---> There have been pro and con regarding the use of tape stripe and paste stripe. The problem with paste stripe is/was that it generally has a high spot, and the long time recommendation was to first run the film thru the projector to 'wear' down the high spot before recording on the sound stripe. This was since later, when the high ridge does wear down and flatten out, some of the frequency response will be lost due to the loss of oxide material.

--> The only fear of head wear was on projectors that had soft heads,(pre-ferrite head models). If a given projector only played paste stripe films, and the films weren't kept sufficiently clean and lubricated.....eventually a wear pattern would occur in the heads, just as wear of any tape recording heads does occur in time.

--> Paste stripe is considered superior in the respect that is adheres better to the filmbase. Kodak and Fuji use/used paste stripe in the manufacture of their sound film stocks in the 8mm gauges. Of course, their stripe is applied with highly precision equipment, and the stripe is also 'flattened' out prematurely via rollers before the films were cut and spooled for cartridging by their machines.

--> Tape stripe, for the most part, offers higher fidelity due to the higher quality of manufacturing that is possible over the oxide mixture of paste stripe. In practice, this isn't always observed......but those using high end Super 8mm equipment may notice varying 'hiss' and saturation levels between the two. Also, the fine quality "package films" produced from companies such as Derann Films in England, utilize paste stripe sound tracks on their Super 8mm prints.

--> So much of this now is becoming academic, since Agfa have long ago ceased production of their famous F5 Sound Stripe tape, and no company is making stripe tape. As supplies continue to dry up, we may face a complete loss of tape stripe in the not too distant future. It would cost dearly to have a manufacturer make tape stripe on an acetate base as is required for cementing to acetate based movie films. The battle isn't over yet.....but we may end up having to use paste stripe services only before long. With proper care of the films and equipment, and keeping things clean and lubricated, including sound heads and film path rollers etc......wear of the sound heads can be minimized in 8mm projection equipment.

--> A final note: Always keep a spare projector and or parts to repair your favorite projector.....so that not being able to play sound films doesn't become an option. Certainly one that I don't want to ever face.

Best wishes,
Martin
See Martin's WWW site at: Plattsburgh Photographic Services

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