Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: Ernaman Projectors

This is topic Ernaman Projectors in forum Film Handlers' Forum at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Stephen Jones (Member # 16) on 12-16-1999, 07:39 PM:

I noticed in the picture warehouse photos and of the Ernaman projectors.I would like to see if any of you guys have used these machines, as a collegue asked me if I have any information on these projectors which I didnt and he has no acess to the net to check out Film tech so any more photos and any infomation and coments would be most welcome.

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Posted by John Walsh (Member # 168) on 12-16-1999, 11:45 PM:

We demo'ed an Ernemann 15 for about a year. They are being sold by Xetron. We only had the projector head which is an integral type (sound and projection head together.) It can be converted to 16mm, although we never ran 16mm. We mounted it on a regular Xetron console.

It seemed that it was manufactured very well. The fit of parts was very good. After installing, we found that the DTS system would not track correctly; I forget exactly what it was, but it turned out that an additional transformer had to be added to boost the voltage to the motor- it was running too slow. We never tried to operate an interlocked show, because we were too nervous about it not running in sync. I'm sure they worked those problems out by now.

Ours had a 2 lens turret, and that thing would spin very fast. If you used an older anamorphic adapter (the classic type that flares out to about 4 inches dia.) and left your fingers on the focus knob, the spinning adapter would pinch your thumb between the lens and the knob. The (curved) gate and trap (bands) is a simple arrangement, but can't be removed easily; certainly not for routine cleaning. This means, for example, that if you ran a real black and white film, I don't know how you would throughly clean out the emulsion particals.

The sound 'head' used a laser beam for an 'exciter' lamp and was really bright; no problem making Dolby level. But, you need a few special tools to adjust the analog optical lens. It's an 'inertia' type of soundhead (you don't put tension on the film around the sound drum, like a Simplex or a Century; it runs free like a AAII or a Cinemecannica.) There's a toothed belt to run everything. It looks like there's a microcontroller IC to operate everything.

I noticed a flicker in the lower left of the screen, but I didn't get a chance to figure out what it was. The shutter is a fairly small diameter, and is mounted unusally close to the aperture plate. While normally this is good, I was wondering if there a problem there. There was no shutter ghosting.

The drive motor was pretty odd: the shaft was fixed and the motor body rotated. Nothing wrong with it, but it was weird.

When I used this projector, I felt like I was handling a finely made peice of machinery. I also felt that it would not survive the kind of beating uncaring 'thread-up monkeys' might inflict on it. (Although I felt the same way when I first saw a Cinemecannica V5, yet they still do OK.)

The manual (which is avaiable at the download page) is very well done. Although there are some amusing German-English translations ("The disk type shutter with its advantageous light efficiency cares for optimum exploitation of the Xenon light.") Make Xetron give you at least one good quality copy, rather than the 'copy of a copy' we got.

You might think that I didn't like it, but to even things out, the picture quality was outstanding. We had the film, "Ghost and the Darkness" and it looked wonderful. however, I felt this was a 'screening-room' projector, not a 'can beat the shit out of it' projector. But our company just bought 8 of them, and our tech guy usually does his homework, so maybe I'll be surprised. If you live near Connecticut, I can show them to you.

Opps! Sorry I blabbed on so much.....

Posted by Gordon McLeod (Member # 33) on 12-17-1999, 07:51 AM:

The only problem with the ernaman 15's reported to us from the two complexsa that bought the one pictured (a 24 and a 22) was that the apperture changer would break the spring that moves the plate in about 6 weeks
No problem cleaning the bands witha toothbrush and a very steady picture
These have been in service almost a year now with no problems with the heads.
I do question if the xetron console allows the correct working distance though.
Probably the steadiest 35mm picture I have seen outside of the Motiograph AAA or the Norelco's
The velvet bands in the gate have next to no powdering problems and they seem to have no heat problems up to 5KW

Posted by Stefan Scholz (Member # 147) on 12-18-1999, 02:18 PM:

We are running a sample projector from the factory on their own 12000 ft base. It was installed about 4 years ago, as a test and we never had a breakdown, even though the booth is very small and without proper A/C. Picture steadiness is great, the unit is silently running, and the soundhead gives perfect reproduction. The motor, which you claim to be odd is of the type used in appliance cooling fans, where the blades carry the rotor, and the winding is fixed. It is also known within commercial taperecorders and dubbers during the 50's to 80's. It is of the synchronous type, and should therefore keep it's speed pretty well.