What’s All This “Sprocketless Projector” Stuff, Anyhow?

There are 8mm home movie film conversion and transfer service providers that use sprocketless movie projectors and claim superior performance. Reports we have seen are that they are inconsistant and problematic.  They can sometimes cause the movie film to “vibrate” or “jitter” or “blur.” While the concept of this modified projector is great, the actual performance can vary widely due to the huge range of age, condition and types of film used.  Oldest 8mm silent black & white film (1936+) being the most difficult to project due to “shrinkage” and stiffness of the very dry and brittle film.