leicapages Posted July 6, 2006 Share #1 Posted July 6, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Anyone using the Pradovit RT-s slide projectors? Are they recommendable? I especially like the fact that they use round trays with a cover, so that the slides are dust-free. How does the Projector compare to the P-2002? But both the projector and the round trays are not cheap (1600 euro and 25 euro respectively). Are the round trays proprietary (Leica only) or are there generic round trays available (an issue as Leica no longer makes these projectors). All views welcomed! Thanks. Pascal http://www.leicapages.com Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Advertisement Posted July 6, 2006 Posted July 6, 2006 Hi leicapages, Take a look here Pradovit RT-s advice sought. I'm sure you'll find what you were looking for!
robsteve Posted July 6, 2006 Share #2 Posted July 6, 2006 Pascal: The RT-s is a rebranded Kodak Ekta-Pro 7000/9000 or equivalent, with a couple tweaks for Leica, such as better condensors and mirrors in the lamp housing. These Ekta-Pro and Prodovit RT-s are made in Germany at Kodak's plant. The Pradovit RT-s will use standard Kodak trays. The Leica projector is shipped with the Ekta-Pro trays, which are the Kodak trays with the plastic cover. I think these projectors were originally used for commercial applications such as in planetariums and museums. I have a pair of the Ekta-Pro 9000 projectors and they are very bright and work well. They are also very heavy and unlike the standard Kodak carousel which can be repaired at most camera shops, it must go to a Kodak facility. When I bought mine, I had them serviced by Kodak and I think the flat rate was $175. About five years ago, I wrote a database program to judge an international slide competition using a database program to store the score and control the projector. All the operator had to do was input the tray number and the database would store the score and advance the projector to the next slide. If a judge wanted to see a series in a tray, the computer operator just need to highlight the slide in the database and the projector would advance to the right slot in the tray. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
gberger Posted July 7, 2006 Share #3 Posted July 7, 2006 IMHO, the RT projectors are made for commercial and high volume uses. I have one, and it usually sits gathering dust. The 2002 projectors, with the 50-slide straight through slide trays and a 90mm 2.5 SuperColorplan lens are better suited for home use. And, if you shoot and archive chromes, the slide trays used for the 2002 will store more chromes than the carousels. For shows and commercial - -the RT. For home - - the 2002. George (The Old Fud) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicapages Posted July 7, 2006 Author Share #4 Posted July 7, 2006 Thanks to Rob and George for their words of advice. It is good to see that the trays are identical to those of Kodak. At least, that takes away a potential problem of compatibility in case the Leica trays were no longer made. By the way, is Kodak still producing their Carousel projectors or have they also stopped as Leica did with its slide projectors? Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
twom4 Posted July 7, 2006 Share #5 Posted July 7, 2006 Hi Pascal, I use the Pradovit RTs for a few years now. It is a great projector. Solidly built and heavy. I am using it with wide angle lens to achieve big projection at short distance at the family room. The kids love the big pictures. You can get it much cheaper from eBay. A lot of people are selling it as they found little use for it. Get it without hesitation. As already stated above, it is a rebranded Kodak projector with some Leica tweaks. So you can still get parts for it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_f Posted July 20, 2006 Share #6 Posted July 20, 2006 Pascal, I have been using a Leitz Pradolux RT 300 with a Leica Super-Colorplan-P 90mm for about 20 years. The RT 300 was the first Leitz projector designed for Kodak round trays. I should mention that here in North America, more than 90% of slide projector users have traditionally used round trays (which until recently were plentiful and relatively cheap). Kodak USA has indeed stopped making and selling slide projectors (and slide trays!). As for Leica, the projector divisision (which they bought from Zett Corp) was sold about a year ago (I would tell you to look at past press releases but they're no longer available in the new web site ...) to a company in Germany, which promised Leica to continue making the traditional Pradovit projectors (P300, P600, etc..) with the straight trays. I believe the new company was called leica-projektion.com and later changed its name to Zett Optics - Lichttechnik, Feinwerktechnik, Kunststofftechnik: Leistungen_. There was a thread on this in the old Leica forum. A word of caution about choosing the P2002 over the RT. I may be wrong but I believe they do not use the same series of lenses and that the latest and more advanced "PRO" lenses may only be used on the RT (e.g. the 90mm Super-Colorplan-PRO, the 150mm Elmarit-PRO, etc..). The older "P2" series lenses were designed for the "P" series projector (P2000/2002, P300, P600, etc..). BTW, when buying a Leica projector lens, make sure to specify to the salesperson whether you are using glass or glassless slides. Hope all this helps. Good luck, John F Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicapages Posted July 20, 2006 Author Share #7 Posted July 20, 2006 Advertisement (gone after registration) Thanks John. I already have a Pradovit P2002 with Super Colorplan 90/2.5. I was wondering whether adding the RT-s would be sensible, given that is also running out of production and may no longer be available in a while. It is also the issue of using round trays vs. straight trays. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
john_f Posted July 20, 2006 Share #8 Posted July 20, 2006 Pascal, Yes, it is true that there is the risk that German Kodak GmbH might stop making their line of Ektapro slide projectors (for more info, click on KODAK GMBH: Projektoren - KODAK EKTAPRO ). The switch from straight trays to round trays is also is a major step. One of my Leica using friend made that decision some 20 years ago. He got rid of all his old slide trays and had to buy new ones (not to mention re-labelling all his trays, etc..). I was quite a job. He eventually ended up donating his entire collection to a local university. Personally, I see three advantages to the RT projector. The first is that it gives you access to the most recent and advanced A/V equipment and software (best choice for shows and presentations as George wrote). The second is that you get the very best "pro" level slide projector ever made by Kodak (the P2000 series were designed and made by Kindermann - another highly acclaimed specialist of slide projectors). But the real advantage to me is that you get to use the Leica "PRO" lenses - the very best slide projection lenses ever made by Leica. For example, in its 2000 general catalogue, Leica mentions that some of the glass types used in its 150mm Elmarit-PRO are the same as in its 180mm APO-Summicron-R. High praise indeed. About Leica Projektion/Zett: With the help of the "WayBackMachine" utility ("la machine à remonter dans le temps" - http://www.archive.org), I found the June 2004 press release from the old Leica Camera website regarding the sale of Leica Projektion GmbH Zett Geräte to Allegra Capital GmbH of Munich: "Leica Camera AG sells Brunswick subsidiary Leica Projektion GmbH Zett Geräte Leica Camera AG, Solms, sells its subsidiary Leica Projektion GmbH Zett Geräte, Brunswick, Germany, effective July 1, 2004 to the German participation company Allegra Capital GmbH, Munich. It was agreed to maintain silence on the purchase price. Leica Camera AG will continue to focus on its core business within the frame set by the catalogue of restructuring measures it announced in February 2004. In fiscal year 2002/2003 (FY end March 31), Leica Projektion GmbH Zett Geräte recorded sales of Euro 10.0 million. The company has 74 employees. By far the largest portion of sales is related to assembly groups and comprehensive solutions in light, precision and plastics engineering manufactured according to customers’ orders to fit applications in, e.g., medical science and microscopy. The technologies used therein, especially cold light sources and LEDs, do not belong to the core competencies of the Leica Camera Group. A small portion of sales is accounted for by the manufacture of Leica slide projectors. The Brunswick company will continue to supply Leica Camera AG with these. The sale of the plant will have no effect on the product policy pursued for Leica slide projectors. Leica Projektion GmbH Zett Geräte, Brunswick, has been part of the Leica Camera Group since 1990. It has been founded in 1928 as a slide projector manufacturing plant for the Zett brand." And the Zett brand came from the old Zeiss Ikon Perkeo brand ... Cheers, John F. P.S. If there is anything that you are missing from the old website (press releases, PDF files, et..), the odds are archive.org might help you find it. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
leicapages Posted July 20, 2006 Author Share #9 Posted July 20, 2006 Thanks for this extensive information, John. I believe a major advantage of round trays is that the trays are covered, meaning: no dust. This is the major problems with straight trays. Downside: cost of the trays... (25 euro a piece) Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rick_dykstra Posted July 21, 2006 Share #10 Posted July 21, 2006 Here's another vote for the RT series projectors. I have the Rt-m and would recommend it in case you ever want to use the advanced features it offers. Like Rob I have written a program that can control the projector from a laptop. The Kodak site has the 8 bit codes that can be written into a program, to control everthing from fading times, projector light brightness, slide no, projection time, etc. Most of these features can also be controlled from a Kodak or Leica remote control, using the three digit codes from the instruction manual. RT-m projectors can be found for around $1000 US on eBay. RT-s for somewhat less. An excellent projection system, to make the most of 35mm photography. Regards, Rick. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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