Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE: projector info

This is topic projector info in forum Film-Yak at Film-Tech Forum ARCHIVE.

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Posted by David Guest (Member # 9080) on 09-29-2015, 02:12 PM:

can anyone help me please I have been offered today over the phone 3 elf projectors these all have a 100 watt amplifiers as told by the seller I don't know this model, I thought the biggest amp was 25 watt like the ones I have .I asked him for pics but he has no computer can any one help me with a picture or direct me to a link so I can see what they are like thanks for all your help

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-02-2015, 12:27 AM:

Elf was the brand name with which Eiki sold 16mm classroom portables in the UK from around the late 1960s to the mid 1980s.

If memory serves me correctly, the integrated amps were 25w, too. I wouldn't have thought this was a major issue: the impedance was so low that you wouldn't need much more to power a single speaker in a typical home, classroom or church hall either.

IMHO, the Eiki/Elf RT and NT 16mm machines were the nicest that sold on any significant scale in Britain in the final phase of the 16mm (as a mainstream format) era. For collectors and hobbyists now they are also a good choice, because the life-limited spares (principally belts and bulbs) are still readily available. The optics of the stock 50mm lens were also Japanese engineering at its best. As for the amps, the chances are somewhere between high and 100% that you'll need to replace the capacitors on any used machine you buy now, but the same would go for any other of a similar vintage.

I left Britain in 2013, but up until then I did a bit of refurbishing of classroom Elfs for experimental filmmakers and those sort of folks. At that time, around 50 pounds for a carcass to be culled for spares, up to 300 for a scrupulously maintained example in as new condition was the going rate. Avoid the autothreaders (unnecessary mechanical components to go wrong and damage prints), and especially avoid the slot loaders if poss.

Posted by Scott Norwood (Member # 30) on 10-02-2015, 10:13 AM:

Is there such a thing as a manual-thread classroom-size Eiki? Aside from the larger xenon machines, the models commonly seen in the US are either slot-load or auto-load.

Posted by Leo Enticknap (Member # 534) on 10-02-2015, 12:47 PM:

The RT-1/2/3 and ST-1/2/3 were available in totally manual thread versions - the autothreading components simply weren't installed on the chassis. There weren't that many of them sold and it's pretty rare to see one on Ebay. The absence of those components makes it a lot easier to keep the film path clean. The spring on the film guide/lever below the gate can get worn and/or gummed up with grease (as shipped from the factory, these Eikis had molybendum grease in the bearings and camtank, which tends to leak and end up where it isn't wanted) and cause it to fail to retract totally, thus abrading the film.

Most schoolteachers will not have wanted (or probably even been able) to thread manually, and so these versions weren't made in large numbers. But for a film collector or very small screening room, if you do, I'd say pounce on it. Even though it's a claw-in-the-gate pulldown, they're pretty gentle to film and very easy to maintain. Not having the autothread components in the film path means less to go wrong and potentially damage your prints.