Bell & Howell Foton (1948)

A 35mm still camera with spring motor drive, T-stop lens calibration, and separate viewfinder and rangefinder eyepieces, introduced in 1948.

Overview

The Bell & Howell Foton is a 35mm still camera introduced in 1948. It was the company's first entry into still photography. The rangefinder and viewfinder have separate eyepieces - left and right respectively. The lens is a coated 2 inch f/2.0 Cooke Amotol Anastigmat, calibrated in T-stops, with a maximum T-stop of 2.2. A spring motor drive runs continuous shooting at 4 to 6 frames per second for 10 to 15 consecutive exposures on a full wind. Single and repeat exposure modes are available. Film advance is automatic via the spring motor, and the manual-reset frame counter is marked from 0 to 36.

Specifications

Film format	35mm / Full-frame 35mm
Normal lens	coated 2 inch f/2.0 Cooke Amotol Anastigmat
Lens calibration	calibrate the lens in T-stops rather than f-stops
Maximum T-stop	T-stop aperture is 2.2
Lens mount (standard lens)	screw-thread mount
Lens mount (telephoto lenses)	bayonet onto the three lugs seen surrounding the camera lens mount
Focusing system	focusing gears for the normal lens are built into the camera body. Focus can be adjusted by turning the lens, or by turning a knurled wheel on the camera front.
Shutter type	Focal-plane shutter
Viewfinder system	view and rangefinder are not combined. The rangefinder eyepiece is located on the left, and the viewfinder eyepiece is on the right.
Film advance	Spring motor drive
Film advance modes	single and repeat exposure modes
Continuous shooting rate	advertised at an incredible 4 - 6 frames per second
Number of consecutive exposures	The Foton can shoot between 10 and 15 consecutive exposures with the spring motor fully wound.
Frame counter	manual-reset frame counter with markings from 0 to 36
Flash connection	accessory shoe with hot-shoe flash connector
Film speed reminder	film speed reminder dial
Tripos socket	positioned far forward on the baseplate
Shutter release	threaded to accept a standard cable release
Shutter release lock	Present, with a red dot indicator
Automatic film transport	It has an automatic film transport that winds the camera

Design

The Foton was the first still camera Bell & Howell made. It took over ten years to develop and cost more than one million dollars. Bell & Howell drew on its cine camera expertise and put a spring-motor automatic advance in it, which made the Foton a technically advanced niche product. It may be the only still camera ever made with T-stop lenses. Bell & Howell pushed the precision of T-stops for color photography, where film latitude was limited.

Context

The Foton is generally considered a marketing failure. It was available for only a few years and sales were low. The main reason was cost: originally $700 plus a $100 excise tax. It technically outperformed its sole competitor, but the coupled rangefinder, motor drive, and full-frame format priced it far above the competition.

Market

The Foton originally sold for $700. Slow sales soon dropped the price to $500. The original price comes to approximately $9,000 in 2023 dollars. The camera also saw specialized use. It was mounted on an oscillographic camera to capture images of a flame front simultaneously with a trace, as documented in The Journal of Physical Chemistry in 1960.