Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: When did Strong switch from blue to red?

my profile | my password | search | faq & rules | forum home

»	Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE » Operations » Film Handlers' Forum » When did Strong switch from blue to red? (Page 2)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3

Author

Topic: When did Strong switch from blue to red?

John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 11-14-2002 09:56 PM

I can't recall, but is the width of the glass less than 35mm? If so, a piece of nearly black film leader could make a pretty good filter, perhaps sandwiched with the existing glass.

------------------
John P. Pytlak, Senior Technical Specialist
Worldwide Technical Services, Entertainment Imaging
Research Labs, Building 69, Room 7525A
Rochester, New York, 14650-1922 USA
Tel: +1 585 477 5325 Cell: +1 585 781 4036 Fax: +1 585 722 7243
e-mail: john.pytlak@kodak.com
Web site: here Kodak Website

| IP: Logged

Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 11-14-2002 10:01 PM

Film might melt on that glass. It gets pretty hot.

| IP: Logged

Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 11-14-2002 10:46 PM

Daryl, from the looks of your picture the Century's have the red glass. I am talking about the projectors you are leaning against that are pointing up almost vertically. Perhaps you shouldn't lean against them so hard! I bet there is NO keystoning on that screen!

Let me take a wild guess... that pic was taken at a drive in.

| IP: Logged

Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 11-14-2002 11:01 PM

Those obviously aren't the ones with blue glass.

Somehow you guessed it... it's a drive-in. I work there a whole one night a year. Those machines were installed about 10 years ago.

There actually isn't too much keystoning. The picture is supposed to be shaped like a triangle right?

Heck, those projectors are more perpendicular than the other set I use to use that nearly pointed at the floor.

| IP: Logged

Paul G. Thompson
The Weenie Man

Posts: 4718
From: Mount Vernon WA USA
Registered: Nov 2000

posted 11-14-2002 11:24 PM

There might be a good reason for changing colors after all. I remember some people who liked to stare at an arc flame on the Enarcs and Peerless through the green glass. Then they wondered why their eyes felt like sandpaper after a while. If the glass was blue, purple or red, the gawkers could not look at it that long as they could through the green glass.

| IP: Logged

Daryl C. W. O'Shea
Film God

Posts: 3977
From: Midland Ontario Canada (where Panavision & IMAX lenses come from)
Registered: Jun 2002

posted 11-14-2002 11:27 PM

But arcs are so fun to look at. Arc welder, carbon arc, even xenon arcs... I used to have great vision.

| IP: Logged

Scott Norwood
Film God

Posts: 8146
From: Boston, MA. USA (1774.21 miles northeast of Dallas)
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-15-2002 12:06 AM

Don't Ashcrafts have both red _and_ blue glass? I haven't seen any for a few years and have never run them, so I might be mis-remembering something.

Anyway, all the Simplexes I have seen have green glass, as do Strong xenon lamphouses and Peerless and Enarc lamps. For Centurys, I've seen a mix of red and blue (and maybe green, too), but I'm not convinced that it corresponds to the vintage of the machine, unless someone might have replaced the glass at some point.

| IP: Logged

Joe Redifer
You need a beating today

Posts: 12859
From: Denver, Colorado
Registered: May 99

posted 11-15-2002 12:16 AM

I think you should be able to order a Century with the glass in any color you want, similar to the iMacs. It can be red and green at Christmas time, orange at Halloween, green on St Patricks Day, red white and blue during Memorial and Veterans day... not to mention 4th of July, etc.

| IP: Logged

John Pytlak
Film God

Posts: 9987
From: Rochester, NY 14650-1922
Registered: Jan 2000

posted 11-15-2002 10:16 AM

Josh Jones wrote: "I ran across a pair of Strong Utility lamps that had purple glass in them. It would make a white shirt glow like a blacklight "

Obviously the purple glass filter was still letting lots of ultraviolet energy through (arc lamps produce enough ultraviolet energy to give a nasty sunburn and permanently damage eyes).

Any filter used for directly viewing an arc should be effective in reducing ALL wavelengths, not just the visible ones, or eye damage can occur.

| IP: Logged

Gerard S. Cohen
Jedi Master Film Handler

Posts: 975
From: Forest Hills, NY, USA
Registered: Sep 2001

posted 11-15-2002 04:15 PM

This thread reminds me...
Once, when replacing a cracked glass, I wondered what the effect on others would be if I cut replacements in other colors than green.
I cut some in several colors, including amber, blue and purple, and switched in my home theatre. Not receiving any feedback, I took the glasses with me when working the [projectionists' temp] list, and each day inserted a different color. Still no feedback--maybe nobody noticed or cared. So I gave up the experiment, and for the life of me cannot now remember where I obtained the sheets of colored glass from which I cut the windows, nor what became of them. Perhaps they were thrown out when I had the garage emptied...

| IP: Logged

Matthew Bailey
Master Film Handler

Posts: 461
From: Port Arthur,TX
Registered: Sep 2000

posted 11-15-2002 06:13 PM

Some glass bottles do have flat sides such as the square & rectangular bottles. You can find such used or antique bottles at an antique store,garage sale,flea market or a Salvation Army or Goodwill.

| IP: Logged

Gordon McLeod
Film God

Posts: 9532
From: Toronto Ontario Canada
Registered: Jun 99

posted 11-15-2002 07:42 PM

THere are many suppliers of stain glass for window apps
I personally like the deep welders green

| IP: Logged

Steve Guttag
We forgot the crackers Gromit!!!

Posts: 12814
From: Annapolis, MD
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 11-15-2002 11:18 PM

The switch to the red glass was long before Strong got involved. ORC definately had the red glass in them. There was also the brown glass era in there...somewhere. And I have seen quite a few projectors with the distinct cardboard colored glass...though those may have been an "aftermarket" improvement after the originals were dropped.

Steve

------------------
"Old projectionists never die, they just changeover!"

| IP: Logged

Frank Angel
Film God

Posts: 5305
From: Brooklyn NY USA
Registered: Dec 1999

posted 11-16-2002 04:59 PM

Brad,

Just get a couple of pieces of green Rosco gel in various densities of green -- the are designed for heat. Tape the darkest gel over the red glass and see what you get. If it is too dark, just go to a lighter green until you get the right balance. Problem solved.

| IP: Logged

John Hawkinson
Film God

Posts: 2273
From: Cambridge, MA, USA
Registered: Feb 2002

posted 11-16-2002 06:45 PM

I don't think that Rosco gels are designed for the kind of sustained heat the Xenon can provide, no. If you really want variety, drop by your local welding supply house (or someplace like weldingsupply.com), and examine various different shades of welding glass filters (designed for use in welding goggles). Generally they're about $1 for a piece that should fit in a projector (you'll have to trim down some).

--jhawk

| IP: Logged

All times are Central (GMT -6:00)

This topic comprises 3 pages: 1 2 3

Printer-friendly view of this topic

The Film-Tech Forums are designed for various members related to the cinema industry to express their opinions, viewpoints and testimonials on various products, services and events based upon speculation, personal knowledge and factual information through use, therefore all views represented here allow no liability upon the publishers of this web site and the owners of said views assume no liability for any ill will resulting from these postings. The posts made here are for educational as well as entertainment purposes and as such anyone viewing this portion of the website must accept these views as statements of the author of that opinion and agrees to release the authors from any and all liability.