DIY Slide Projection screen... any ideas?

[Asim]

I'm visiting my sister's for a couple of months in the US. Her house has walls of all colors except white. We would like to do a slide show but I don't know where to project.

Any ideas how I can set up a screen for projection on a very small budget? I think we may only do one or two slide shows in the time I'm here so I want to keep it cheap.

If it matters... I have a Leica Pradovit P600 with a colorplan lens (90mm) and there is plenty of space.

 

[rbsinto]

Gaffer tape a white bed sheet to the wall (from your sister's linen closet).
Get a small projector screen fairly inexpensively on craigslist.
Gaffer tape some white no-seam paper to the wall (from a professional camera store).

 

[froyd]

A panel of drywall and a coat of flat light grey paint?

I think you should look at Criaglist ads in the region where your sister lives (In case you don't have it in your country, Craigslist is a popular online buy/sell site). You might be able to pick up a used pull-up screen for next to nothing. Just sell it back or pass it on before you leave.

 

[mbisc]

Maybe a silly question - you said "visiting my sister's for a couple of months in the US" -- depending on FROM WHERE you are visiting: does your Leica Pradovit P600 do 120V ?

 

[rybolt]

Check out the thrift stores. Most of them have a section of photo stuff and you should find screens as well as plenty of 8mm movie projectors.

The P600 doesn't appear to be multiple voltage. Unless the one you have runs on 110-120 volts I'd not bother bringing it and buy a cheap one in the above mentioned thrift store.

 

[JoeV]

A piece of masonite board cut to size and several cans of textured white spray paint.

~Joe

 

[Asim]

Thanks for all the replies. Some great ideas.
I didn't want to use a bed sheet because i think a lot of light passes through it and leaves the image less illuminated. But the idea of checking out on craigslist is great because I just found someone selling an old da-lite projector screen for 10 dollars near my sisters house. also a great idea is getting a board and spray painting it white. there's already paint here and i guess i can pop over to menards for the board. and i never thought about the thrift stores/pawn shops. there's so many of them around here in Indiana. but i never bothered going in there because i thought they would all just have guns and kid's bicycles. 🙂

about the pradovit p600. it is only a 220V projector. my sister has those big block transformers that should do the job no problem. otherwise, my father has a 110V braun projector that takes the same in-line slide trays.

thanks again everyone. now to do some screen hunting.

 

[mbisc]

You may want to check with an expert on the transformer issue. When I moved to the US, I sold off my wonderful Braun projector because the Braun Service people in Germany claimed that a transformer is okay for the bulb voltage but not for the motor of the fan (it was a 220V-only version, and not their Export Model)-- the problem is not the 120V vs. 220V issue, but the 50Hz vs. 60Hz difference.

Got a brand-new Leica Projector after the move to the US, so I'm all good now 😀

 

[brant.kelly]

This is what I did in a few homes I've owned over the past few decades. Essentially, you get a roll of photo backdrop paper--white, of course--and stick it on the wall. One home, I used gaffer's tape, currently I have it framed with curtains like an old theater.

http://www.projectorcentral.com/diy_screen.htm

 

[Ko.Fe.]

... on a very small budget?
...a Leica ...

Small budget and Leica something? 😎

Where I'm, we have Dollar Stores and dry-walls. Everywhere...
It is .50$ for big chunk of white paper. Another $2 to pin it to the dry-wall.

 

[Rob-F]

A piece of masonite board cut to size and several cans of textured white spray paint.
~Joe

I would skip the texture. Unless the viewing distance is at least 15 or 20 feet, the texture will probably be visible.

I didn't want to use a bed sheet because i think a lot of light passes through it and leaves the image less illuminated.

Exactly right.

Essentially, you get a roll of photo backdrop paper--white, of course--and stick it on the wall.

This is a better idea. I have also used painted foam-core board. (Plain foam-core can be too shiny, causing hot-spots.) And the suggestion to get a used projection screen is also a good idea.

 

[Asim]

mbisc... good point. maybe i should just use the 120 volt braun projector that i can get a hold of easily. i don't want to trash the leica projector with just one use... or no use.

the backdrop paper idea is something i'll look into as well. good idea.

ko.fe. yes i know, its a shame to be using a leica MP with a leica 50mm summilux aspherical and a leica projector with a leica colorplan lens and then spending less than 10 dollars trying to get a screen up! the horror. the horror. 🙂

i looked into used projection screens and found some for 10 dollars! great deal. and afterall it is a proper projection screen... better than a DIY job.