Bolex cine auto projector

AUTO CINE

16mm and 9.5mm Projector

1928

  • OVERALL DIMENSIONS: Approximately 12in x 8in x 5in (30cm x 20cm x 12cm)
  • WEIGHT: Approximately 10 lbs (4.5 kg)
  • CONSTRUCTION: Black "crinkle" paint finish.
  • REEL CAPACITY: Reel arms accommodate 400 ft reels.
  • THREADING: Manual threading and loop forming of film; Interchangeable sprockets and guides allow projection of either 16mm or 9.5mm film.
  • POWER: 145 volt AC mains lead
  • LAMP: Osram Nitra 6V 20W with integrated mirror.
  • LENS: Hermagis Paris F 45mm
  • SPEED: 16 frames per second; Stop; Rewind
  • OTHER FEATURES: Adjustable base allows for the proper alignment of the projected image.
Bolex cine auto advertisement

Notes and Comments

This was the first projector designed by Jacques Bogopolsky after he formed the Bolex company. Unfortunately, I have little information on this model, apart from what I've been able to translate (poorly, via Babelfish) from French advertisements of the late 1920s.

Andrew Alden, in his book, A Bolex History, identifies two versions of the Auto Cine. The first, designed to project 16mm film; the second version, a dual guage projector with interchangeable sprockets for projecting both 9.5mm and 16mm film. [1]

Special thanks to Heinrich Kriesi, a collector from Switzerland, for providing much of the missing details and specifications of this projector.

1 Andrew Alden, A Bolex History (A2 Time Based Graphics, 1998), 7.