Slide Projector for 35 mm

[pkr1979]

Hi all,

I'm thinking about getting a slide projector for my small format slides. Preferably an automated one. Any suggestions?

Cheers
Peter

 

[xkaes]

Depends on what you mean by small format slides. Do you mean 110, 16mm?

 

[pkr1979]

Sorry - 35 mm

 

[koraks]

Preferably an automated one.

To what extent? There used to be the programmable Kodak carousel types. I think they required an RS232 interface and some DOS software. There's a thread about them here on Photrio; I think it was active a year or so ago, maybe two.

 

[pkr1979]

So I can press play and just let it run - if not for ever, at least for hours.

 

[perkeleellinen]

I would look at the Kodak carousel S-AV series. Some of those models will do continuous projection but may need one of these:

Timer for Kodak S-AV slide projectors – Van Eck Video Services

van-eck.net

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

If by 'run forever' you mean changing the slide every x seconds then most of the Kodak Carousel projectors will fill your needs. If your slides are in cardboard mounts then get a projector with autofocus and a 'C' lens. If you use glass mounts then you don't need autofocus but you will need a flat field lens; most if not all Carousels came with the curved field 'C' lens and flat field lenses may be hard to find.

You don't need a fancy A/V model - the A/V's were made for multiple projector setups where the slides would fade into one another under command from a controller box. Unless that is what you want to do...

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Look up lens chart as they differ based on the distance to the screen. There are zoom lenses available as well. Get a projector screen for the best and brighest viewing.

What focal length lens do I need for my slide projector? – Digital Slides

www.digitalslides.co.uk

 

[mshchem]

Kodak Carousel in the US. Not sure about EU.

 

[pkr1979]

Thanks guys - I'll look into the Kodak Carousels.

 

[Philippe-Georges]

I must have a Kodak Carrousel with a set of loaders somewhere in a box...
I don't shoot 35 mm anymore.

 

[MTGseattle]

A note on the Kodaks. There are 2 different load capacity carousel trays. The high-capacity ones can be prone to jamming. My folks have 2 different machines and a lot of carousels. My Dad has gotten rid of all of the high-capacity ones and says that the lower capacity ones are nearly faultless. I think the capacities are 80 and 140 respectively?
This is just one use case though, maybe other people have had better luck?
The machines should be really common at thrift stores, ebay, etc though. Carousels are abundant used.

For a couple of years, you couldn't give this stuff away. I'm not sure what prices are like these days.

 

[Nicholas Lindan]

For a couple of years, you couldn't give this stuff away.

"Slide shows" had a terrible reputation and were treated as events to be avoided at all costs. The family photographer would take the slides of a vacation, wedding, what have you and load them, unedited, into a tray and then show two trays of 140 slides to their audience. "Here's the sunset, and now Janet in the sunset, the sunset in the parking lot (you can just see our car there, to the right) and the sunset from our hotel room..." No editing, and not one keeper in the whole tray.

When it came time to clean out the estate I am sure the slides were dumped with glee into a bin bag and the projector and trays sold to whoever would take them - "$5 for the lot? You bet, it's a deal. Need help getting all of it in your car?" Or the projector, trays and screen went into the dumpster.

It's the same with phone pictures. No editing. Nothing more boring. I also count other peoples' wedding albums among the things to be avoided.

Though I wax exceeding cynical - these photographs were taken as an aide memoir and so serve a purpose for the photographer and others present at the event - and if only they had been edited down someone would have watched them.

I inherited three carousel projectors from my father, along with countless empty trays. He had edited down his slides to one partly full tray and chucked the rest. Worth watching now and then. I edited down my mother's movies and spliced the keepers into one reel - again, I watch them now and then. At the final clean out of my parents' estate my sisters wanted nothing to do with the family photographs and films.

 

[Tom Taylor]

See this thread.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

"Slide shows" had a terrible reputation and were treated as events to be avoided at all costs. The family photographer would take the slides of a vacation, wedding, what have you and load them, unedited, into a tray and then show two trays of 140 slides to their audience. "Here's the sunset, and now Janet in the sunset, the sunset in the parking lot (you can just see our car there, to the right) and the sunset from our hotel room..." No editing, and not one keeper in the whole tray.

When it came time to clean out the estate I am sure the slides were dumped with glee into a bin bag and the projector and trays sold to whoever would take them - "$5 for the lot? You bet, it's a deal. Need help getting all of it in your car?" Or the projector, trays and screen went into the dumpster.

It's the same with phone pictures. No editing. Nothing more boring. I also count other peoples' wedding albums among the things to be avoided.

Though I wax exceeding cynical - these photographs were taken as an aide memoir and so serve a purpose for the photographer and others present at the event - and if only they had been edited down someone would have watched them.

I inherited three carousel projectors from my father, along with countless empty trays. He had edited down his slides to one partly full tray and chucked the rest. Worth watching now and then. I edited down my mother's movies and spliced the keepers into one reel - again, I watch them now and then. At the final clean out of my parents' estate my sisters wanted nothing to do with the family photographs and films.

I scanned all my slides after editing and then dumped the broken projector and even the slides. I even threw out three brand new Carousel slide trays. I made slide shows using Premiere Elements to show on a 75" smart TV with background music, captions, titles and endings. I just have to snap it on to catch company unaware. In the old days, they'd see you start taking your projector out and feign a headache and claim they need to go home early.

 

[Chan Tran]

I just have to snap it on to catch company unaware. In the old days, they'd see you start taking your projector out and feign a headache and claim they need to go home early.

Why do you have to do that? I don't show my pictures to anyone. Why show them to people who are not interested? I like to project my slides for myself. I don't make slide show. I sometimes would look at one slide for a long time and others I wouldn't even put them in the projector.

 

[pkr1979]

@Tom Taylor thanks for the link. @Nicholas Lindan , your slide-show-event description gave me a good laugh. Thanks - much appreciated

 

[Mark J]

I had a Carousel years ago, but settled on a Leica projector later.
Slides are great, the dynamic range is greater than on paper.
There was a really top-rank lens made by Tamron for the Kodak projectors, I think it was a 75mm f/2.5

 

[MTGseattle]

My Dad still gets the projector out when I go home for visits. My parents are the custodians of the family "archive." (some sarcasm intended).
Much of the slides were inherited in the metal slide boxes un-sorted and mixed up by years/decades. They have been sorted into category trays now at least. I really enjoy seeing the old 1950's-60's ones that were made by my Great Aunt that I never met. She actually had a nice eye for composition and the color fidelity of those old slides is amazing.
There are definitely some stinkers still in the mix, but we all get a laugh out of them. My Dad had a particular skill at taking ghastly photos of my Mom. She advocates from throwing them away, yet they remain. Ha ha.

 

[wiltw]

Slide projection can be an experience which almost takes your breath away...but mainly for the person who took the shot, or maybe for other photography afficianados who have not experienced color slide projection previously. Over 2 decades ago, I had the opportunity to take a photography workshop conducted by a contemporary and friend of Ansel Adams and his wife Virginia, a lady named Marion Patterson (she is still alive). Most photographers were shooting 135 and projecting those slides. When it was my turn to exhibit my 3 medium format slides to the workshop members, the amazement from the audience at the increase in quality was apparent, and Marion commented both about my photos technical merit and also about projection of medium format.

But as pointed out, most slide presentations to a non-photographically oriented audience are mostly so much boredom at the involuntary nature of the hostage situation! It does not help when the photos are 'snapshots' not worthy of exhibition.

The Kodak Carousel line is an amateur-oriented quality line, and a professional/business-oriented comes is the Kodak Ekatagraphic slide projector series. If you find an Ektagraphic, particulary in a thrift store, snap it up!
the Ektagraphic is designed for professional AV use, meaning a heavy duty cycle. A projector is left running 10-12 hours a day during things like trade shows, the Ektagraphic just was apparently made a bit tougher...when new its warranty was 3 years, not 1 year.

Neverthless, one person, with repair experience, commented

"the innards of all of them are​

basically the same, AND that there is only one part that gets replaced​

regularly. That is the link between the solenoid that activates the​

advance mechanism and the actual mechanism. It is make of a semi-hard​

rubber that eventually will crack and break. This only happens when the​

unit gets fairly old (10+ years?). The only other parts of the Kodak​

projectors that I have had to replace are the clutch spring (in maybe​

three units), and the bulb sockets, which I think comes from user error​

more than poor part design. What all this boils down to is that there are​

no Kodak models that I wouldn't reccomend based on reliability. I would,​

however, definitely buy one with autofocus! "​

An A/V professional identified what he thougt were the advantages to the Ektagrphic line, in spite of the apparent commality of so many parts

• the Ektagraphic is designed for professional AV use, whichmeans a heavy duty cycle. A projector is left running 10-12 hours aday during things like trade shows, so the Ektagraphic just was madea bit tougher.
• Better alignment of the slide in the gate, providing for better dissolves/simulated motion with mutliple projector presentations
  
  " The pushing of the slide to the side of the gate is one of the major
  features of the Ektagraphic for the AV, multi-image professional."
  
  
• the Ektagraphic is design to hold a "hotter" or higher lumen output lamp and be able to do so over long
  periods without seriously affecting the life of the projector. (at the cost of more expensive bulbs)

Keep in mind that constant projection WILL effect the lifetime of the dyes in the slide!

How To Restore Faded Slides with VueScan | VueScan How-to Guides

www.hamrick.com

"Do color slides fade?​

Exposure to light and heat can cause the dyes in the film to deteriorate over time, resulting in faded colors and washed out images.​

​

...and even constantly-changing projection subjects slides to more heat and light than in a dark storage place. You might consider duplication of the slides to be projected constantly, and filing away the originals!

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Slide projection can be an experience which almost takes your breath away...but mainly for the person who took the shot, or maybe for other photography afficianados who have not experienced color slide projection previously. Over 2 decades ago, I had the opportunity to take a photography workshop conducted by a contemporary and friend of Ansel Adams and his wife Virginia, a lady named Marion Patterson (she is still alive). Most photographers were shooting 135 and projecting those slides. When it was my turn to exhibit my 3 medium format slides to the workshop members, the amazement from the audience at the increase in quality was apparent, and Marion commented both about my photos technical merit and also about projection of medium format.

But as pointed out, most slide presentations to a non-photographically oriented audience are mostly so much boredom at the involuntary nature of the hostage situation! It does not help when the photos are 'snapshots' not worthy of exhibition.

The Kodak Carousel line is an amateur-oriented quality line, and a professional/business-oriented comes is the Kodak Ekatagraphic slide projector series. If you find an Ektagraphic, particulary in a thrift store, snap it up!
the Ektagraphic is designed for professional AV use, meaning a heavy duty cycle. A projector is left running 10-12 hours a day during things like trade shows, the Ektagraphic just was apparently made a bit tougher...when new its warranty was 3 years, not 1 year.

Neverthless, one person, with repair experience, commented

"the innards of all of them are​

basically the same, AND that there is only one part that gets replaced​

regularly. That is the link between the solenoid that activates the​

advance mechanism and the actual mechanism. It is make of a semi-hard​

rubber that eventually will crack and break. This only happens when the​

unit gets fairly old (10+ years?). The only other parts of the Kodak​

projectors that I have had to replace are the clutch spring (in maybe​

three units), and the bulb sockets, which I think comes from user error​

more than poor part design. What all this boils down to is that there are​

no Kodak models that I wouldn't reccomend based on reliability. I would,​

however, definitely buy one with autofocus! "​

An A/V professional identified what he thougt were the advantages to the Ektagrphic line, in spite of the apparent commality of so many parts

• the Ektagraphic is designed for professional AV use, whichmeans a heavy duty cycle. A projector is left running 10-12 hours aday during things like trade shows, so the Ektagraphic just was madea bit tougher.
• Better alignment of the slide in the gate, providing for better dissolves/simulated motion with mutliple projector presentations
  
  " The pushing of the slide to the side of the gate is one of the major
  features of the Ektagraphic for the AV, multi-image professional."
  
  
• the Ektagraphic is design to hold a "hotter" or higher lumen output lamp and be able to do so over long
  periods without seriously affecting the life of the projector. (at the cost of more expensive bulbs)

Keep in mind that constant projection WILL effect the lifetime of the dyes in the slide!

How To Restore Faded Slides with VueScan | VueScan How-to Guides

www.hamrick.com

"Do color slides fade?​

Exposure to light and heat can cause the dyes in the film to deteriorate over time, resulting in faded colors and washed out images.​

​

...and even constantly-changing projection subjects slides to more heat and light than in a dark storage place. You might consider duplication of the slides to be projected constantly, and filing away the originals!

I had an Ektagraphic with a selection module attachment that allows you to select whatever slide you want. Setup for pro use. When I turned it on ten years ago when I moved, it just wasn't working and I threw it out along with three brand new carousel trays. That's when I scanned all my slides.

 

[Alan Edward Klein]

Why do you have to do that? I don't show my pictures to anyone. Why show them to people who are not interested? I like to project my slides for myself. I don't make slide show. I sometimes would look at one slide for a long time and others I wouldn't even put them in the projector.

Here's one of my slide shows you can suffer through. If interested, pick 1080 HD high resolution and turn the volume up. You can watch on your TV, cellphone or computer.

 

[wiltw]

I find it very sad that the very best that digital presentation can do is but a very small fraction of what our cameras can capture...scarcely approaching what a slide projector can present! Even 4K is equivalent to (roughly) digital cameras from 20 years ago. 8K can present 33MPixels, but still costs $3-4k (or more).

 

[Chan Tran]

I find it very sad that the very best that digital presentation can do is but a very small fraction of what our cameras can capture...scarcely approaching what a slide projector can present! Even 4K is equivalent to (roughly) digital cameras from 20 years ago. 8K can present 33MPixels, but still costs $3-4k (or more).

That is why when I shoot slides I project the slides. I don't show them to anyone. I need to see the slides in their full glories. They are expensive to shoot.

 

[Chan Tran]

Here's one of my slide shows you can suffer through. If interested, pick 1080 HD high resolution and turn the volume up. You can watch on your TV, cellphone or computer.

Thanks Alan, I pass.