Bell & Howell 8mm Electric Eye (1957)

Name: Bell & Howell 8MM ELECTRIC EYE
Brand: Bell & Howell

The Bell & Howell 8mm Electric Eye was announced in July 1957 as a "solar-energized" movie camera. The sun itself, or any other light, set the aperture automatically. The New York Times (July 28, 1957) called it a "fool-proof" camera and noted that it took barely a second to vary apertures as a scene moved from light to darker and back. The same article listed it at $169.95, with a fixed Bell & Howell Super Comat universal-focus 10mm f/1.9 lens. Accessory wide-angle and telephoto attachments were available.

Documentation on this specific model is thin, and surviving listings show some variation. The Decades Gallery describes an "8mm Electric Eye" with a 1.8 Comar zoom lens. That is a different lens spec than the NYT article's f/1.9, so take either figure with a grain of salt until a manual confirms it. What is consistent across sources: it's a windup (spring-drive) camera taking double-8mm rollfilm, with automatic exposure. A Bell & Howell 2.5x telephoto lens for the Electric Eye also surfaces in period listings, often with the original box and instruction manual.

Working examples have been changing hands for around $40 on eBay. Condition reports range from "operates fine and all the functions work great" to "motor not functioning - for prop or display only." One with a functioning meter is a working piece of late-1950s automatic-exposure gear.

Format: double-8mm rollfilm
Lens: fixed Bell & Howell Super Comat universal-focus 10mm f/1.9 (per NYT, 1957)
Exposure: automatic, solar-energized
Drive: windup spring motor
Original list price: $169.95