Got a slide projector for Christmas!

Existing Light · Dec 25, 2009

My mom got me a slide projector for Christmas. It was the slide projector that she used at the jewelry store where she works. It has the name "JC Penny 500" on the handle. IT uses a Kodak slide tray. the lens says "KEYTAR LENS" on the top and "COATED 4IN f:3.5 ANASTIGMAT" on the bottom.

Does anyone know who made this projector? Could it be a low end rebranded kodak projector?

Existing Light · Dec 25, 2009

BTW, I did a little playing with it earlier. The prjections look pretty good from the little tinkering I did. I had to project it against a moss green wall in the living room because I dont have a screen to project it on, so I'm sure that'll affect my judgement a little bit. I'm going to tape a piece of white computer paper to the wall and project on that and study the projections a bit more. Im sure that projector and lens will be fine for me for a while, but i'm curious to see the sharpness and contrast and such up close

mtjade2007 · Dec 25, 2009

You should be able to pick up a decent projector screen from flea markets for a few bucks. I have got a few of them. But I only keep the better one. Now I have one that is really nice.

DanielStone · Dec 25, 2009

or do you have a white wall in your house? if its bright white enough, you might not have to get the screen . a friend of mine got some mild silver paint, and mixed that in with the white that he sprayed onto the walls of his office. he and his wife look at their slides projected straight onto the wall straight out. the little bit of silver helps give a bit more "pop" to the image, kinda like a movie screen(aka "the silver screen")

nice present!

-Dan

StorminMatt · Dec 25, 2009

You could also try tacking up a white bedsheet. The only hard part here is making sure that it is flat on the wall and wrinkle-free.

Existing Light · Dec 25, 2009

Thanks for the replies. I dont have a white wall but I do have white bedsheets. I'll give that a try.

Just for fun I projected a slide on to a sheet of 8.5x11 white paper taped to the wall. The image projected on the wall was about 11x14in.. Even at 11x14, the projection looked rather soft when I got close to the wall. It looked ok standing just behind the projector. I did have to manually focus it because the focuser on the remote doesnt work. Is the lens that came with it a cheapie lens or am I just that bad at focusing a projector?

StorminMatt · Dec 26, 2009

It is difficult to say whether the lens is a 'cheapie'. Stores like JC Penney's and Sears often rebranded equipment from other manufacturers. So this projector could be anything from a cheapo off-brand model to a top of the line Kodak. But there are other factors which could be leading to a soft image. Maybe the projector is just too close to the wall to focus. If you find that the focusing knob is turned to the limit (but you still don't have a sharp image), then this could very well be the case. Of course, it is also possible that the slide you are projecting is soft. Sometimes, you really don't know this sort of thing until you either scan or project. If you haven't already done so, try projecting another slide to see if you get a sharper image.

Rick A · Dec 26, 2009

Was this projector set up to play thru a small view screen that looks like a tv set? You did say your mom used it at a jewelery shop. You may need to find a different lens for it, if you plan on large projections. Also, the lamp watage may be low as well, to avoid heat build-up. I remember seeing those types of sales devices in shops years ago, and they were all small, and not designed to project onto a large screen. Maybe your mother could get the projection [box] that was used with it.

Rick

Existing Light · Dec 26, 2009

Perhaps the slide is just soft. I didnt think about that, but that's actually quite possible with me I'll compare asap. The projection looks decent, but still a bit soft, when standing behind the projector, and very soft when I move to about a foot away from the projection. I'll compare with other slides to make sure.

BTW, the projector was far enough away. When I first set it up, I turned the focus knob all the way one way. When I focused, I turned the knob till it was in focus and turned it slightly more to throw it out of focus then turned it slightly back to bring the projection in focus.

Just for fun, I also aligned the projector with the wall using my enlarger aligner

I'm not sure if it was made to project through one of those tv screen things. I've seen pictures of them, but cant remember the name for them I'll find out if they used one of those. If they dont have one, I might be able to find one on ebay.

This may end up being a temporary slide projector until I can afford one of those Leica or Hasselblad projetors

PHOTOTONE · Dec 26, 2009

There were a variety of slide projectors that used the Kodak carousel tray. Kodak did not private-label its photographc slide projectors.

Chazzy · Dec 26, 2009

If it's a rebranded Kodak lens, some of the Kodak lenses were somewhat mediocre. Many people who wanted better quality bought lenses by Buhl and other manufacturers. Try the projector with other slides, including slides you know to be sharp.

fschifano · Dec 26, 2009

If you have a 50 mm lens for a 35mm SLR, you can use it as an excellent loupe to examine the slide closely against a good light source. You'll know if the slide is soft or not.

Existing Light · Dec 27, 2009

I got the remote focusing mechanism to work and found out that my manual focusing ability wasnt as good as it should be. Since focusing with the remote is rather slow on this projector, I manual focus it as good as I can and use the remote focuser to fine tune it. When projecting from a distance to make an image about 11x14 on the wall, the image is actually pretty good when it's focused properly.

I've been trying to find some info on the lens, but really cant find anything useful. I'm going to keep searching because I'm probably overlooking a link to an article or something that has an answer to every one of my questions

Got a slide projector for Christmas!

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