Old Vintage Cameras: Kodak 16mm Projector

Sunday, September 22, 2013

Kodak 16mm Projector

This 1963 Kodak Av 126 TR Projector has 2 projections speeds, 16 fps for silent film, and 24 fps for sound film. The film transport, rewind and take up transport works. The film transport is clean, the case is a bit worn. Manual threading of film with a diagram on the machine showing the film path. There is a phono and microphone input, volume and tone controls, and a separate phono output. The external speaker is located in the front cover. This work horse of a projector weighs about 35 1/2 lbs and outer cabinet measures 16 x 12 1/2 x 11 1/2 inches approximately. We will provide a scanned digital 18 page service manual (in pdf format) after purchase. Several 16mm films were played through this projector, one including sound, the projector played all films and the sound worked.

This Kodak 16mm Projector is available here

Youtube Video of the Kodak Pageant in action:

What is a Camera Obscura?

The camera obscura (Latin; camera = vaulted chamber | obscura = dark, thus darkened chamber or room) is an optical device that projects an image of its surroundings on a screen. It is used in drawing and for entertainment, and was one of the inventions that led to photography. The device consists of a box or room with a hole in one side. Light from an external scene passes through the hole and strikes a surface inside where it is reproduced, upside-down, but with color and perspective preserved. The image can be projected onto paper, and can then be traced to produce a highly accurate representation. Using mirrors, as in the 18th century overhead version (illustrated in the History section below), it is possible to project a right-side-up image. Another more portable type is a box with an angled mirror projecting onto tracing paper placed on the glass top, the image being upright as viewed from the back. As a pinhole is made smaller, the image gets sharper, but the projected image becomes dimmer. With too small a pinhole the sharpness again becomes worse due to diffraction. Some practical camera obscuras use a lens rather than a pinhole because it allows a larger aperture, giving a usable brightness while maintaining focus.