The Incomparable B&H Filmo

The year 2003 marked the 80th anniversary of the Bell & Howell 70-series 16mm motion picture camera. The Bell & Howell Company was established in the United States in 1907 by two former theatre projectionists by the names of Donald Bell and Albert Howell. Their headquarters and factory were located on Larchmont Avenue in Chicago, IL. One of their first products was a 35mm studio motion picture camera  known as the "#2709 Standard" (see photo on left) for professional cinematography. First sold in 1912, it would become the most popular camera of its kind in the early days of movie making in the US. It was renowned for its rock steady image, removable shuttle and almost indestructible construction. Shooting movie film still had several major drawbacks that were keeping it from being enjoyed by the average consumer. First, the 35mm format was large, heavy and costly. Second, since all camera stock was negative you had to print it in order to watch it. Finally, film was nitrate based making it potentially flammable and, therefore, simply too dangerous for home use. The discovery, by Kodak, of the process for direct reversal of the camera negative, thereby eliminating the need for printing, would lead to the invention of 16mm reversal film utilizing cellulose acetate as a base. Safety film in 16mm was born! Camera manufacturers were now quick to seize upon what they foresaw as a burgeoning new market. That of amateur cinematography. In 1923, Bell &Howell introduced their first Filmo, the model 70A, a single lens camera marketed to the home movie enthusiast for the "making of personal motion pictures" as they phrased it in their ads in magazines like Saturday Evening Post, National Geographic, Harper's and Country Life. The 70A was still quite expensive for 1923, having a price tag of $180. This, at a time when the average family income was somewhere around $25 per week. In fact, you could have bought a basic Ford Model T for less than $300 that same year! It was definitely a camera for the well to do but, then shooting 16mm home movies in the 1920's was a hobby pretty much reserved for the rich, anyway. Kodak would not introduce the less costly 8mm format until 1932. 1925 saw the release of the second Filmo, the model 70B, a high speed camera that only ran at 128fps and was primarily designed for motion analysis work. There would be at least ten other models in the series before production stopped in the 1970's. What accounted for the many varied versions had to do with the type of viewfinder supplied, the hand-crank capability and the ability to accept a 400' magazine with electric drive. Many later models were just slightly improved versions of their earlier cousins retaining the most important features. It is important to remember this cameras lineage and the fact that the same engineers who were designing the studio camera that made B&H an industry leader were also working on the Filmo. The innovative features that would be added over the years both external and internal are the result of this cinematic engineering excellence. 

The 16mm Filmo actually pre-dated the infamous B&H 35mm Eyemo by a couple of years. Many years later, in 1979, Cinema Products would release their super sophisticated GSMO 16mm camera. A model that president Edmund DiGiulio would later remark was "originally intended to be a modern day successor to the Filmo camera". By 1983, Bell & Howell would be out of the photographic business entirely. The Filmo product line would be purchased by Alan Gordon Enterprises, one of the foremost dealers for the camera and moved to California. During the 1980's they were still selling new Filmos and they continue to service them to this day while remaining the sole source for replacement parts.

Built as tough as the Sherman Tanks it would be used to film during WWII, the B&H 70 was one of the most rugged, well designed and thoroughly dependable 16mm motion picture cameras ever built. Weighing in at six pounds sans lenses, it was one solid mass of steel and magnesium with hardly a plastic part other than the speed dial and footage indicator. The simplistic beauty of the camera was its ability to just run and run. A Filmo that has been locked away for five or ten or more years can be taken out of storage and, after a few drops of oil, put right back into service. In fact, at one time Bell & Howell sold their Filmo's with a lifetime warranty against failure!

All models had spring driven motors that had to be wound up using a crank or large key attached to the side. A fully wound camera would allow one to shoot for 35 to 40 seconds at 24fps. Combat and newsreel photographers had to become experts at quickly winding up their B&H 70 if they expected to get the shot. They used a technique where they would hold the winding key steady with their right hand and, using the inertia from the camera's weight, rotate the body back and forth in rapid succession to accomplish the winding in just a few seconds.

The model 70C was the first Filmo to come factory-equipped with the 3-lens turret. B&H offered a retrofit kit for earlier models to convert to the turret style for just a few dollars. This unique feature was a first for a 16mm camera and allowed the Filmo to cover any possible filming situation the photographer might come up against. B&H sold all early Filmo's exclusively with English-made Cooke lenses beginning with a 15MM F2.5 and extending all the way up to a 6" F5.5. The Cooke 1" F3.5 universal focus anastigmat was normally sold as standard equipment but any lens in the series could be ordered with the camera. Cooke lenses were renown for their extremely high definition and flatness of field across the entire frame. The standard 1" threaded "C" mount was used on all three ports making the camera compatible with literally hundreds of possible lens combinations. By 1930, with the introduction of the 70D, all subsequent models, with the exception of the high speed versions, were now equipped with seven filming speeds. Up until this point you were limited to the two speeds of 8 and 16fps or 16 and 32fps and, with the model 70AB, 12, 16 and 24fps. 16fps was considered normal speed. Anything above this would have been "slow motion". The idea of using 8fps basically gave you an increase in exposure as long as what you were filming did not involve movement of people.

The camera was never equipped with a reflex or through-the-lens viewfinder. Instead, it used three versions of a side-finder arrangement. Beginning with the model 70D the Filmo was equipped with what was called in the literature, a "revolving drum variable angle spyglass" viewfinder (see photo of the 70D, above). A dial on the side of the eyepiece allowed the operator to rotate one of six fields of view into place depending on the focal length of the lens used. This was also offered as a factory conversion for models 70A - 70C, but cameras had to be sent back to the factory for a custom fitting. The later Filmos featured a "positive-type separate objective" viewfinder. This looked like a miniature version of the three lens turret. Each camera lens of a given focal length had a matching focal length objective that, in later models, rotated automatically into place through a gearing arrangement as you selected the lens you were going to shoot with. At the back of the viewfinder was an adjustment for correcting parallax and to compensate for the operators particular vision needs. A photographer would have to rely on the markings on the lens to set distance quickly or use a technique common to still photographers where they would set their lens to a given distance and then move in on the subject until they reached that point. In addition, something which was first offered on the 70DA, Bell & Howell provided what they referred to as a "critical focuser" device. To use it the operator would swing the taking lens around to the winding key side and then peer into a tiny port at the edge of the turret. Although only a small portion of the image in the center was actually visible this did allow one to actually look through the lens and precisely adjust the focus. This could only be used for static set ups where the action would wait for you. For shooting closeup work or photographing titles you could purchase a device called a "focusing alignment gauge". Basically, it was a rack-over attachment that mounted between the tripod and the camera. It allowed one to slide the camera from the focusing position to the shooting position and still maintain the correct image alignment. There was also something called a "waist level viewfinder" (see photo) so you could shoot from the hip so to speak. Actually, it was made for taking unusual or low angle shots. It mounted to the film compartment door just above the existing viewfinder tube. The French lens manufacturer, Angenieux, also released a zoom lens in the early 1960's that was equipped with a side-finder. It made through-the-lens reflex viewing possible for 16mm cameras like the Filmo and others that were never so equipped.

In 1933, Bell & Howell introduced several modifications in their model 70DA which they marketed as the semi-professional Filmo. A removable 200' magazine was added along with an electric motor option of either 12 or 110 volts. In addition, a newly designed range finder, fitted to the film compartment door, made it possible to determine subject distance accurately. B&H added the hand crank option beginning with this model. The crank was fitted to a port just below the winding key. The same port used for the electric drive. It allowed the operator to hand crank the full 100 foot load if necessary to cover the action. The speed was regulated by the internal governor as long as the operator kept up with the cranking. Using the hand crank the camera could also be backwound for producing lap dissolves and double exposures.  

Of all the features it was the wide range of filming speeds available that made the camera a favorite of professionals and serious amateurs alike. The speed was set by adjusting a governor dial that, although it was marked off with seven of the most commonly used speeds, had no click stops so the camera was able to run at any speed between 8 and 48 frames per second. All the cameras accepted 50 or 100' internal loads with the 70H, the 70F and the final version 70HR factory equipped for an external 400' magazine option. At 204 degrees, the camera would seem to have had a somewhat wider shutter than needed but when you consider the camera was not limited to just shooting at 24fps (where a 175 to 180 degree shutter would be the norm) the wider shutter width makes sense for the higher speeds. In fact, the high speed model 70S had a 216 degree shutter to accommodate the single running speed of 128 frames per second.

B&H also designed in something they referred to as "shock absorbing sprockets". By mounting the supply and take up sprockets on tiny springs rather than directly attached to their shafts, the film was protected from the sudden shock of movement each time the camera release was pressed. This prevented tearing and nicking of the film sprockets especially in cold weather when the film would be more fragile and vulnerable to breakage. Some model Filmos, like the 70DR for instance, had one of their lens ports modified with a behind the lens filter holder (see photo). The gelatin filter was held in place just below the lens seat by a small locking ring.

The Bell & Howell Filmo may have had its biggest impact on the beginnings of television news. In the mid to late 50's and early 60's when local stations first began to venture out of the studio and incorporate film into their nightly news programs, it was the well proven 16mm Filmo they chose to acquire B&W footage of local events. Even after stations adopted more sophisticated magnetic sound-on-film cameras like the Auricon, the Filmo remained the workhorse "stringer" camera. Some of the most dramatic close combat footage from the Vietnam war was shot by both NBC and CBS using Filmo's.

Today, the B&H Filmo 16mm camera has found renewed interest and respect among student and independent filmmakers. The low cost of ownership and simple maintenance requirements make the Filmo ideal for filmmakers just starting out. The camera is also appreciated by seasoned veterans who need to capture material quickly and easily without calling attention to themselves. Like the 35mm Eyemo, it is the perfect crash camera. With a few simple tools it can be fashioned to a bike, a boat, a car, to a skateboard, a wheelchair, a glider...you name it. Clever souls can probably even connect a stepping motor to the crank port and run the camera all day off a lead acid battery!

A basic package, like the one shown in the color photo, consists of a late-model camera, light meter, grey card, carry bag and some film. This 70DR, the last model made, is fitted with an Angenieux 25mm F.95 lens. Although this lens does have a focus collar it is much easier to use by relying on the principle of hyperfocal distance when coupled with todays faster film stocks. Using a hyperfocal chart you would set the lens focus at a point that would provide maximum depth of field for a given F stop. For instance, a 25mm (1") lens shooting at F5.6 and set to a distance of 14' will provide a correctly focused image from 7' to infinity. That same lens at F8 and set to 10' would be good from 5' to infinity.

Of course, what makes owning a camera like the classic 16mm Filmo or the 35mm Eyemo so intriguing these days is you get to use the best film stocks Kodak and Fuji have ever made inside them. Painstaking old-time camera craftsmanship now married with the most up to date scientific and chemical breakthroughs in film technology. Truly the best of both worlds. Many a cleverly conceived TV commercial or public service announcement that was destined for a video shoot could have been made that much more effective through the use of film in a camera like the Filmo... and for next to nothing. A spot that would have been remembered.

When looking for a good, used Filmo try to look for later models like the 70DE, 70DL, 70DR and 70HR if you need a camera with the most sought after features discussed here. These cameras, unlike many of the earlier models, will accept single-sprocketed film, which is sometimes easier to come by if you purchase short ends or recans and want to spool your own stock. IMHO the 16mm Bell & Howell Filmo is a camera that can make filmmaking fun again. It's that simple. Summer's coming... do you have yours yet?

This article is Copyright 2003,  TFG Transfer,  All Rights Reserved

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