A film projector projects reels of film onto a screen to form a continuous image. Film projectors have the need to wind and unwind the reels and adjust the arms and distance. Despite the competition from video projection, film projectors have a niche market of buyers.

Film projector rental demand comes from residences, film festivals and university and school campuses.

Film projectors come with different widths such as 8mm, 16mm and 35mm. The type of projector depends on the space available and the number of audience. The demand for 35mm comes mostly from festivals while 8mm and 16mm find demand from other segments such as residences and student shows in universities.

Many of the rental companies are either owned by the universities or reside in the campuses. The demand for film projectors is cyclical as film festivals happen during a particular period of a year. Even for residences, the demand is usually in the summer months, when families like to have get-togethers outdoors.

The rental rates for projectors depend upon the type of films. 16mm projectors have a starting rental rate of $20 per day, 35mm at $50 per day. The total rental rates go up when we consider the screens and other accessories. Most of the a/v industry rental companies hold fewer stocks of film projectors. The rental companies in the university campuses charge lower fees for student groups.

Film projectors face severe competition from video projectors. New technologies such as DLP and audio/video storage media slowly make the conventional film based technologies obsolete. When compared with video projectors, film projectors lack features to control contrast and brightness. Even with cinema halls transitioning to digital forms of projection, film based projector manufacturers are dwindling and therefore are the rental industry of film based projectors.