16mm looper

Post by **StenViktor** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 9:27 pm

Does anyone know the name of a company that makes 16mm loopers (other than rober films) I have seen a smaller really neat design that i for some reason remember to be from Netherlands. Does anyone know what i am talking about, know of the possibly amsterdam based company or have any other good 16mm looper tips to provide?

Post by **Blue Audio Visual** » Wed Mar 19, 2008 10:13 pm

The good folk at no.where lab in London make and sell 16mm loopers, although they are still in the middle of moving premises so it might not be the best time for them. There is a video that they have posted on youtube explaining the principles of its operation.

Post by **Rick Palidwor** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 1:51 am

Blue Audio Visual wrote:The good folk at no.where lab in London make and sell 16mm loopers, although they are still in the middle of moving premises so it might not be the best time for them. There is a video that they have posted on youtube explaining the principles of its operation.

Are there super 8 versions of these devices? I do a lot of loops, with film suspended in the air where it picks up a lot of dust and so on, so would love to get my hands on one of those.
Rick

Post by **super8man** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 2:01 am

Oh yes, they were advertised in super 8 filmaker magazine back in the day...I think Eumig also had a kit or at least the looper was used with those rear-load late-model Eumig projectors - the 900 series as I recall...have never noticed loopers on ebay though...to small of an audience to even have a hope of anyone saving these things after all these years...

Post by **Blue Audio Visual** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:32 am

Rick Palidwor wrote:Are there super 8 versions of these devices? I do a lot of loops, with film suspended in the air where it picks up a lot of dust and so on, so would love to get my hands on one of those.

One of the reasons why they make them in 16mm only AFAIK is the relative ubiquity of ELF/EIKI 16mm over here - you pretty much only see them and B&H filmosounds. The B&Hs are plagued with rotting worm-gears, so are not a good choice to base a design on these days. The ELF/EIKI is a great starting point, particularly as the handle screws onto the body, so is easy to take off and mount the looper instead.

With Super 8 projectors on the other hand there are scores of different models out there, so it would be much harder to make a "one fits all" design. Anyone with competent metal machining skills could make a similar device for Super 8, but a one-off would not be cheap!

Post by **Blue Audio Visual** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 7:41 am

super8man wrote:...to small of an audience to even have a hope of anyone saving these things after all these years...

It's funny that you should say that Mike - I get asked about Super 8 loopers several times a month at a guess, mostly from artists wanting to do installations or people wanting to run them in small clubs. In my experience at least therefore the potential 'audience' can't be that small. If I could get hold of Super 8 loopers easily I would probably sell them hand over fist.

I don't know if you took a look at the video that I posted the link too. There is a pleasing similarity to the internal design of the 8-Track cartridge that you recently wrote about.

Post by **StenViktor** » Thu Mar 20, 2008 8:56 pm

Thank you for all your replies. Nowhere seems to be really competent. I am anyhow still interested in the netherland company making compact loopers with a plywood baseplate, and with a clamp mount that fits onto a Eiki handle. Does this sound familiar to anyone out there?

Post by **Hans van der Sloot** » Fri Mar 21, 2008 12:32 am

If I remember correctly it's Ruud Molleman from Amsterdam who makes those 16mm loop devices for Eiki slotloads.
I have his adress and phone no. but you can also contact Jean Pierre Sens from Supersens (http://www.supersens.nl).
He knows Ruud very well.

I also happen to have a super-8 continous loop projection device from Elmo (EF-50).

Post by **super8man** » Sat Mar 22, 2008 4:08 am

I watched the link - I merely meant that the lopper devices in their day were probably low volume affairs from assorted manufacturers. Therefore, with the passage of time most would have been tossed in the trash heap since they would not have an obvious value to anybody looking through "granddad's junk."

In my travels, I have only seen them in the magazines back in the day...and your movie clip reference.

Cheers,
Mike