Over the years, I have acquired a bunch of Bell & Howell Eyemo cameras, but I have not had the time to go through them and make sure everything was working. Most of the Eyemos wind-up and run, but I don’t know how well they run. At some point, I hope to go through and service them, but at the moment I can offer them as is. Still, these are extraordinary cameras that saw aerial combat, ground combat, news gathering, and documentary filmmaking use for decades. I have mainly military surplus cameras, some with single lens ports, some with spider turrets. I have a few motors and a few original hand grips, as well as several original olive drab military wooden cases. Here, presented for your entertainment, are a few early ads for the Eyemos, published shortly after their introduction in 1925, as well as pictures of a few of the Eymos I have available.
Based largely on the earlier 16mm Filmo, the Bell & Howell Eyemo was introduced in 1925, and produced through the 1970’s. The Eyemo is a 35mm spring motor driven motion picture film camera with a 100′ internal daylight load capacity. The Eyemo is a small, rugged camera, and in the base model, it includes a single lens port. Over time, the Eyemo evolved and more features and accessories were added.
In 1929, a version with a 3 lens “spider” turret was introduced. An electric motor and the ability to use external magazines became available in 1932. The Eyemo remained popular for more than five decades, seeing wide use in newsgathering, combat and documentary photography, and as a crash camera.
