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ELMO GS-800
https://8mmforumworldwide.com/viewtopic.php?f=21&t=464
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Author:  Christian Bjorgen [ Wed Dec 28, 2011 8:06 am ]
Post subject:  ELMO GS-800

The ELMO GS-800

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The GS800 is my current main projector, and I am quite happy with it. It has 800' reel capacity which suits my needs 99% of the time, although I sometimes wish they wouldve bumped it to 1200'.
Coming from a EUMIG and my other, smaller, ELMO (review coming later) it was still quite and improvement, especially as I finally got the ability to record in stereo. When doing this, it was also quite nice to have the variable speed adjustment to fix that one little fps that bent the recording out of shape.

However, all the luxury comes at a price. Although you don't have the same problems with scratching as you do with the big brother, the GS1200, the sound playback is somewhat humpty-dumpty. It will fall out at times, going all silent or dropping 50%+ in volume all of a sudden, but this is fixed by switching from magsound to silent with the buttons two-three times. Still annoying though, if you're in the middle of a show! It plays magnetic sound quite great though, if you ignore this fault, and comes with several audio outputs, both using jack, minijack or ext. speakers, to suit most needs.

So to sum up:

Pros:
+ Decent reel capacity (800')
+ Stereo playback and recording
+ Speed control
+ Large selection of output jacks for sound

Cons:
- Often troubles with sound playback.
- No optical sound as standard. Boo-hoo!

I would grade this projector at a B-. Give it optical as a standard and larger reel capacity and you'll see big improvements, but then again, then you'll have a GS-1200!
It is however the audio problems that really drag it down to the B, where it really should be on the A-list.

Author:  Dan Lail [ Wed Dec 28, 2011 9:19 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ELMO GS-800

Great review, Christian! Welcome to the forum. You are a most knowledgeable addition. [set5_b/set5_b/cheers2.gif]

Referring to the sound drop out problem. Surely that must be oxidation build up on the record switch. If you could access the inner workings of the switch and spray it with contact cleaner, it should be good for another 10 years or so.

Author:  Lee Mannering [ Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:25 am ]
Post subject:  Re: ELMO GS-800

Well done Christian and you beat me to a review of the GS800. YAY!
I’ve loved this model for many a year and always found the recordings to be absolutely excellent with a great range and depth to them when recorded on a good quality stripe. As with all things tape the sound will only be as good as the stripe recorded onto and this applies to all things magnetic as far as cine is concerned. Elmo did produce a magnetic and optical version of this machine as well by the way.

Author:  Christian Bjorgen [ Fri Dec 30, 2011 8:14 pm ]
Post subject:  Re: ELMO GS-800

Thanks Dan, great to be here! ;)

As for the sound, it's only playback, not recording, and according to the man who sold me the machine (a fellow forum member on the other two forums), this was a common problem with this model. I haven't had time to check for faults that could cause it yet, as I've been very busy lately!

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