Bolex C8

C-8

8mm Camera

1954

  • OVERALL DIMENSIONS: 5" x 3 1/2" x 2"
  • WEIGHT: Approximately 28 oz.
  • OUTER CASE: Highly polished duraluminium body, covered in genuine Morocco leather. Metal parts are chrome-plated.
  • FILM CAPACITY: 25ft daylight loading spools of double run 8mm film. When a roll runs through the camera, only half the width of film is exposed. The spool is then reversed and run through again, exposing the other half. When processed, film is split and spliced together giving 50' for projection. Projection time at 16 fps for 25' roll is 4 minutes.
  • THREADING: manual, with no loop forming; with the pressure pad opened the film is simply placed over a guide roller, threaded behind the gate, over the bottom guide roller and onto the takeup spool.
  • MOTOR: Constant speed, spring motor mechanism; governor controlled. Generous winding key, attached to the camera, folds back against its side when not in use. Spring cannot be over-wound.
  • LENS MOUNT: Accommodates one standard D mount lens.
  • VIEWFINDER: optical type; adjustable dial shows the scene as viewed by focal lengths of 12.5mm, 25mm and 36mm. Accessory prism attachments allow for filming with 5.5mm lenses, and for parallax correction while filming at close distances.
  • VARIABLE SPEED: 8, 12, 16, 24, 32, 48 and 64 frames per second.
  • RELEASE BUTTON: continuous exposures can be made by a sliding release lever or cable release. The lever can be locked to prevent accidental exposures, or set for continuous hands-free filming.
  • SHUTTER: 165 degree disc shutter gives an exposure time of 1/35th second at 16fps.
  • FOOTAGE COUNTER: Precise reading of exposed film footage. Audible end-of-film signal. Resets to zero upon reloading.
  • SINGLE FRAME: A cable release socket allows the user to expose single frames for filming animation, titles, etc.
  • TRIPOD SOCKET: 1/4" thread

Notes and Comments

Like the B-8, the Bolex C-8 camera was produced with three variations of zoom and speed control dials. Folding swivel rings were equipped on the original version, while subsequent cameras were produced with small milled knobs. The third style was larger and constructed of plexiglass.

to 461520 461521 to 627500 after 627501
Bolex single lens cameras in this series:

C-8, C-8S, C-8SL and C-8LA.


Serial Numbers and Dates of Manufacture

The serial number on this model can be found on the base of the camera body, inscribed around the tripod mount.

Bolex C8 :: Serial Numbers
  #   Year
420000 460000 1954
460000 510000 1955
510000 610000 1956
610000 670000 1957
670000 745000 1958