Contact printers

Introduction on the (continuous) contact printers at Filmwerkplaats

We have 3 Bell & Howell contact printers

B&H model C

In Big Room 2 we have our model C with variable gate. This particular printer is originally designed to make direct reversal prints from positive film. Filmwerkplaats bought this printer around 2003-4 through internet. It comes from a small company in Boston USA that made copies of instruction and promotion films on cars and fishing. When they went to all VHS video, the printer became redundant. The Filmwerkplaats bought this printer than for 3000 dollars and payed 1000 for crating the printer and shipment by container ship and delivering it at our place at the Achterhaven, Rotterdam. It came with the original paper tape controller and puncher + the technical manual.

B&H model C

B&H model C professional

Small room B shelters our B&H model C professional. This printer comes from an auction place in Atlanta, Georgia USA. Its unknown what lab it originally comes from and it had a little risk to buy this one as it wasn't know if it was in working condition or complete. With the 'professional' model sound and image can be printed in one run through separated tracks. Meaning that an image negative and optical sound negative have their own run through at once while printing to a positive print. This model doesn't has a variable gate.

B&H professional

B&H model J

This is an earlier model B&H contact printer, originally from 1953, located in small room C. It is designed for B&W printing only. It has a variable gate for composite (full), image only and sound only. It has a manual cue reader with 21 steps. Unfortunately the original lamp housing is missing the reflector mirror, so the light is not aimed to the gate. This means that the 21 steps do not in- or decrease according to an arithmetic scale. From 21-15 there is actually no light change anymore.