Probably there's a few of you around who took a lot of 35mm slides when you were younger, like me. I have probably thousands and I have my father's as well so it covers my family going back 60 years.
A year or so again there was a big deal about the last roll of Kodachrome being processed... oh, I knew Kodachrome well.
Anyway, I haven't viewed my slides in a while. the big problem was that both my Carousel and my Dad's carousel projectors have failed, the advance mechanism going bad. THis is a common problem for older carousel projectors because of a plastic link in the advance mechanism, it rots after 20+ years.
I once got a kit to fix it and I started in on the unit and it was horribly complex i put it off and have since lost the kit somewhere in the house. The kit was cheap but I've since read you have to set aside a day and have the patience of a god to do it as well as put ups with some bodily damage.
I recently got a yen to look at slides again and looked into used carousel projectors.
I knew that there was a parts problem and didn't know how to trust a used projector knowing that it could soon fail with the same problems.
Turns out that they fixed the materials problem with models released after about 1981. THis includes the Carousel 4000 series and 5000 series and Ektagraphic III models which are all good to go if you buy one.
Older models Carousel 5xx, 6xx 7xx and 8xx and earlier Ektagraphic models were subject to failure unless rebuilt. There's lots of these for sale and some sellers admit they won't advance, but the others all say the unit is untested as is, or they claim they turned it on and it worked (probably means the light and fan came on).
The Ektagraphic models were sold for professional heavy duty use and the Carousels for home use.
I was able to buy a used Ektagraphic III for $45 including shipping and a hard case with a synchronizing cassette unit. Autofocus, zoom lens, remote, manuals, etc.
Tonite I looked at some 20-year old slides... what fun. My old stack loader fits, so later I'll look at ones that aren't in trays but in slide boxes.
Except for that plastic link the Kodak projectors are largely very functional, well built and last forever. Models in the 1970s cost a few hundred dollars and the unit I got was around $800 in the 90's. I since ordered a couple of spare bulbs and a $10 zoom lens that will let me stack it over my video projector to view on my 70" side screen. (I'll have to build the stacking unit as a woodshop project, maybe with some fan sound baffling for both units...)
Just passing along the results of my research if any of you are interested.
A year or so again there was a big deal about the last roll of Kodachrome being processed... oh, I knew Kodachrome well.
Anyway, I haven't viewed my slides in a while. the big problem was that both my Carousel and my Dad's carousel projectors have failed, the advance mechanism going bad. THis is a common problem for older carousel projectors because of a plastic link in the advance mechanism, it rots after 20+ years.
I once got a kit to fix it and I started in on the unit and it was horribly complex i put it off and have since lost the kit somewhere in the house. The kit was cheap but I've since read you have to set aside a day and have the patience of a god to do it as well as put ups with some bodily damage.
I recently got a yen to look at slides again and looked into used carousel projectors.
I knew that there was a parts problem and didn't know how to trust a used projector knowing that it could soon fail with the same problems.
Turns out that they fixed the materials problem with models released after about 1981. THis includes the Carousel 4000 series and 5000 series and Ektagraphic III models which are all good to go if you buy one.
Older models Carousel 5xx, 6xx 7xx and 8xx and earlier Ektagraphic models were subject to failure unless rebuilt. There's lots of these for sale and some sellers admit they won't advance, but the others all say the unit is untested as is, or they claim they turned it on and it worked (probably means the light and fan came on).
The Ektagraphic models were sold for professional heavy duty use and the Carousels for home use.
I was able to buy a used Ektagraphic III for $45 including shipping and a hard case with a synchronizing cassette unit. Autofocus, zoom lens, remote, manuals, etc.
Tonite I looked at some 20-year old slides... what fun. My old stack loader fits, so later I'll look at ones that aren't in trays but in slide boxes.
Except for that plastic link the Kodak projectors are largely very functional, well built and last forever. Models in the 1970s cost a few hundred dollars and the unit I got was around $800 in the 90's. I since ordered a couple of spare bulbs and a $10 zoom lens that will let me stack it over my video projector to view on my 70" side screen. (I'll have to build the stacking unit as a woodshop project, maybe with some fan sound baffling for both units...)
Just passing along the results of my research if any of you are interested.
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