[martin42mm]

I had a friend bring me his 8mm cine projector to repair today. Usual problems, mains cable missing, drive belt gone, lens needs a clean etc.But what really caught my eye was the name on it-a Pentax P80-1. I then had a look at the lens, and saw it was fitted with a Carl Zeiss Jena Prokinar lens. So I looked back at the name label and realised next to the Pentax P80-1 marking was the Pentacon Ernemann Tower logo!
I did a bit of research on line, but there is very little information whatsoever, other than there was a P80 model before this with a slightly different reel fitting arrangement.

So I scratched my head, and I think the answer is Pentacon's playing fast and loose with the Zeiss name portfolio. As you will know when WWII ended, there was a legal wrangle between the East and West sections of the former Dresden-based Zeiss company. Zeiss East lost, and were forbidden from using the Zeiss names forthwith. That didn't stop Zeiss East, or Jena, releasing the Contax S a couple of years later, but after more wrangling, they dropped the Contax name, and replaced it with Pentacon. This didn't stop them initially continuing to use the Zeiss lens names, of course, but eventually this also ceased, Zeiss Jena contenting themselves with using-for example- an 'S' instead of Sonnar, and 'B' instead of Biotar. This Pentax name is yet another example of them ignoring the court orders, since until the mid 1950s Zeiss West owned the rights to the Pentax name, and only sold it to Asahi when they needed a new name following the replacement of the Asahiflex cameras with new SLRs using pentaprisms. That clearly didn't worry Pentacon, and hence the use of Pentax on this projector, years after the name had been acquired by Asahi. I'm not sure when the projector dates from exactly, but I have seen the instruction leaflet and that is dated 1964, so it was clearly still in production then, some 9 years after the first Pentax was brought to the market.

So I think we can conclude that this bears absolutely no link to 'our' Pentax whatsoever, but is a curio nevertheless. I've attached a few photos of the projector.
Anyone using one of these?

Attached Images

     

[.a.t.]

. . . but is a curio nevertheless.

Yes! Thanks for sharing this.
I often forget that "our" Pentax wasn't the first.

[martin42mm]

Yes! Thanks for sharing this.
I often forget that "our" Pentax wasn't the first.

Thanks-makes you wonder what our cameras would be called if Zeiss hadn't relinquished the name.

[ProfessorBuzz]

It's not unusual for people to have swapped the original lens on the good old projectors, in order to better suit their venue and position of projection screen. So don't assume that's original equipment.

[martin42mm]

It's not unusual for people to have swapped the original lens on the good old projectors, in order to better suit their venue and position of projection screen. So don't assume that's original equipment.

Hi.
It's 100% original. Every single example on ebay, and there are currently five, have the same lens, the instruction booklet I referred to in my original post also shows the same lens, as does a contemporary advert on line, and the single reference I could find for it on line regarding the specifications. I'm not sure you would find a lens to replace this Zeiss one either simply because the diameter is very small, and when you remove the lens, it looks like a miniature slide projector lens with the same spiral focusing groove in the barrel.
Because the projector I have for sorting out required a mains plug, and the original was missing, I've actually bought the earlier model , the P80, complete with cable ,on ebay. Cheaper than sourcing just the plug, and the rest might be needed for spares in due course. That also has the same Zeiss lens...

[martin42mm]

Hi.
It's 100% original. Every single example on ebay, and there are currently five, have the same lens, the instruction booklet I referred to in my original post also shows the same lens, as does a contemporary advert on line, and the single reference I could find for it on line regarding the specifications. I'm not sure you would find a lens to replace this Zeiss one either simply because the diameter is very small, and when you remove the lens, it looks like a miniature slide projector lens with the same spiral focusing groove in the barrel.
Because the projector I have for sorting out required a mains plug, and the original was missing, I've actually bought the earlier model , the P80, complete with cable ,on ebay. Cheaper than sourcing just the plug, and the rest might be needed for spares in due course. That also has the same Zeiss lens...

You may be interested to see this specification section from the P80-1 instructions manual.