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Author Topic: Who produced the most 70mm projectors? Bernard Tonks Jedi Master Film Handler Posts: 619 From: Cranleigh, Surrey, England Registered: Apr 2001 posted 05-12-2003 07:07 PM                     A pair of Westrex 5000 35/70mm projectors were installed in the West End of London, at the Prince Charles Cinema. These replaced the Philips FP20s for the 70mm facility. I thought the Westrex 5000s ran very nicely and I was impressed with the picture on 35 & 70mm. When Cannon Cinemas took over the Prince Charles, two Philips DP 75s 35/70mm were installed but also with a platter facility.  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-12-2003 09:24 PM                     Well at last count I have 12 westrex 5000 heads in the barn so there was probably a lot built probably a lot only ran as 35mm machines though  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-13-2003 08:30 AM                     There are still at least two sets of 35/70 Westrex 5000's installed in a theatre just north of Salt Lake City. I also know of at heast a half dozen 35/70's in storage for one of our customers. My boss was the US service tech for Westrex for quite a few years back when they were imported here into the U.S. and liked the machine....we still have quite a few spares in our parts department and brand new penthouses in stock!!! Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 05-13-2003 01:08 PM                    Did anyone mention Crowns?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-13-2003 07:22 PM                     "Did anyone mention Crowns?" _______________________________________________________________ I only know of three pair that were in the states....two pair of the DP-70 look a like, and one pair of the JJ look a like. I doubt there were many more than these..... They would have made better meat grinders!! Mark  |  IP: Logged Gordon McLeod Film God Posts: 9532 From: Toronto Ontario Canada Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-13-2003 11:07 PM                     Never saw a crown JJ lookalike but they made a Brenkert BX100/MI950 35/70 machine  |  IP: Logged David Kilderry Master Film Handler Posts: 355 From: Melbourne Australia Registered: Sep 1999 posted 05-14-2003 04:25 AM                        I know of at least one plant of Toshiba Crown 70mm projectors here in Australia, they are the DP70 look-a-likes. Interesting to note that at the peak in the 1970's, 12 drive-in screens (at 10 locations) here in Melbourne were 70mm equipped. Victoria 8, Bauer U3 and Philips DP 70 all represented. David Kilderry  |  IP: Logged Larry Shaw Expert Film Handler Posts: 238 From: Boston, MA, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 05-15-2003 06:56 PM                        If one answers the question in the header, I'd propose that IMBO* Kinoton wins handily. The 570 machines made by Philips' Motion Picture Division, and its continuation Kinoton, include: AA-II/DP-70/EL-4000, DP-75, (570)GOTO, FP-75E, (570)SP-75E, MP-75E. *(IM biased O) Steve, Have you ever seen a Cinerama head converted to a JJ? Why on earth would you do it?  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-15-2003 08:08 PM                     Larry, Over the years I've seen about a dozen or so 35mm Cinerama heads which had been converted into a 70mm only Cinerama head. Not really sure who did the actual conversion....Cinerama's machine shop, or Century. Four of those I've seen were later on taken to full 35/70 function. I assume it was something that Cinerama provided the theatre when 35mm 3-strip ceased to be and "Super Cinerama" emerged. I converted a pair of those back to 35mm - 6 perf pull down for a special 3 perf over and under 3-D system then in development. They worked well for that purpose. This machine is easy to tell from a real JJ as there is a thin steel plate which is inserted in a milled out area where the dove tail mount for the trap goes. With the old white paint in there its difficult to see the plate but its there. From my experience with them, all of these type 70mm Centurys were actually much better performing machines than the later JJ's were!! My experience with JJ's would dictate owning a machine with a SN lower than about 300. After that they were really touch and go as far as quality. Mark @ CLACO  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 05-16-2003 12:11 AM                    Didn't Cinerama cycle many of their heads through for conversion and installation in former 3-strip houses which would in turn surrender their 6-perf machines? Mark: Didn't the conversions retain the Cinerama patent notice on the back door and the Cinerama glass on the front or did all JJ's built for Cinerama get the glass? Note the Uptown's Cinerama JJ's in the photos posted in the F-T picture warehouse.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-16-2003 08:24 AM                     Steve, Thats what I meant when I said that Cinerama provided them.....Generally thay are much, much better than any of the JJ's I've been in contact with over the years...and thats been quite a few pair of JJ's. Just donno if it was Century, or Cinerama that converted the three strip heads over to 70mm for Super Cinerama, but they are definately converted 3 strip heads. Am also not sure that Cinerama actually came and retreived their equipment in all cases since there are quite a few surviving 35mm 3-strip heads around. Some locations may have decided to convet things over to 70mm themselves with other brands of equipment and in those cases Cinerama may have abandoned the 3 strip stuff on site. Mark  |  IP: Logged Larry Shaw Expert Film Handler Posts: 238 From: Boston, MA, USA Registered: Mar 2000 posted 05-16-2003 03:46 PM                        Live & learn. I have messed with those Uptown JJ's many times over the years and just thought they were regular JJ's with that odd Cinefocus hookup. Is it any easier to convert a Cinerama head to a JJ than to convert a 4 perf 35 head of the same vintage? I'm thinking it's a big pain one would never do unless one owned a s-load of little-used about-to-be-obsolete 6 perf heads.  |  IP: Logged Mark Gulbrandsen Resident Trollmaster Posts: 16657 From: Music City Registered: Jun 99 posted 05-16-2003 08:16 PM                     Larry, Couldn't say which would be easier to convert although the comparison between the 35mm cinerama head and the 70mm is not great. Any tool and die guy could fit the plate in place where the dovetail needs to mount. Then there is the movement which is altogether different. Different C/L for the intermittent sprocket and so forth. You'd need a whole new movement or at least the front half. I've seen about a half dozen 35mm 6 perf heads that are now running 35mm 4 perf out in this neck of the woods. Probably needed more so these days would be to convert them back to 6 perf!!! Mark  |  IP: Logged Steve Guttag We forgot the crackers Gromit!!! Posts: 12814 From: Annapolis, MD Registered: Dec 1999 posted 05-17-2003 12:12 PM                     Larry, Mark I don't think the Uptown's heads were ever 6-perf 35mm. I think they were just early JJs...somewhere we even have the old "H" style gates/traps. There is more JJ to them than not...they are pre JJ2 though. I believe there was a period where the Uptown could run 3-strip and Super-Cinerama 70mm. Now here is one for you Mark...the Uptown's heads have always had a mis-match between the Lens centerline and the trap's aperture centerline (vertically)....ever seen that before? It is one thing I've been meaning to deal with for many years now since we get dark corners on the top of scope films (vignetts the lens). Steve  |  IP: Logged Steve Kraus Film God Posts: 4094 From: Chicago, IL, USA Registered: May 2000 posted 05-17-2003 01:58 PM                    20/20 hindsight of course but too bad they didn't design the gate and trap parts so that the mounting to the casting was the same for all models, with the differing alignments built right into the component parts, whether 6-perf, 4-perf, or dovetail for dual-gauge machines. Steve, do the Uptown machines have the Cinerama patent notice on the back doors?  |  IP: Logged

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