Beaulieu 708EL or Elmo GS-1200

Post by **LastQuark** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 4:15 am

Why should I choose one or the other?

I just bought a Beaulieu 708EL Duoplay in a rush and I just want to know if there is anything I should regret about.

Post by **Ericus** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 9:38 am

I have both above mentioned projectors and I like them both. Only regret is that my Beaulieu is only a duoplay, not a real stereo model, as is Elmo. But I have so few stereo films that it does not really matter. I use then my Elmo for those films.
I do not know any reason why you would not be happy with your Beaulieu 708.

Post by **Ugo** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 8:36 pm

Reason to be regret about the 708

1) The elmo gs1200 is able to mount the WONDERFUL ELMO 1.0 lens. After this lens the screen will be the same no more! A perfect focus from edge to edge, and the sharpness is...incredible!
2) The audio quality of the GS: like an Hi Fi (better the 708)
Problems of the GS: some light works on the machine to avoide it scraches the film.
bye

pelluet · Post by **pelluet** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 10:00 pm

Another benefit of the GS 1200 is its sound sinc capabilities, great for double system sound shooting using pulse sinc and post stripe.

Mike.

Post by **Ugo** » Tue Dec 09, 2003 11:22 pm

Right Pelluet!
from
http://www.ffr-film.de
or
http://www.wittner-kinotechnik.de
you'll find a little (but very little) box to make a sync-connection between the elmo Gs and a Cd player.

Post by **tod8** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 1:24 am

I had a 708EL once (had to sell it cause I needed money). It ran beautifully, and , if I'm not mistaken, the unique lens set up makes it so that the image is sharper then any other projector (something about the light not getting defracted, sort of like the Beaulieu cameras).
I think it would be no problem to keep it if I were you, unless you want the sound sync deal

Tod

Post by **LastQuark** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 9:42 am

Yes, Tod. I'm for better picture quality and sharpness. Just found out the big difference between the two is the 708EL has the pressure plate at the lamp side instead of on the lens side as the GS-1200.

Theoretically, the lamp side design is good (according to Beaulieu of course) but has anyone seen a difference in reality - side to side comparison with GS- 1200? Ericus, what's your experience?

Someone here posted making a direct copy to video using a macro lens without a condenser lens. That will be awesome if the quality is really that good.

Can I use a lower wattage lamp - say 40 watts diffused? Or should I just place a white plexiglass to diffuse and reduce the amount of light?

Looks like the GS has excellent sound. Too bad, I'll miss that.

Post by **Ugo** » Wed Dec 10, 2003 3:24 pm

Yes, the lamp side design is good, but theorically only. I have the original SMPTE test film. One of my friends has two Beaulieu 708. We made a lot of test
708 vs Elmo gs with 1.0 lens.
the sharpness of the elmo from center to the edges was perfect, better than the 708. Theorically the 708 has a vantage when in the same film there parts of different thickness: Beaulieu factory says it doesn't loose the focus on the screen. Well, this is not thrue. We made a test with one of our film. The film was made assembling cartridges from different stock. So the thickness was not regular. Using the Beaulieu, the focus on the screen changed like projecting by the GS1200.
The 1.0 lens is very rare, but there is a big gap betwenn this lens and the others objectives (Schneider, Switar etc.)
bye