Bell & Howell Model 70 (1923–)

Name: Bell & Howell MODEL 70
Brand: Bell & Howell

The Bell & Howell Model 70 turns up in reference library listings, auction lots and collectors' shelves, but the documentation around it is scattered and thin. What the record does show is that "Model 70" covers a family of spring-wound 16mm movie cameras that Bell & Howell produced over many years. Letter suffixes mark the variants: the 70A, 70D, 70DR, 70DA, 70E, and the 70G. The 70G is a different animal. The USC HMH Foundation Moving Image Archive identifies it as a 35mm motion picture camera, so it stays separate from the 16mm line.

The best-documented member of the family is the Model 70A Filmo. Retro Thing notes it was released in 1923 at a cost of $180, nearly two months' salary for the average worker at the time. That price puts it in the hands of serious home movie enthusiasts with money to spend, not casual dabblers. Like most cameras of the period, the Filmo used a spring-wound mechanism, and it ran 16mm film. Kodak's more affordable 8mm standard wouldn't arrive until 1932. The 70A was still being supported a decade later. A 1935 issue of Movie Makers listed Bell & Howell Character Title Outfits for the 70A or 70D at $14.50 each.

Beyond that, the record gets fragmentary. The 70E variant appears in a Kijiji listing with a Taylor Hobson Cooke Kinic 1" (25mm) f/1.5 lens. A 70-DR shows up at GMCamera as tested and working. A LiveAuctioneers lot pairs a 70DA with a Kodascope Model D projector, both working, with cases. Herb Farmer's story adds one more piece. He brought his personal Bell & Howell Model 70 from New York when he moved west to USC, and later donated it, a Filmo 70DA, to the university's moving image archive.

The Pacific Rim Camera Reference Library holds three separate sales items for the Model 70, two brochures and a sales sheet. The library listing doesn't include their contents, so the details inside remain undocumented. There are no production years, no dimensions, no weight, and no original price beyond the 70A's 1923 figure. The differences between the 70D, 70DR, and 70DA aren't clearly spelled out in any available source.

Known specs (partial):