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Hi everyone, I'm brand new to this site and I don't even actually own a theater yet but I am looking into it. There is one for lease in town that I might take over. Its something i've always wanted to do so this is my chance.

Anyways, I have called the old owners of the theater and they were supposed to get back to me with a price today. For the seats, screen, projector . . . etc. Anyways, I thought I should ask you guys about the projector in there.

Its a "strong" Super Lume-X with 25,024.8 Hours on the meter. I will attach a picture I took of it.

I also have a lead on a nearly new

"Fuji Central"
Type F - V300 PTH
Ser. # 3055

For $10,000. It was installed in a private Home theater in the VERY rich part of town and he apparently used it 4 or 5 times and then packed it up. It comes with two 2,000 watt bulbs and 16mm accessories and the whole shebang.

I guess it will depend on what the current owners want for their equipment. But I'm wondering if I should just buy the Fuji and use it and keep the current projector as a backup? Any info would be great as I know pretty much nothing about film Projectors. I don't know what lenses are on either of them, I forgot to check the make while I was looking but they seemed like good lenses, no scratches or anything. Looked like a Zeiss maybe? I don't know if Zeiss makes projector lenses or not.

Anyways, like I said any help would be greatly appreciated

Hello, Benny.

First of all, what you're describing is only the lamphouse part of the system. Think of the projector like a component stereo system. There are several pieces that make up the entire system. They can all come from different manufacturers or the same one. The choice is usually either a personal preference of the company that installed it, or a budgetary one.

The Strong Super Lume-X is a very reliable lamphouse that still serves in many theatres. If the entire projection system isn't toast, I'd look seriously at bringing what's there up to speed. I've never heard of Fuji. Can you get parts or any kind of support for it? You can with the Strong gear.

For a lamphouse that old I'd take a look at the internal plastic parts. Years of exposure to the light will deteriorate some pieces. The condition of the reflector would also be a concern, though all of these items can be replaced, and may already have been.

Next time you're there, consider taking pictures of the rest of the projector and sound system. You might also consider having a nearby professional have a look before you commit to the project.

I know quite a bit about sound, albeit not theater sound. But I did look at the sound system. Seemed to be pretty good. I thought I took a picture of the audio rack but I just went to look and I guess I didn't. In fact now that I look i hardly took any pictures of the booth at all. I will attach the one other picture I took of the projector. I don't know the actual name of the part but I'm assuming its where the reels go (picture is sideways).

I also got a few better pictures of the FujiCentral set up I will attach.

I was told that when he bought it, it was worth over $100,000 so its supposed to be an amazing deal.

That is a very odd set-up. I have never heard of the Fuji Central machine before, but there is an Eiki 16mm projector in front of the 35mm machine which seems to use the light from the same lamphouse to light it up. This would seem to be inadvisable because of the loss of light in the 16mm unit. Must be a custom unit which brings up the whole question of service. The Eikis are no longer made and you may have trouble finding parts.

The set-up only requires one projector since the 35mm uses platters and the 16mm takes long-playing reels. $100,00 is a considerable exaggeration, but I can see it selling for $25,000 when new. Not including the screen, seats and sound system of course.

The platter system is also made by Strong. It looks like it's in good shape. If the rest of the booth is comparable, you might be OK with what's there. Filmgene covered the Fuji system well. Looks pretty clearly that it was a combination 35/16mm setup, though I've never seen one with a shared lamphouse. I also agree with his assessment of the projectors' usefulness. Parts are likely to be a real hassle for you, if you can get them at all. Current American made equipment is available nearly everywhere... even on Ebay, if you're qualified to evaluate it.

While the sound system might also be OK, you should definitely know what's there. There's a wide variety of systems and speaker configurations. There could be several variants of analog audio, in addition to possible digital playback gear.

Having a background in audio helps, but there are some major differences in theatre systems where your background might clash. If you're planning on doing your own work, study up on the equalization requirements of theatre sound systems. They're not the same as what you'd expect of a stage setup.

It isn't said where you are located
Fuji Central is a very common projector in Asia They copied a lot of the Zeiss Ikon Ernamann design
The mounting of a 16mm machine in front of a 35mm machine was also very common in many european machines like Ziess and Bauer and was actually a very efficient system when aligned properly
If you are located in North America Fuji is difficult to get parts for

That looks like an Eiki EX-6000 projector head (16mm) at the very front. They are kinda hard to get parts for, but not impossible.