Specto, Ensign Siemens and Ditmar
One of the recurrent themes of the 50's, 60's and 70's was the so-called "Gauge Wars". With 8mm, 9.5mm and 16mm all contending for the amateur and slightly beyond market, much was made of the comparative picture area and other features. Each gauge was insisting it was the best, (does this remind you of the current nonsense over digital v. film?), whereas the more sensible among us took as much of everything as they could get. One of the side effects was the proliferation of multi-gauge machines, so that it seemed most manufacturers had one or more machines of this type.
Specto
There is a picture of a 9.5/16 Specto in the Picture Gallery; here is an 8/16 model. Single-gauge 8, 9.5 and 16 machines were also made. Today, only the 9.5 and 9/16 machines seem to be in any demand; 8 and 16 machines, often in fine condition, are more or less given away. One day I must see if it is possible to transplant the 9.5 bits from a knackered machine to a pristine 8mm one. (Colin Loffler says he has done it He was right - I have it now). In the 9.5 section, under Silent to Sound, are details of Specto sound units.
Ensign
The
Ensign was made in single, double and triple-gauge versions. These shots are of
16mm machines. They're very solidly-built and seem well engineered, but I have
no real experience of using them.
Siemens
These two shots are of a 16mm Siemens. It has the beater-type mechanism, which naturally lends itself to dual 9.5/16 operation - no need for complicated claw arrangements. More info in the 16mm silent section. (For the benefit of newer nerds, a beater mech basically has a shaped pusher, which hits the lower loop and thereby pulls the film down in the gate. It never really caught on outside the toy arena, tho' the Siemens ones are reputed to work well - see the following review from Movie Maker).
More conventi
onal
machines with a claw were also produced, at least in single-gauge models. Right
is a 9.5/16 beater, left an 8mm claw. Although it is missing in the opened-up
machine, top right, the Siemens used an interchangeable resistance to match
the power supply to the lamp voltage and wattage, a practice continued in their
later sound projectors (16mm only).
Ditmar
Ditmar produced a unique version of the dual-gauge machine. It
had twin paths
for the film alongside each other, with a lamp and a lens that
moved across to serve whichever gauge was in use. The picture left (Bob Andrews
collection) is most unusual in being in some snake-skin-like finish; most were
black like mine, right (also, but ex, Bob Andrews). 9.5/16 and 8/16 versions were produced. Here are shots from the
instructions (Bob again).
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