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Bell and Howell 309


chris gray

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Hey I just found a very old (8mm?) bell and howell model 309 in my attic and kinds fell into this forum.

http://www.collectiblecameras.com/catalog/.../B&H309.jpg

Here is a picture.

 

My question is can I still buy film to use in it and what kind of projector would I need.

Also it has space for four batteries in th handel and one of those flat like ones in the loading bay itself what are these for?

 

Many thanks

Chris

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Hey, Chris

 

It's a camera for Super-8 film which comes in 50-foot cartridges. There's a variety of Super-8 raw stock on the market from black-and-white universal over color reversal to color negative films.

 

The pill cell feeds the automatic iris (diaphragm) control that actually needs a 1.35 Volt cell but these original mercury cells are outlawed since 1998. If you insert an alcaline cell of 1.5 V or an other kind of 1.55 V you'll get underexposed pictures.

 

What you can do is

1) have the meter inside the camera adjusted to the higher voltage

2) have an adapter made or bought somewhere (I don't know exactly) to be able to insert 1.4 V cells

3) discard the camera and film with a better and more flexible one

 

Please don't feel offended or take it personally, this Bell & Howell 309 is an absolute mass consumer product. There are cameras which work on 1.5 V cells alone, which have less or no plastic parts, which allow you to change lenses, and more.

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Many thanks for the reply Simon, I saw mercury and I was like :o!! Just my luck my parents bought a crappy camera!

 

Hi Chris,

 

even if it's not that good it will yield pictures and teach you a lot about shooting film if you're just starting out. And if you start using it and get hooked on shooting film a you can buy a better one any time later on as well!

 

Cheers, Dave

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No, those were good cameras. You can use regular button cells no problem, they will work fine.

 

If someone just wants to try out an old camera, then let him guys! It's like you're trying to sell a Cray computer to someone who just shows an interest in surfing the net.

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  • 10 years later...

I teach traditional black and white photography and a student just brought a bell & howell autoload 309 to  me.  It looks like it is in good working condition and his family still has the projector to run the film.  What film can I buy specifically for him to use and more importantly...where can he get that film developed?  Thanks!

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