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Mitchell 16 Pro Camera

Mitchell 16 Pro vintage 16mm motion picture film camera

$3,900
Item #C10725

Introduced in 1946, the Mitchell 16mm Professional Camera is nearly identical to the 35mm Mitchell Standard, but redesigned for use with 16mm film. It includes the legendary Mitchell rackover viewing system, and was available with the full complement of accessories needed for professional photography. The Mitchell 16 Pro was manufactured until 1973. We have on offer camera #831, which was manufactured in 1964. This camera was in such clean, like new condition, that I thought it would be a shame not to offer it on a display base. It comes complete with a Mitchell matte box and iris rods, a sidefinder, a variable speed motor, a 400’ magazine, a 1200’ magazine, four lenses: Bausch & Lomb Baltar 15mm f2.3, Bausch & Lomb Baltar 25mm f2.3, Bausch & Lomb Baltar 50mm f2.3, and Bausch & Lomb Baltar 100mm f2.3, and a Mitchell high hat with wooden display base.

George Mitchell had a storied history with the camera company that bore his name. He left in 1934 after the initial introduction of the BNC, and went to work for Dr. George E. Hale at the Mount Wilson Observatory. He remained there until 1944, when William Fox (owner of the Mitchell Camera Corporation since 1930) convinced him to return. The factory moved from West Hollywood to Glendale, and production resumed on the BNC. During his time back at the company, George Mitchell helped bring the first 16mm Mitchell camera, the Mitchell 16 Pro, to market.

A History of the Mitchell Camera Corporation

When the Mitchell Standard hit the market in 1921, it was met with immediate praise and a flood of orders. Four years of hard work had gone into the camera’s design, and what emerged was a camera that left a lasting impact on the motion picture industry. The Mitchell Camera Corporation traces its origins back to a wooden rackover camera designed and patented by John E. Leonard. Around 1916, Leonard demonstrated his camera at Universal Studios, where they had been making a popular series of animated cartoons that featured live actors superimposed over chalk drawings. Leonard’s camera utilized his unique rackover focusing mechanism which left the taking lens stationary and moved the camera between the film plane and the viewfinder, an ideal setup for this sort of work. Universal was not interested in building their own cameras, but among those who witnessed Leonard’s demonstration was one George A. Mitchell. At the time, Mitchell was working in the Universal Photographic Department’s camera repair shop under department head John M. Nickolaus.

George Alfred Mitchell was born in Tennessee around the turn of the 20th century. Mitchell’s interest in photography began in childhood when he took his first photos with a cardboard camera. He joined the Army Signal Corps and was stationed in Alaska in 1907. In the spring of 1911, after being discharged from the Army, Mitchell moved to California where he found work as a machinist at Frese Optical Company in Los Angeles. Frese serviced and repaired surveying and drafting equipment, along with a variety of other precision instruments. By 1914, they had become one of the few locations in southern California where cinematographers could get their cameras repaired or modified, or have replacement parts machined. Mitchell’s previous experience with photography led him to become a camera technician at Frese. This acquired expertise in turn helped Mitchell get a job in the camera repair shop at Universal Studios, where he repaired and modified cameras based on cinematographer’s requests. Mitchell also found occasional work around the studio as an extra cameraman. By working in the studio repair shop and on set, Mitchell was able to see firsthand what cameramen wanted in their cameras and what improvements needed to be made to the existing equipment to make those changes happen.

When he saw Leonard’s camera demonstration in 1916, Mitchell was very impressed and, while the studio wasn’t interested in producing Leonard’s design, the two men kept in touch. The Spanish Flu epidemic hit the country, and the studios, very hard in 1918, and Mitchell was laid off from Universal as a result. Luckily, he was able to return to his previous job at Frese where he worked his way up to shop foreman. While back at Frese, Mitchell was approached by Leonard for help to build a steadier movement for his camera. Based on Leonard’s original design, Mitchell built a new movement that used stationary registration pins for increased steadiness. After installing the redesigned movement in the improved camera, Leonard used it to shoot a movie called “The Kentucky Colonel,” produced by William “Smiling Bill” Parsons of the National Film Corporation of America.

After the movie was completed, Leonard convinced Parsons to help him raise money to manufacture the camera. To that end, Parsons formed a corporation called the National Motion Picture Camera Corporation with Parsons as president and Leonard as a stockholder. A camera based on Leonard’s improved design was built by the Hunt Machine Company in Los Angeles. This camera was sold to cinematographer Homer Scott, who took it to Australia where it was sadly lost. Leonard and Parsons were still not satisfied with this version of the camera, so they once again reached out to Mitchell for help. Mitchell left his position as shop foreman at Frese to join Leonard and Parsons, and to design a new camera from scratch. Parsons was still seeking investors in their new company, and so sold a big block of stock to a group of ranchers from the Pacific Northwest. One of these investors, a Mr. Logan, was made a director of the National Motion Picture Camera Corporation, and the company rented office and machine shop space on Santa Monica Boulevard in the former Berwilla Studio.

Mitchell had barely begun work on the design of the new camera when Parsons suddenly died after a brief illness in 1919 at the age of 41. When Parsons’ estate was settled, Logan acquired all of the shares of the company. Leonard had borrowed money from Parsons in excess of the value of his stock, and so found his shares forfeit. He withdrew from the company entirely. Logan now persuaded Mitchell to keep the business going as a repair shop. This turned out to be a huge success, and not only was Logan able to recoup his investment, but Mitchell was able to resume work on his new camera.

By the Fall of 1920, Mitchell had completed a prototype of the new camera and had it ready for testing. With the help of his friend, cinematographer Charles Rosher, Mitchell was given the opportunity to use his prototype as a third camera on Mary Pickford’s film “The Love Light” (1921). Tests were successful, and Mitchell was happy with his design. Shortly after these initial tests, Logan sold his interest in the company to Harry F. Boeger, a retired lumberman, and gave Mitchell some of his stock from the Parsons estate. Mitchell’s name was on several of the company’s patents, and so in exchange for the patents, Boeger offered Mitchell a one sixth interest in the company, and made him chief designer. Boeger also changed the name of the company to the Mitchell Camera Corporation.

With corporate matters now mostly settled, it was time to offer the new camera for sale to the movie industry. Mitchell’s prototype was a huge departure from Leonard’s original design, but it did incorporate a much-refined version of the rackover mechanism that had so impressed Mitchell in Leonard’s initial demonstration. The new Mitchell Standard camera was constructed of metal rather than wood and featured a totally redesigned movement. This movement differed from Leonard’s design by using moving registration pins and pull-down claws operated by gears and cams. This made for a smoother, quieter film transport mechanism. The camera also included a built-in set of adjustable mattes, an internal floating iris behind the lens, a built-in turret disc with filter and effects mattes, and a 170-degree automatic dissolve shutter.

The first Mitchell Standard off the production line was sold to cinematographer Charles Van Enger in 1921. Charles Rosher, Tony Gaudio, and Sol Polito were among the early cameramen who adopted the new Mitchell Standard camera. Mitchell’s camera quickly gained a reputation for being steady, reliable, and user-friendly. Over time, the Standard, and the camera models that followed, came to be Hollywood’s cameras of choice for feature film, television, and commercial production.

The Mitchell GC (“Government Camera”) was adapted from the Mitchell Standard sometime in the 1930’s or 40’s as a more economical model designed originally for the United States military. Features such as the built-in variable effects mattes and the floating iris were eliminated, and a more industrial finish was used on the movement and other precision parts. Later in the development cycle, two chronograph models were added to the GC line. The chronograph cameras incorporated more scientifically oriented instrumentation for the aircraft and missile industries, as well as other military applications. Both the stock GC and the chronograph models formed the backbone of U.S. military’s camera inventory. The Mitchell GC remained a core part of Mitchell’s product line through the 1970’s.


Photo Gallery:

Mitchell 16 Pro vintage 16mm motion picture film camera
Mitchell 16 Pro vintage 16mm motion picture film camera
Mitchell 16 Pro vintage 16mm motion picture film camera
Mitchell 16 Pro vintage 16mm motion picture film camera
Mitchell 16 Pro vintage 16mm motion picture film camera
Mitchell 16 Pro vintage 16mm motion picture film camera
Mitchell 16 Pro vintage 16mm motion picture film camera