My name is Marcel van der Kraan. I live in the Netherlands en I was born in 1957, in the heyday of the standard 8mm film projectors.
But I will not bother you with details about myself. I just want to describe how I got interested in 8mm projectors.

After a visit to a museum in the summer of 2018, I developed a passion for 8mm films, cameras and projectors. At the museum I was enthralled by a Kodak camera. I loved its vintage look. It took me a while before I found a similar one: a Kodak Eight model 20 hand cranked camera from the early 1930s. I bought it for next to nothing.
This camera aroused my curiosity for projectors from the same period. I found and bought a Kodascope Eight model 45 projector but ruined it because I I ran it on 220V. I didn’t know it was a 120V projector. Later I found out that you can run it using a transformer or variac but then it was too late.
Browsing on online marketplaces I found beautifully designed American projectors like Bell & Howell, Keystone and Revere but they also ran on 120V. Only much later I found out that the British made Bell & Howell 606 ran on 220v.
In my extensive search for a 220V vintage projector I came across an Italian made Cirse Nilus. It looked similar to the aforementioned Bell & Howell, Keystone and Revere projectors. The only noticable difference was it’s color: cream white which I liked even better than the dark, craquelé finish of the American projectors.
Actually the Cirse projectors from this model range run on 110v but they can be connected to a 220v net because of their built-in transformer.
I found out that Cirse made similar models to the Nilus. On Marktplaats, a Dutch online marketplace I bought a Cirse Oregon. It wasn’t in pristine condition but it came with it’s original case and a manual. Unfortunately the cable was missing like with so many vintage projectors. I thought it would be easy to find a (new) replacement cable but it turned out to be a real quest. Buying another Cirse projector with a cable turned out to be the easiest solution. At least, that is what I thought. Again through Marktplaats I found a Nilus stored in an old barn, covered in saw dust. The paint was scratched, and some parts where rusty but it came with a cable. My plan was to use the Nilus cable for the Oregon but surprise, surprise the Nilus had a 2 pin socket whereas the Oregon had a 3 pin socket. The female cable connector from the Nilus only had 2 holes and woudn’t fit the 3 pin socket. So the challenge hadn’t come to an end.
There was no other option than to continue my initial search for a new cable. Eventually I found an Italian made Fanton extension cable. However, the price (including shipment and was higher than what I paid for the two projectors together, so I decided to wait and see what other solutions I would come up with.
Weeks later I found a Cirse Reno on Kijiji offered by Vicenzo from Andria in the South of Italy. It was in “ottimo stato estetico” (in optimal physical condition). According to the add I had to replace the belts and the lamp but I had some spare Philips CXR 8V 50W lamps and a guy named Marcello offered a complete 3 belt kit specifically for the Reno on Ebay so bringing it back to its original state would be easy. The Reno had a 3 pin socket and a matching cable so I could also use the cable for the Oregon. I assumed that the Oregon was a more sophisticated projector because it had bent reel arms that gave me the impression that it would be gear driven as opposed to, for example, the belt driven Nilus.
The Bell & Howell Regent or 606 had the same bent reel arms and were gear driven but after removing the cover of the reel arms of the Oregon I was a little disappointed to find out that it was belt driven.
When the Reno arrived a couple of weeks later it looked as good as advertised. When I wanted to replace the light bulb I was unpleasantly surprised because it had a totally different lamp. First I thought this was the result of a well-meant but unacceptable fumbling, After further inspection, I found the information I was looking for below the motor switch: lamp 115v 150w
From the more or less same model range it is the only projector with an different type of lamp.

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