ALEX'S FUJICASCOPE SD AUTO: JAPANESE ELEGANCE AND TIMELESS RELIABILITY

Few machines manage to combine design and functionality with such grace as the Fujicascope SD Auto. Likely the most elegant Super 8 projector ever built in Japan, this compact unit is not only a pleasure to look at: it is a remarkably sophisticated tool for inspecting freshly developed reels (called "green films") . Behind its sleek façade lies a set of features that make it one of the best compact projectors ever made.

In 1985, not long after finishing university, I took advantage of a special offer from Fujifilm and purchased two units of the SD Auto. Back then, the idea of owning a Fumeo was a distant dream. My plan was to use both SD Autos in a dual-projector setup, like those still common in projection booths at the time, for screening Super 8 feature films.

But in 1987, my first Fumeo arrived, and the plan changed. Since then, unit no. 2 has served tirelessly to check newly developed footage. Unit no. 1, on the other hand, was stored in its original plastic cover and left untouched... until last week, when I gifted it to my friend Álex. When we removed the plastic cover , we discovered cover had slightly discolored the paint—a small scar of time. Yet, after a basic cleaning, the machine powered up flawlessly.

What makes the SD Auto so special?

It looks like something from a sci-fi film, but it handles Super-8 film with a tenderness that few other projectors can match—especially automatic ones.

1. Fully automatic threading: Just feed the film into the slot. The machine starts, threads, lights the lamp, projects—and switches itself off at the end.

2. Automatic rewind: When the reel ends, it rewinds the film by itself.

3. Multi-reel handling: A clever mechanism lets you gather up to six 50-foot reels onto a take-up spool after development for easy automated rewind.

4. Electronic loop former, gentle on your film.

5. Two sprocketed wheels, before and after the gate, offering superb film handling.

6. Dual magnetic sound playback (main and balance stripe)—and it even reads optical sound, a rare bonus in a compact projector.

7. Metal pressure plate for long-term durability.

8. Easy manual unthreading via a front door, with hinges, with full access to the claw and sprockets. 

9. Ultra-fast "pull down" claw mechanism allows use of a 40-degree shutter blade, maximizing light output. Even with a modest 100W lamp, it rivals 150W machines.

10. Touch-sensitive piano-style control keys and a 5-LED electronic VU meter—no rotary knobs here.

11. Sockets for day viewer or anamorphic lens bracket.

12. On my unit, I replaced the standard 15–25mm f/1.3 zoom with the rare Fujinon f/1.0 25mm prime, a legendary lens with stunning resolution and light transmission—superior even to the famed Kern f/1.1 23mm.

13. Superb finishing details, like the knurled screw for the lamp cover (no tools needed) or the black-painted face of the lens clamp to prevent internal reflections and preserve contrast.

14. Rock-solid reliability: in nearly four decades, my unit has only needed two replacement transistors. Álex’s unit? After forty years of slumber, every function worked immediately. 

    

    Alex´s unit 1, on the right

    
    

A historical note.

With the same Fujinon f/1.0 lens, the late Luis Cardarso (owner of Spain's LCM 16mm projector factory) once adapted several SD Autos with HTI250 lamps. Alongside my friend Enrique de las Heras from MóvilCine, I once saw one of these units in action at Luis’s factory before it was shipped to a film club in Zaragoza. The sheer brilliance and clarity of the image from such a small machine made me exclaim:
“Let there be light!”

Its only drawback? The magnetic head doesn’t retract during silent film playback, so if it’s not perfectly clean, it might leave faint marks on Max-8 prints, which use the main stripe area for image.

Álex, meanwhile, upgraded his unit with the Fujinon f/1.0 zoom 14–28mm, another top-tier choice.

Final thoughts.

The Fujicascope SD Auto may not enjoy the same fame as Elmo machines, but it deserves its own pedestal. As a second unit for viewing or review work, especially paired with an f/1.0 lens, it’s nearly unbeatable. Elegant, precise, care with film, durable—this was Japanese engineering at its finest, built to last and to serve.

Now, that same spirit continues in Álex’s hands. May he enjoy this projector as much as I have.

FUJICASCOPE OWNER´S MANUAL IN ENGLISH

FUJICASCOPE SD AUTO: OWNER´S MANUAL IN ENGLISH.

The Fujicascope SD Auto is probably the most elegant projector made in Japan (projector can be found also as Noris 512, without some features as optical sound). But in addition to its design, it has a number of very noteworthy features in a very compact size that make it the ideal projector at home: 

1) It´s fully automatic: you only need to insert the film  and, without pressing any button, the machine does everything: it starts up, threads the film, turns on the lamp, and when the projection is finished, it not only turns it off but also stops the projector.

2) Rewinding is fully automatic: the projector stops when film is again in the front reel.

3) It has an ingenious device that, when necessary, is placed on the rear reel, allowing up to six 15-meter (50-foot) reels to be spoiled after development, so that they are then automatically rewound.

4) Very useful automatic loop former with an electronic system, very gentle on the film;

5) Despite being automatic, it has two toothed wheels, so it is extremely smooth with the film projection;

6) Twin magnetical tracks and optical sound;

7) Steel gate.

8) The film can be unthreaded manually in 3 seconds (and film path is easily accessed because the front cover is easy to open, with hinges).

9) The pull down is extremely fast, allowing the use of a 40-degree shutter blade for maximum light output (other well-respected projectors have 60-degree blades); the Fujicascope SD Auto, with the inexpensive and readily available 100-watt lamp, provides as much light as other machines with 150-watt lamps.

10) The control keys are "piano" style electronic, with sensor, instead of the usual rotary knob: the very same piano keys used by Sony in the first Betamax vídeo recorder.  The VU meter is also electronic, with five LEDs.

11) It comes with sockets for a "day" viewfinder or for the attachment of the folding anamorphic mount.

12) My version is the ultra-rare "Special." Instead of bringing a commercial quality variable focal lens f 1.3, from 15 to 25 mm (the standard), it incorporates the very rare Fujinon f 1.0 with a fixed focal length of 25 mm, with a light output and resolution that is even better than the Kern f 1.1 23mm. This fabulous lens, a gem, is of the "flat field" type, capable of projecting sharp images from edge to edge of the tiny frame. The machine also accept the very good Fujinon f 1.0 14 28mm zoom lens.

13) Manufacture quality is very good. For example, the screw of the cover of the lamp has a knurled head and of large diameter that allows to manipulate it without a screwdriver. I love details like that the metal lens pad on the side that faces the lens, is painted black, to avoid reflections towards the lens that decrease the contrast; and

14) The reliability of this model is supreme. I have two units from 1985. One of them, with almost forty years of use, only needed to replace two very cheap transistors that regulated the speed with the Renzo device, as described in other articles of this blog. The other unit, I got from my showcase after more than a quarter of a century of being off, and all the functions were working straight away!

But first, some related articles published previously: AS TO INSTALL NEW BELTS  ; AS ADJUST THE SPEED AND REPAIR THE SPEED CONTROL

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FUJICASCOPE SD AUTO: REPARACIÓN DEL CIRCUITO DE REGULACIÓN DE VELOCIDAD DEL MOTOR.

¿Qué mejor manera de pasar la tarde de un domingo gallego, con el otoño ya avanzado, que en la mesa de operaciones, viendo como el amigo José Manuel disecciona, extirpa... y repara un Fujicascope SD Auto?

Tengo dos unidades de esta máquina compacta de Fujifilm, que me encanta pues es, en mi opinión,  el proyector mas elegante de entre los fabricados en Japón. Pero ademas de su diseño presenta una serie de características muy destacables, que lo convierten en el aparato idóneo para comprobar las películas tras su revelado, todo ello en un tamaño sorprendentemente compacto:

1) Es totalmente automático: sólo se necesita introducir la película en la hendidura de entrada y, sin pulsar ningún botón, la máquina lo hace todo: se pone en marcha, enhebra la película, enciende la lámpara, y al finalizar la proyección no solo la apaga sino también se detiene el proyector.

2) El rebobinado es totalmente automático: el proyector se para sólo cuando concluye la proyección.

3) Dispone de un ingenioso dispositivo que, cuando es necesario, se colocar en la bobina receptora, y permite ir recogiendo hasta seis rollos de 15 metros (50 pies) tras el revelado, de forma que luego su rebobinado sea automático.

4) Es el único proyector del mercado con formador de bucle automático por un sistema electrónico, muy cuidadoso con la película;

5) Pese a ser automático, tiene dos rodillos dentados (uno antes de la ventanilla y otro después del cabestrante), por lo que es extremadamente cuidadoso con las películas;

6) No sólo cuenta de sonido magnético con lectura en las dos pistas, sino que, además, puede leer también películas con sonido óptico;

7) El presor es metálico;

8) La película se puede desenhebrar manualmente en cuestión de segundos (se accede al crono con facilidad pues la tapa frontal es de fácil apertura, con bisagras).

9) El movimiento de arrastre de su garfio es extremadamente rápido, de forma que permite emplear un obturador con palas de 40 grados para un máximo aprovechamiento de la luz (otros proyectores, muy acreditados, tienen palas de 60 grados); el Fujicascope SD Auto, con la económica, y fácil de encontrar, lámpara de 100 W, proporciona tanta luz como otras máquinas con lámparas de 150 W.

10) Las teclas de gobierno son tipo "piano", electrónicas, con sensor, en lugar del habitual mando rotatario.

11) Viene provisto con tomas para visor tipo "día" o colocación del soporte anamórfico abatible.

y 12) admite dos objetivos opcionales de altísima calidad, el Fujinon f 1.0 de 25 mm y el zoom Fujinon f 1.0 de 14-28 mm

Su única pega: el cabezal magnético no se retrae en proyección de películas mudas.

El fallo que desarrolló la unidad uno de mis dos SD Auto es que, repentinamente, comenzó a funcionar a gran velocidad. ¿Cómo reparar una avería electrónica sin esquemas? El intelecto despierto de José Manuel, tras probar aquí y allá, usando la otra unidad como referencia,  encontró el fallo: unos transistores del circuito de regulación de velocidad del motor. ¡Cuatro horas de dedicación! Pero, como no nos gusta el fútbol... ¡hemos disfrutado!

WHICH SUPER-8 PROJECTORS TO BUY? Compacts with fast pull down. (part 2 of 10)

Super-8 cousins for the husband and for the wife!

COMPACT SUPER-8 PROJECTORS, with fast pull down. A common characteristic of the projectors mentioned in this chapter two is that their pull down movement is very fast, so they have shutters with blades of up to only 40 degrees, which allows an extraordinary light output. 

Could you imagine a projector where you only need to insert the film through the slot and it starts up automatically? This feature, first introduced by Fujifilm in 1980 with the Fujicascope SD Auto,  was imitated by a German company, Robert Bosch, who continued to trust the Super-8 when other multinationals had already thrown in the towel. It was in 1981 with its compact Bauer T450, a projector with exceptional sound quality, an LED digital frame counter, LED level meters and a programming system that allows sophisticated sound recording. 

German body with Italian heart

It reads both sound tracks and, in its BauerT 430 version, stereophonic sound. Although its original lens is of the highest quality, the Schneider Xenovar f 1.2 from 15.5 to 28 mm, as an option you can mount the famous Schneider Xenovaron f 1.1 from 11-30 mm, the non plus ultra of German lenses.

The famous Schneider 1.1 11-30 mm as optional extra

In the British technical press of those days, the absence of a feed toothed wheel was criticized, but in practice, the projector works well with up to 180 meters of film and this peculiar system, in exchange, allows you to search for sequences with fast rewinding through the projector.

The most beautiful projector ever designed?

Its female version is the Silma 90 Stereo, very similar in internal characteristics, but with a body of irresistible beauty due to the designer Giulia Doselli. Both the Bauer and Silma were built in the Turin factory of Robert Bosch. Giulia even designed the take-up reel to match the aesthetics of the Silma 90 Stereo!

Noris 512: a German who likes sushi!

Under the name of a well-loved brand in Germany, an even more automatic projector was introduced in 1984, the Noris 512, in which the lamp turns on and off by itself, has an automatic electronic loop reformer, and the motor is switched off not only at the end of the projection but even also after the rewinding. The original zoom of the Noris 512 is only so so quality, so, is much better to change it for other lens, as the Schneider (with an adaption) or the Fujinon 1.0 or 1.2 (whitout any adaption)

Fujicascope SDAuto: the best compact projector, even with optical sound!

The Noris 512 is the economic version of the Fujicascope SD Auto, a projector originally introduced in 1980 and which, in addition to everything from the Noris, has optical sound and an ingenious take up reel that allows viewing up to 6 reels of newly developed films one after another, without the need to rewind up individually.

Optional Fujinon 1.0 25 mm, first class lens

Optionally, the SD Auto was sold in some countries such  Spain with that dark object of desire that is the Fujinon f 1.0 25mm "flat field" lens that allows the maximum use of the 100W lamp combined with the fast pull down of the claw and shutter of only 40 degrees blades: with this configuration, this small projector provides more light on the screen, and whiter, than any other projector with the same lamp, with "needle sharpness" corner to corner.  

One of the best two 1,0 zoom lenses ever made

The original zoom, 1.3 15-25 mm is only average quality, but if a zoom is necessary, then, the election is the high quality 1.0 Fujinon 14-28 mm, as in the above photgraph.

A very important feature of this projector is that the lateral door is of  open-swing type, so, access to film path is very easy.

It is interesting to have one of these projectors, especially the Fujicascope SD Auto, to check recently processed films with great quality. The models described in this chapter are extremely careful with our beloved films and do not scratch them. As they take up little space, they are projectors that fit anywhere.

Special take up reel for the Fujicascope SD Auto

Digest of my article originally published in SilverGrain Classics

First part of 10, click here