The Eyemo (sometimes written as Eymo) is a 35mm motion picture camera which was manufactured by the Bell and Howell corporation. It is no longer made, but many used models are in circulation.
Designed and first manufactured in the late 1920's, it was for many years the most compact 35mm 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, 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.
It is still in use by filmmakers to this day, often used as a "crash cam" for filming dangerous stunts and explosions, and shots where 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.
Eyemos feature a built in clockwork (spring wind) motor which, when winded 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 run off of DC battery power while others run off of household AC current. To date there are no "sync" motors available for the Eyemo which can run at a stable enough speed for proper sound synchronization, nor a camera blimp to reduce the camera's noise. As a result, it is used to film silent footage only (sound can be recorded and added later, during the editing process).
The Eyemo takes an internal load of 100 feet 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, which can hold respectively 4 and 10 minutes of film. 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' magazine requires tripod support.
Some camera shops have modified Eyemos to reflex viewing, attached "video taps" and motors to them, and modified its 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 factory model.
Bell and Howell modelled its successful 16mm "Filmo " movie cameras after the Eyemo.
See also
