> I keep encountering auto-load projectors in 16mm and S8 mm that don't load > for me. You push down the thingie at the top of the threading pattern to > start auto-loading but when the film feeds in it goes straight up after the > first curve without entering the gate. Do these projectors have issues or is > there a trick?
The only tricks are setting whatever lever, knob whatever closes the loop formers and trimming the end of the film properly with the cutter on the projector. Sometimes there’s a registration pin in the cutter that has to engage a spoke hole, so the film end is at a precise point in the frame, otherwise it won’t get stuck in the gate and the to loop will just keep bunching up. If the film "goes straight up” from the top sprocket without even heading toward the top of the gate, then the load mechanism isn’t engaged, meaning either it’s broken, or you just haven’t set the projector into the proper ‘load’ mode. Also, on most auto-loads, the loop formers should retract automatically after the film goes through the lower sprocket, and if they’re cranky, that won’t happen correctly. Auto-loads stink. They’re hard to avoid in Super 8, but in 16mm manual thread is the only way to go. Auto-loads usually have no way to get the film out of the projector if there’s some problem m mid-reel. Slot loads would seem to solve that problem, but if the projector is long in the tooth, rarely used or in need of service, they can eat the film when you start them after threading. With Eiki’s SSL’s especially, make sure the film is properly seated in the film path, check it again, and then move the lever to ‘forward' very slowly and carefully… _______________________________________________ FrameWorks mailing list [email protected] https://mailman-mail5.webfaction.com/listinfo/frameworks
