The Camera Site

From four to eight minutes of living History

8mm movie cameras are called camcorders it might come from a combination of the words camera and recorder or perhaps from a later history when the movie cameras were used by a cam. Then it could be the nouns cam + recorder.

I put all these cine cameras to one single page because I wanted to spare "paper" and the other reason is that I have only eight of them. Still they are a mediocre sample of the family movie making just before the time of the video.

I miss that Yashica with three revolving lenses but it is not here. It was the camera what I used in a beginning of my film career , ha,ha. The most memorable incident in the past is when I shot the most important parts of a weddings of my niece with an empty camera.

Arco Photo Ind.Co.Ltd: Japan

Arco Eight has a heavy die cast body and a huge selenium cell. Mechanism is working like a Pfaff sewing machine.(Considerable resemblance to a Swiss Watch) The lens is Cine-Arco 1:8/11,5 - 35mm.
I suppose that Arco has the most of the features which were available at that time. As you may see it has a spring mechanism as an operating system.

Canon Inch. Japan

Canon Zoom 318 Super 8 camera has a Canon Super Zoom Lens C-8 , 1,8/ 10 -30mm lens.It is as heavy as Arco.

The camera has a battery drive but no slow-motion feature. If I remember 318 was the "beginning from" model of the canon brand cine cameras.

The enlightened people in foreign countries are very familiar to, what is a living like in Finland. They have naturally seen films of Aki Kaurismäki and red books written by Arto Paasilinna.
I have seen a film "Jesse James Meets Frankenstein´s Daughter" and I have had an annual subscription of "Donald Duck", so I don´t have to visit USA to know how they manage there.
Books, magazines and cartoons can tell the truth but they can also lie. Twenty four times per second, like movies.

E lektrizitäts- u nd M etallwaren-
I ndustrie G esellschaft m.b.H.
Austria (1919-1981)
Eumig Sound 23XL This Eumig is made in Japan by Chinon I suppose in 1981.
Most advanced feature is a sound recording ability. Otherwise it is quite modest. The lens is Eumig Vario 1,2 / 7 - 21mm. Best wide angle in this group.

Cosina Co. Japan.

A manufacturer which has gained its position as a camera maker producing cameras which were sold under numerous markings and brands, except Cosina.
Voigtländer among the most famous.

Cosina Super - 8 has Cosinon Reflex Zoom , 1,8 / 9-36mm lens. It´s features are much like Canon 318. Not many buttons and other thingamajigs. It is working in full automatic mode if you wish.

This camera belongs to the large amount of cameras, donated by my good friends. Thank you L. S.

Fuji Photo Film Co. Ltd. Japan

Fujica Single-8 AX100
A simplest possible movie camera with an outstanding Single-8 feature.The film is "ready cut to" 8mm format. You don´t have to turn the film spool between a job.

It has three buttons, one for opening the film locker and the other to lock the release button.

Sankyo Seiki Mfg. Co., Ltd. Japan

Sankyo 8-CM Again an aluminium die cast body which is despite the material quite heavy. Pronon Zoom 1,8 / 8,5 -26mm. Three frame speeds, 12, 18, and 24
Plastic is a modern material for a tooth brush and a composting equipment and everything between.

If the proper quality is chosen, the results are excellent. The product is light weight and therefore durable. The minor elasticity of the "package" protects the content against damage.

Kodak Limited. London ,UK

Kodak Brownie movie camera owned by my brother in law. ( JJS. thanks to you.) A simple, still working Brownie with an impressive history. If it were equipped with more advanced features it´s name should have been Retina.

Zeiss Ikon, Germany

This Movicon 8 which is the last model of the Zeiss Movicon 8 series (1933-1952) was produced in 1952-. It is equipped with a Zeiss Movitar f/1,9 10mm lens. This movie camera was to be held sideways, therefore the film threading is complicated. The film has to be twisted to be able to pass by the film gate. (pic. on the left) Thank You Eeva for this camera (added 9.19.2004)