmar as you know has the two gauges side by side, so you just need to turn around the combined reel spindles. All the projectors include all accessories and original boxes and are in full working order, but I rarely use them now.

Now - I know you have a few very nice 9.5'ers. - Let's have some photos ?

My 9.5mm are as follows:-

SILENT
Specto 500 (with lamp modification)
Pathescope 200B (with lamp modification)
Pathescope Gem (original)

SOUND
Pathe Vox (modified lamp and transistor amp)
Pathescope Son (original)
Pathescope Son (fully stripped and modified - (motor, lamp, exciter, amp, speaker)
Buckingham M1
Buckingham RT
Eiki SNT3 (converted in France - opt/mag & record)

Nice collection. Can you give us some pictures?

Terry, didn't Specto also do a 9.5/16mm model ?/; I remember one on your list was a combined camera and projector.

Robert
Yes the Specto I have is a dual 9.5/16mm. A very reliable, well built projector and British made. Great for film transfer because it has an infinitely variable speed control. Although it is capable of playing 16mm silent film the 9.5m capabilitiy is what most enthusiasts look for.
I have the Campro, which is a combined 9.5 camera/ projector, but just as a curiosity. Never used it.

Terry,
Thank you for the images.what a great collection you have there and it all looks in perfect condition. Can i ask how often you use your projectors and do you service them yourself?
Thank you Maurice for you information. I would love to see your projector collection but im guessing it covers many rooms

Tom,
Yes indeed. I have around 100 projectors, 50 of them being 16mm.

You have a full time job there Maurice, and what a nice job too.
What do you make of the high tech electronic projectors compared to the basic machines?

Robert
I forgot to include the Midas which is also a camera/ projector. Again just a curiosity-never used, but such a wonderful retro innovation.
Maurice
Come on - let's have some pics! Share your treasures with the rest of us.