The Sub Club

THE CREATIVE CORNER

Special submini projectors, like the Minox HP-24 Autofocus projector, are scarce and hard to find in near mint condition. Also, they are relatively expensive, and frequently have many years of use. But they may not be the only solution, nor the best solution, for showing tiny-size transparency film. Many submini slide formats, such as Minox, 110 and 16mm, were originally designed to be used in special cardboard mounts and slide projectors. For example, Minox slides are usually placed in 3x3cm slide frames and that requires using a Minox projector. However 35mm standard 2x2 inch slide frames are also available which accommodate Minox film. I have a modest stock of both sizes of slide frames and 3x3cm Minox slide trays. So I have been thinking about purchasing a new 35mm slide projector (retiring my old crappy 35mm slide projector) and purchase an additional lens for projecting Minox transparencies in a 2x2 inch frame. This way I would have a super-nice, new projector for 35mm slides and, with a special lens, can also be used for viewing Minox images in 2x2 slide mounts.

There are other alternatives, as well. An easy way to use a standard 35mm projector with subminiature slides is to simply buy a +1 or +2 closeup lens and affix it to the standard lens. This may not work with all projector lenses, but with a little experimentation, might fit the bill. Get a closeup lens that is the same diameter as the projector lens and affix it to the front or rear of the lens with tape or any other way you can devise. The result is a bit more enlargement of the projected image, since the close-up lens actually shortens the foacl length of the projector lens. The more powerful the close-up lens (you can stack them up if you need to), the bigger the image. I used to do this with my 110 slides, way back when I still loved to shoot slide film. But remember that there are good and bad quality close-up lenses out there. The cheap ones have one element, while the more expensive ones are heavier and have two elements. With a better-orrected lens, you'll get better images on the screen and less fuzziness on the edges.

Another alternative is to swap out the old 90mm or 100mm projector lens for something a lot shorter. I've seen lenses made for Kodak projectors all the way down to 25mm. These tend to be pricey, but might solve your problem if you need high quality images, and if you can find a lens that fits your particular projector. Sometimes they can be found inexpensively when used.

It's also possible to take a stadard projector lens, carefully remove the lens elements from the frame (find a broken one a a swapmeet), and insert an inexpensive, but shorter focal length lens, such as a cheap 50mm enlarger lens. I've seen cheap 50mm enlarging lenses for sale, new, for under $5. These are perfect for this task and give surprisingly good images. By putting the enlarger lens inside the projector lens frame, you'll allow the enlarger lens to be focused. You'll need to make sure that the enlarger lens is narrower than the projector lens frame, then align the lens carefully, and fill in the spaces with black felt, black silicone or some other opaque material. Make sure you open the lens all the way before you glue it in place -- you won't be removing it.

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