Bell & Howell Eyemo 35mm

TheFlyingCamera · Oct 5, 2024

Well, I lucked into a score today at an estate sale. A running B&H Eyemo 35mm (not sure of which model exactly - just says Bell & Howell Eyemo on the name plate on the front of the camera, Serial number B-1875). It has two film speeds - 8 fps and 16 fps. There's no lens with it - I'd like to get one and try to use the camera for something other than a piece of exercise equipment.

What would the standard lens for this camera be, focal-length wise? Are there any good resources out there for learning how to use the camera, from how to load it to proper exposure technique, etc?

Kino · Oct 5, 2024

Let me dig around and get back to you tomorrow.

I am pretty sure I have an original manual or copy of it somewhere.

Sounds like the consumer variant of the Eyemo, but there's not a lot of difference between that and the "professional" version.

The 35mm cine frame is 4 perfs high, so think half-frame when you think of focal lengths of lenses. Pretty sure you can find an Eyemo to just about any (older) still camera adapter on Evilbay or maybe Rafcam.

If you have Leica glass, see here: https://rafcamera.com/adapter-eyemo-to-leica-m

Let me look.

btaylor · Oct 6, 2024

“Normal” focal length would be about 40mm. I am going to guess this is an amateur model since 16 fps is the standard speed for silent films- 24 fps became the standard after sound-on-film was introduced. Kino, I imagine you have some more accurate details on those specifics.

TheFlyingCamera · Oct 7, 2024

btaylor said:
“Normal” focal length would be about 40mm. I am going to guess this is an amateur model since 16 fps is the standard speed for silent films- 24 fps became the standard after sound-on-film was introduced. Kino, I imagine you have some more accurate details on those specifics.

I just found a 2" lens that's not super fast (I think f4-ish) for not much money, so I grabbed it. Is anyone aware of a good learning resource for shooting movies - everything from exposure technique and metering to processing the film to editing. I realize I'm making this far more difficult on myself than it needs to be given the current state of digital video, but I'd still like to learn. And being limited to the 100' of film in this camera will keep my experimentation on the more affordable end of things.

fabulousrice · Oct 12, 2024

TheFlyingCamera said:
Well, I lucked into a score today at an estate sale. A running B&H Eyemo 35mm (not sure of which model exactly - just says Bell & Howell Eyemo on the name plate on the front of the camera, Serial number B-1875). It has two film speeds - 8 fps and 16 fps. There's no lens with it - I'd like to get one and try to use the camera for something other than a piece of exercise equipment.

What would the standard lens for this camera be, focal-length wise? Are there any good resources out there for learning how to use the camera, from how to load it to proper exposure technique, etc?

That's a very lucky find! I would love to see it

Kino · Oct 14, 2024

I can't seem to locate the manual; must be in my paper morgue, which is out of access at the time.

You can probably just use the 16mm Filmo manual as well, because about the only thing that changes is the gauge of film to 35mm. They are practically the same camera...

I'll keep looking.

Europan · Oct 19, 2024

Speeds 8 and 16 and one lens port tell model 71-A made from 1925 to 1927. Numbers up to B-2296 run for 40 seconds at speed 16.

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Bell & Howell Eyemo 35mm

TheFlyingCamera

Kino

btaylor

TheFlyingCamera

fabulousrice

Kino

Europan