Eyemo
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
The Eyemo (sometimes written as Eymo) is a 35 mm motion picture camera which was manufactured by the Bell and Howell corporation. It is no longer made, but many are still in circulation.
Designed and first manufactured in the late 1920s, it was for many years the most compact 35 mm motion picture camera available. Its small size and ruggedness made it a favorite choice for newsreel and combat cameramen (it was used through World War II, and the War Department issued special manuals for it), and also found use for fiction and documentary filmmakers whenever a portable, rugged, and inconspicuous camera was needed.
The Eyemo is still in use by some filmmakers; it is often used these days as a "crash cam" for filming dangerous stunts and explosions, and shots in which the camera must be dropped from a building or other elevation.
The Eyemo is a non-reflex camera: viewing while filming is through an optical viewfinder attached to the camera door. Some models take one lens only, while the "spider model" features a three-lens turret and a "focusing viewfinder" on the side opposite the optical viewfinder. All Eyemos feature an identical Eyemo lens mount except the 71-k model, which is slightly different.
Eyemos feature a built-in clockwork (spring wind) motor which, when wound by a ratchet key, runs about 20 seconds of film per winding (at the 24 frames per second speed), and can film at speeds from 8 to 48 frames per second. The camera can be hand-cranked with a manual crank accessory. Several optional electric motors are available; some use DC battery power while others use household AC current. There is currently a synchronized motor available for sync sound filming, but no commercially available camera blimp to reduce the camera's noise.
The Eyemo takes an internal load of 100 feet (30 m) of film, which lasts just over a minute when filming at the standard 24 frames per second speed. Some models also accept a 400 ft or 1000 ft magazine that is attached to the back, and can hold 4 and 10 minutes of film respectively. When used with a 400 ft magazine, the Eyemo is cumbersome (but not impossible) to operate without the use of a tripod, while the use of a 1000 ft magazine requires tripod support.
Some camera shops have modified Eyemos to reflex viewing, attached video taps and motors to them, and modified the proprietary lens mount to allow the camera to use different optics (such as lenses made for still Nikon cameras). Such modified Eyemos often cost several times the price of a stock model.
Bell and Howell modeled its successful 16 mm "Filmo" movie cameras after the Eyemo.
