Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: 35mm Tokiwa projectors???

This is topic 35mm Tokiwa projectors??? in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by Steve Matz (Member # 1890) on 11-06-2013, 12:41 PM:

I almost bought a pair of these back in the early 70's when FB CECO had them in their catalog.The price was right but I was leary about their Quality and backed off.The Japanese were copycats on about everything back then and I wasn't sure if they were copying an XL or later E7. Anyone up here have one or have feedback as to how good/bad they really were..TIA...sm

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 11-06-2013, 06:49 PM:

Tokiwa TRS's are bullet proof machines. There is a web site written about them by a turkish friend of mine. I;ll see if I can find it. And they still are making projectors to this day... as well as digital cinema projector lifts (good heavens!) and other accessories.

Posted by Sam D. Chavez (Member # 1841) on 11-08-2013, 10:11 AM:

I never did like there, mediocre sound drum, barrel shutter etc. They were reliable though and the picture was very steady.

George Lucas had a pair of them in his personal screening room.

Posted by Edgar Prass (Member # 7558) on 11-08-2013, 11:00 AM:

Our theatre also has a TSR, but I personally have almost no experience with using it. Plan is to set it up in the lobby and occasionally run it there if someone is interested in seeing how 35mm projection works.

Posted by Axel Fransberg (Member # 5630) on 11-08-2013, 05:01 PM:

I used to work for a small chain that had several of them.

-The last few years before the switch to digital three motors burned out. One caught on fire if I remember correctly.

-You didn't need to change the oil in them, it slowly leaked out so you just needed to refill every few months.

-Mazda lamphouses that came with them were really inefficient and huge which made the projector unbalanced and you needed to be careful not lean too much against them.

They did however have a reasonably stable image.

Posted by Frank Angel (Member # 248) on 11-17-2013, 02:13 PM:

I did a gig years ago that had them; only ran two shows but I still have the distinct impression of how noisy and rough sounding they were....it was like they were grinding coffee. Don't recall anything negative about the presentation -- both shows went without incident.

Posted by Mark Gulbrandsen (Member # 72) on 12-03-2013, 08:01 PM:

You might find this video interesting Tokiwa Factory First Visit

Posted by Steve Matz (Member # 1890) on 12-03-2013, 10:43 PM:

Interesting Videos Mark;apparently the 2nd visit was in 2012 and there still building 35mm projectors so the film market in japan must not be as bad as the US.

Somehow I pictured them as being a larger Factory operation but this is good. Small workforce will ensure better quality control since every employee will have to answer if they do substandard work.

Since I hadn't seen a Tokiwa Projector since the early 70's I was still expecting them to look like an old super simplex or early XL.They look very impressive and well made. Do you know what kind of sales volume the Company has each year. I know from dealing in the Motorcycle Biz and television that the Japanese have a different work philosophy than Americans do. American will still always have the 9 to 5 attitude.Thats probably one reason Honda relocated their GOLDWING Division back to Japan years back.

I'm just wondering if this company will survive when Digital finally hits their market the way it did ours. Thanks for that Link!