Who knows much about 9.5mm film?

[Scotness]

I've just bought 7 cans of 9.5mm film -- there's at least one Charlie Chaplin film in there (The Count) -- the reels look to be about 200 feet -- one has some regular 8 leader on it! -- the start of the Chaplin one is a bit mangled -- I think pretty well all of them are released by Pathescope

I'll try and delicately look at them in my Super 8 viewer --> anyone tried that? I don't want to damage the film. I think they're from the 1930's

Scot

[cameratech]

Apart from being wider than S8 (as the name suggests), 9.5mm is also perforated quite differently, with the perfs in the centre of the film between frames. I don't think trying to view it on a S8 viewer would be a good idea!

9.5mm enthusiasts are still around, you can even buy the film stock. Projectors pop up on ebay a lot (particularly ebay France), but the viewers don't seem as common.

Because the perfs (and consequently the pull down claw) are in the middle of the film, a dodgy projector can really ruin a print, it's the Achilles Heel of an otherwise excellent format. The image area is nearly as large as standard 16! But you need to make sure the equipment is maintained, so buying from an expert is probably a good idea. This guy, for example, has a great site all about 9.5mm and sells a variety of 9.5mm gear, including viewers:

http://www.pathefilm.freeserve.co.uk/index.html

[Scotness]

Hi Dom thanks for the link - I knew the specs of the film and how the sprocket holes work etc - I'm certainly not going to drag it through the viewer - but if I can just get it in the gate there I can hopefully get a good look at the images.

Will check out the link now - thanks for that

Scot

[granfer]

Scotness,
I don't think you got the point that Cameratech was trying to make politely..... if you attempt to insert a 9.5mm film into a 8mm or Super 8 viewer IN ANY WAY you run a great risk of doing damage to valuable OLD film.
I'll put it bluntly: 8mm viewers are for 8mm film, super 8 viewers for super 8 film an, surprisingly 9.5 mm viewers are for 9.5 mm film. If you think it's safe for you to do what you suggest, why did you ask for advice in the first place?

If you simply want to look at the images (as you say), try a good magnifying glass. The frames are nearly as large as 16mm frames.

[aj]

Just use a loupe? With a lightbox or something.

The viewer will not produce moving images and will just wreck your footage. Also the S8 mask is about half the size of the 9.5mm film.

[Scotness]

Scotness,
I don't think you got the point that Cameratech was trying to make politely..... if you attempt to insert a 9.5mm film into a 8mm or Super 8 viewer IN ANY WAY you run a great risk of doing damage to valuable OLD film.
I'll put it bluntly: 8mm viewers are for 8mm film, super 8 viewers for super 8 film an, surprisingly 9.5 mm viewers are for 9.5 mm film. If you think it's safe for you to do what you suggest, why did you ask for advice in the first place?

If you simply want to look at the images (as you say), try a good magnifying glass. The frames are nearly as large as 16mm frames.

Hi Granfer look I don't know what to say LOL - why did I ask for advice? - because I thought someone may have tried it and could give me some advice - why was I suggesting it? because I thought it might work - I had an idea but I wasn't sure.

So anyway I've just tried it and it does work - my bet is people who told me not too hadn't tried it all. Obviously I'm not mounting the reels or dragging the film across the runners or 8mm sprockets - but it's quite easy to slide the film into the gate where there is no little or no risk of damage and to see clearly what is on the frames. Afterall the film is only 1.5mm wider than 8mm. A small proportion of the frame isn't enlarged but it's easy to take the film out and flip it over to see what's on that side of the frame. But the point is you get a much larger and more useful image than you do with a magnifying glass.

My main object in doing this is just to see the titles and to identify the films correctly - the one I just looked at was a Hop-a-long Cassidy film - I think I'll end up putting them all on eBay -- but to anyone who is interested in trying this - do so carefully and it works

Scot

[granfer]

Scotness said...

"So anyway I've just tried it and it does work - my bet is people who told me not too hadn't tried it all."

So, first comment.... It would have saved others time and trouble if you HAD tried it in the first place.
Second comment..... we didn't realise you only wanted to see a quarter of the frame at a time (after all, who would expect that?).
Third comment....... we wanted to save you the risk of damaging your film (your question implied that you had no idea what you were doing).
Forth comment...... even a low powered magnifying glass is QUITE adequate on 9.5mm film; the FILM width is only slightly greater than 8mm... BUT the FRAME SIZE is VERY much greater, thanks to the fact that perforations are not taking up film width and there are the same number of frames per foot as 16 mm.
Fifth comment...... I didn't need to try it, common sense tells me that if you place a film between a light and a lens you can project it on a screen. You could use a projector or a 35 mm slide viewer or almost anything you choose, but ???????
I humbly apologise for my previous reply: in future I will not respond to your questions, but save my help for those who really need help. Forum space is valuable; save it for those that have questions and are really seeking advice.

[Scotness]

Let's keep this on a nice friendly keel shall we -- we all have one thing in common - the love of film, and we both have better things to do than to get into a pointless argument on the internet. But to show you I wasn't being stupid or provocative here's my reasoning/responses:

So, first comment.... It would have saved others time and trouble if you HAD tried it in the first place

I didn't want to incase there would be a problem -- the thing I was most worried about was whether or not I would be forcing the film in sideways against some kind of stabilising mask in the viewers gate -- and also how susceptible the stocks are to the heat (being almost 100 years old)

Second comment..... we didn't realise you only wanted to see a quarter of the frame at a time (after all, who would expect that?).

I'd estimate it to be more like two thirds from what I saw -- depending on how you slide the film around

Third comment....... we wanted to save you the risk of damaging your film (your question implied that you had no idea what you were doing).

Thanks that's nice - but I did say from the outset I was going to do it delicately -- even so the things that I was worried about in 1) still could have been a problem

Forth comment...... even a low powered magnifying glass is QUITE adequate on 9.5mm film;

No tried that - it wasn't good enough especially when trying to read the writing - but then maybe that's just my eyes LOL!

Fifth comment...... I didn't need to try it, common sense tells me that if you place a film between a light and a lens you can project it on a screen. You could use a projector or a 35 mm slide viewer or almost anything you choose, but ???????

Sure but for warned is forearmed - and the concerns I had in 1) are still valid. Perhaps I should have spelt them out in the first place - but I wasn't expecting this kind of reaction! LOL By the way you couldn't stick it front of anything anyway - the heat from alot of 35mm slide projectors would melt it, let alone getting the film in there

I humbly apologise for my previous reply: in future I will not respond to your questions, but save my help for those who really need help. Forum space is valuable; save it for those that have questions and are really seeking advice.

No need to be like that - I'm sure you have a lot to offer me or anyone else on this forum

Best,
Scot