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WORST 35mm's.........
Any Shakeamecannicca model....film weave and oil leak central.

Super Simplex.....for platter operation.

Prevost P93.....They run great for about a month.

SORTA WORST 35mm's......

Ballantyne Pro35....The original Rock And Roll Machine.Watch out for one with a blown oil seal...I once slid into a VIP base from 8 feet away with my 40 lb tool kit! Also known as the Ballantyne Valdez!

Brenkert, except BX-60.....don't use any of those new spiral bevel gears outta Chicago!!

Simplex E-7.......for platter operation. Great film lab machine though, very steady picture. Hey....who pumped that oiler too many times today?

Powers 6B........ Ha? Whats this doin here? There have actually been a sighting or two of these.

DeVry........Old Man DeVry liked Supers and owned a bicycle factory.

REALLY WORST 35mm's.........

Any Holmes Model.......Thats a projector? Can the film be bent that tight around those rollers? Hey, are those rollers turning? Thats my I.B. print of "Gone With The Wind running on there!!

Standard Simplex..........Thankfully, none left except in Wheatfield, Iowa.

Any Cinecitta.......... I'll keep this one to myself.

Any Monee.............. This one too.

REALLY BEST 35mm's

Motiograph AA, And AAA,....They always had a small flicker problem that Motiograph could never fix, but this machne should easily get top honors in the steadiness catagory, and it had really great water cooling, and beefy 4" lens mount on the AAA.

Christie P35GP......When everything is juuuuuust riiiiiiight...............its darn good.

Phillips FP-7(Baby AA-2)FP-20, FP-30, Most all their 35mm's. I guess bicycle chains are ...well ....ok in 35 machines.

Simplex X-L....Runs forever if there's oil in it. Can project really steady images. That darn accessory cooling blower...I mean dust sucker upper. Poor water cooling....really JUST for the aperature plate. The new Strong Melinium model is the best yet and utilizes the Century Model A gate and trap and gives you an increased oil resevoir.

Brenkert BX-60.....I don't see any of those spiral bevel gears in there so its gotta be ok!!

Brenkert BX40,BX80,BX-100...With original Brenkert Spiral Bevel Gears inside they're really, really great!!

Century Model C,CC,SA,SAW,DAW........ Probably the best 35mm machine ever made till ORC got ahold of it. Strong has fixed the problems though. Very reliable, easy to work on.....even in between reel changes. Larger Star and cam in the A models than any other US built projector. The gate and trap are the best in a US made machine and Strong has recently put this design into the new Melinium version of the X-L. Need to install a two lens turrett? Use the Kelmar retrofit kit. The cast Iron C models are really, really great!!

Kalee Model 19, 20, 21......British made:Hand scraped cast iron main housing, parts have the fit and finish of a swiss watch, heavy cast bronze intermittant housing, double speed - single blade shutter (in 1955!), art deco appearance, heavest 35mm ever made at over a ton per machine, WOW!!!!! They were known to have crashed through the booth floors of several theaters. Just imagine the 35/70 would have weighed over 2 tons!

ABSOLUTE BEST 35mm machine....Gaumont Kalee Model 21
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Worstest 35/70mm machines........

Any Shakeamecannica model, but for some reason they do run 70mm better than they run 35mm.

Ballantyne 35/70.......Sorry Mr Manager, but we'll have to wait for the technician to come change the gate,trap and sprockets so we can run that 35mm feature next. Caution: Not for use in a rep house!

Phillips DP-75......Too many pathetic plastic pieces on them.

Simplex 35/65/70?........thats right folks, it has never been updated for 70mm. Hence the narrow 65mm gate bands and sprockets. Hey,why's that extra 2.5mm of film hanging over each edge of the sprockets? And hows about that teenie weenie Star and Cam in thare??

Zeiss 35/70.........Its really a Prevost thats been disguised! Isn't that enough said.

Cinecitta 35/70.....The name has been changed to protect the innocent. Gee Ma these assemblies don't interchange for some reason.

Monee 35/70........If they made one it would be bad.

Wheely Great 70mm Machines..........

Norelco DP-70........Nothing need be said. Its wheely the best ever made. Thankyou Mike Todd!

Century JJ........Extremely Steady image....almost as good as the DP-70, excellent driven penthouse. Seperate 35 and 70mm mag heads makes em cheaper to replace. Great gate and trap design. Great water cooling, and that Cinefocus device really,really works.

Bauer U-2...... German made: Heavier that a DP-70(really). Has teflon coated metal gate bands, excellent driven Klangfilm penthouse, Steadiness as good as a JJ, but not quite as good as a DP-70. Complicated but reliable electrical system,unique 24/30 fps geared Pabst drive motor, conical shutter. A few are still running in the states.

Mine has a sloppy intermittant. I can see the bounce on an 8' screen.
As for side weave, yes. Plenty.

The framing system is a hoot. Whatever you do, dont frame the lever in the extreme up position. Sprocket damage is possible.

BUT in the case of mine, they are still running after 50 years, or so without too much work besides having to clean all that nasty hard grease out of the body.

I ran an old CC the other night, and now I want one. Too bad they are so big. I have space for the Holmes, barely.

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The take-up on the front means I can sit it on the end of a sturdy table.

This is my last Holmes reply for now.
Theres no real place for me to set up a real 35 projector, so I gotta stick to this right now. Still for all its shortcomings, it beats the hell out of 16mm.

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I nearly died when I saw what scope lenses go for...

My flat lenses are 2.75" currently. Am thinking of cutting a window in the wall and moving the creature there.

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