Bell & Howell Projectors - Are They Any Good?

[S8 Booster]

Once upon a time in the mid 60´s I was appointed as the "projectonist" at my school for the 16mm educational films shown to our class.

There seemed to be B&Hs everywhere at the time but not many on this board seem to use them?

So I am wondering are/where they (8 and 16mms) any good?

Outta curiosity.

r

[livio]

I had a B&H super8 sound projector. I don't remember the model but it was a "duo" system (2 tracks but only one amplifier, you need to record 1 track at once, the output was mono). Think it was from about half eighties, quite modern so... A very small, light and good machine. After I bought a Bauer T600 I gave the B&H to a friends as a birthday present (now I almost lost tracks of this friend). I sometime miss the B&H: when I cross the city (by bicycle, as ever) with an heavy backpack on my shoulder, the Bauer inside (I guess 12 kg!) to project something somewhere...

[Raimo]

I bought a new Bell and Howell dual projector ( 8 and super 8 mm) in 1967 (no sound) model 466, assembled in Canada. This projector still works perfectly today. I have recently tuned it up for some home telecine transfers and I am amazed at how well this machine was made. It has a zoom f/1.6 15 to 25 mm lens. My only complaint with it was the fact that the DLH projector bulb had a life of only some 5 to 6 hours and cost $ 35 even back in 1967..which is very expensive for 5 hours or so of use
Fortunately for transfer work we have learned that a simple bulb will do the trick depending on transfer method , of course. :lol:
The shutter system is ingenious- at slow motion there are five shutter openings per revolution of the shutter wheel and this changes to three openings at high speed ( probably 18 fps or higher)when weights on the shutter blades open by centrifugal force. It has variable speed produced by friction. I attached an electronic speed control unit designed for varying the speed of a Foredom hand grinder and this works perfectly to adjust the projector speed. I have not yet used this projector for any transfer work as I don't have a video camera yet so cannot comment on how steady the image is on the film gate. As a projector it works just fine!

[studiocarter]

Many of those old school ones are in my basement and most work just fine after a good clean. I have at least 3 that play sound films with huge bright images; one records mag sound.

[David M. Leugers]

Bell and Howell projectors are one of those (I should say few) makers of equipment that stands the test of time. Every one I have dealt with are super sturdy and work. They are easy to maintain and repair if needed. The Filmo master versions in R-8mm are works of the machinist art. Find one in good shape and you can't go wrong. I have several B+H S-8m sound projectors and the auto threading is one of the best around and the sound amp is very robust producing excellent sound able to fill a large room. They can be some of the best values around. They are not as fancy or nifty looking as other models, but they work well.


David M. Leugers

[Agent88]

For whatever it's worth, I use these model projectors (my needs are simple; I only project, not transfer - only S8 and only forward). These are fairly easy to maintain - and the rubber wear items are still available. Projector Recorder Belt (now Russell Industries) makes the drive belt (p/n OC9.8) and the forward and reverse drive tires (p/n ST.843 & p/n STC1.14). Craig Camera sells a nice copy of the original service manual. What more could you want. These projectors are going on ebay for anywhere from $10 - $60 with the occasional $80-$100 over-bid. The manual points out a lot more in-depth adjustments than I thought were possible, e.g., adjusting focus on the outer edges of the projected picture with respect to central focus. It's actually a bit of fun to work on these.