Introduced in the 1920’s as a more affordable film format to the industry standard 35mm, 16mm film was popularised by home movie enthusiasts and widely used for educational purposes. Projectors like this Ditmar 16mm became a common piece of audio visual equipment in classrooms and libraries across the world. The popularity of 16mm projectors decreased in the 1980’s as home video technologies were seen as a more cost effective and compact solution to film.
This particular projector belonged to amateur filmmaker Kenneth Rankine, whose collection of home movies and film equipment were generously donated to ACMI by his granddaughter.
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Collection
In ACMI's collection
On display until
16 February 2031
ACMI: Gallery 1
Credits
Collection metadata
ACMI Identifier
E000178
Curatorial section
The Story of the Moving Image → Foyer → Entry → FSF-03. MPL exterior
Measurements
470 x 460 x 180mm (max.) 11.8kg
Object Types
3D Object
Projection equipment/Film and television equipment
Materials
-Ditmar 16mm projector no 2072 - Internal cloth bound board used as a platform to store inside box. - Grey cord w Aus plug and a black cord w Euro plug. - Detachable feed arm - Huile Oil Ol original cardboard box and glass oil bottle inside. The oil bottle still has 3 mm of oil at bottom which is fluid. The cork lid of the bottle also has a tiny metal straw protruding from it to gather the oil. - Singer (brand) oil pourer with a removable nozzle. Not from this set, but owner must have used it as one of many methods to oil the projector. - Tiny metal funnel for pouring oil into oil dropper. - One glass dropper with rubber end which is stored inside a cylindrical tube with lid. - One clear plastic dropper with remnants of oil inside top round squeezer. - Australian plug with nothing connected. - A small Euro plug which is backed on to wood and slots in the back of the machine. - An old paper rag - 2 spare belts in very delicate wax paper bags. One of rubber (hardened) and one finely coiled metal (which has a kink in it).