Bell and Howell 2709 Model B 35mm cine camera

Bell & Howell 2709 cine camera, Model B. Standard Cinemachinery 35mm cine camera. With 4 lens turret, (original lenses are missing (fitted with lens Astro lens 1990-5036/3197). Gate and claw intermittent mechanism missing. Single sprocket. External magazines (2) 400 foot. Hand turned (handle missing), 8 and 1 frame shafts. Variable shutter 170 - 0 degrees. Preset or operated continuously by lever and gear attachment (missing). Rotary footage counter. Critical focuser. Ground glass insert behind turret, opposite taking lens. Thin slot for masks before gate. Shoe for viewfinder. Patents Sept 17 1912 and Feb 13 1917, no 5687. Serial No 932. Originally sold to the Ruby Camera Exchange in New York on 31 August 1929. Has ultra speed movement number 282 in it, which usually meant it was to be used for some kind of instrumentation as it would shoot slow motion images.

The Bell and Howell 2709 was the first all-metal, commercially available 35mm motion picture camera, first produced in 1912. The body was machined from cast aluminum and incorporated register pins for superior image stability. It was also the first camera with a four lens turret and featured a rack over viewing system that enabled precise framing and critical focusing.

The 2709 soon dominated the market long held by the Pathé Studio (quickly relegated to second camera work), and by 1919, nearly 100 percent of the camera equipment used to make movies in Hollywood was manufactured by Bell & Howell. Because of its relatively high price tag at the time, Bell & Howell's 2709 became the camera that studios purchased, rather than individuals (although Charlie Chaplin owned one).