Unknown camera.

[How Lucky]

I rescued this movie camera from the dump the other day. Am hoping someone would know the make and date of it. Can't find any stamps or tags on the camera. It does have a Bausch & Lomb Optical Co. 35mm f3 anastigmat lens. The camera measures 5 1/2" tall X 6 1/4" at lens X 1 1/4" wide.
Thanks.

 

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[pat-tekker-cat]

Is it one of those projectors, in an ophthalmologists office,
that projects the letters onto the wall?
That's what it reminds me of, & with the maker B&L....

I did search B&L projector, getting pic hits, one close,
by no exact cigar... Maybe someone else will know.
GL & HH

eta: maybe a retinal camera? idk...

 

[vhs07]

Here are a couple of Kodak brand movie cameras from the 40's era.
Not the same but close...

 

[Anduril]

I think this may be a WW1-era Bell & Howell movie camera.
Here's one that's very similar, but I can't make out the logo on the cover (which yours doesn't seem to have?)

Link: https://parkcities.bubblelife.com/viewimage/key/351321752/img_1363_movie_camera.jpg?w=655&h=655

I say it's Bell & Howell because...
A) They were in business by the time of WW1, and
B) They made a lot of camera with the "ugly" dual-box framing reticle (although I couldn't find any early Circa-1920's B&H movie cameras having an external (possibly removable?) viewfinder as yours does.

You might be able to call the Frontiers of Flight Museum folks and ask?
It's where the picture comes from.
Link: https://parkcities.bubblelife.com/community/frontiers_of_flight_museum/library/35202880/key/35712842/Frontiers_of_Flight_Museum_Hosts_WWI_Exhibit_Jan_16-20?image=351321752

 

[jewelerguy]

did a little looking on the net. The over all design and features most closely resemble a Simplex camera. The wrinkle paint leads me to believe it's from the late 1940's to early 1950's but without a mfg name and model number, it's just a guess

 

[Mackaydon]

I agree with 'Jewelerguy'; closest, if not actually a Simplex camera.
Source:https://www.ebay.com/itm/Art-Deco-S...-Camera-International-Projector-/223866129615
and here: https://www.vintagechickstudio.com/listing/599359217/vintage-camera-simplex-pockette-16mm
Don......

 

[villival]

I have an old Kodak camera almost exactly like that. It came from my grandparents and I date it to the sixties, due to the Delta Airlines brochure found in the case, which lists all the big hitting Vegas casinos of the day, and the entertainers at them, including Louis Armstrong, Frank Sinatra and others.

Cool camera.

Post edited above.

 

[Anduril]

did a little looking on the net. The over all design and features most closely resemble a Simplex camera. The wrinkle paint leads me to believe it's from the late 1940's to early 1950's but without a mfg name and model number, it's just a guess

I agree with Jewelerguy also. (Nice research)

So, 1933. I had originally thought the camera was from the 40's (maybe even 50's?), and that WW1 was much too early for a design like this.
And I also believed that the "drab-olive" colored crinkle paint might make it a military-issue camera.
Adding to my confusion, the link I posted had what sure looks to be this exact same camera design on display in the museum's WW1 exhibit.
So, their mistake, I guess? It's not WW-1, but pre WW-II.

 

[trdking]

It does have the characteristics of a simplex Very surprised it is not branded even if it were military. Have you looked throughout the interior of the camera? It should have something.

 

[Plug N Play]

The real value, here, might be what could be on the film ?
Push the little button on top and the back flap will open. If there is a film cartridge in there ... who knows ?

 

[Radon]

If it's like the camera my dad got in 1960, opening the door will expose the film. I think that film cartridges came out later in the 1960's with the Super 8. That camera probably had reels, and had to be opened in the dark.

 

[How Lucky]

Thank you all for providing so much useful and interesting information.

 

[RustyGold]

Sorry I'm so late to the party but what a very cool camera. Some excellent ID's. Simplex is ironic due to the detector with the same name.

 

[Plug N Play]

If it's like the camera my dad got in 1960, opening the door will expose the film. I think that film cartridges came out later in the 1960's with the Super 8. That camera probably had reels, and had to be opened in the dark.

Nope. Push the small button on top and the back flap will drop open.