Saw this in a museum in southern Calif. what is it ? make, year etc. thanks

It looks like a blimped film camera to me...
Similar to some Eastman photos, and it has a decidedly film-style twin-crank head, instead of a ball head.

Chip

please describe what a film style twin crank head is. would it have the 2 film reals on top like a hollywood camera.

What you're seeing is the outer soundproofing box, or "blimp." The film camera with the two reels is (or would be) inside.

"Twin-crank head" refers to the mounting, or pan head, at the bottom. This one has separate cranks for panning and tilting motions.

Camera head is a Mitchell head -- didn't remember at the time.
Really separates the men from the boys in camera orientation.
It's like patting your head and rubbing your belly simultaneously.
Or cutting a circle or diagonal line with a manual milling machine.
https://goo.gl/images/edY912

One handwheel pans the camera left to right. The other tilts the lens up or down.
The gearsets are worm gears, with ratios chosen so they are quick and responsive, but will stay put with minimal attention.
Here's a good read: http://filmcastentertainment.blogspot.com/2009/08/word-on-geared-heads.html

Additional camera pics:
https://goo.gl/images/hdKd3c
And many others at the George Eastman museum site:
https://eastman.org/technicolor/technology/three-strip-camera

The general huge-osity is because it may be a Technicolor (3-strip) camera inside.
Quite the mechanical marvel, but pretty darn loud in operation.

In film, the big noisemakers are blimped, or enclosed, when shooting sound. Cameras and electrical generators are both referred to as blimped when they're well-enclosed.


Chip

about what year is it ?

The first line of text in the link supplied indicates 1932.

So my guess is 1932.

Chip

thanks Chip & old TV nut. so what price do you think it would be valued at including the camera and reels inside the blimp to a collector.

thanks Chip & old TV nut. so what price do you think it would be valued at including the camera and reels inside the blimp to a collector.

sorry, no idea

Ok, so I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you (or someone you know) owns one, that you're trying to either sell, donate or insure. If so, it would have been good to start with that. Call the museum with the photo, and ask them, or have them point to a cinema-industry appraiser. It's likely their office will be in sight of the Hollywood sign. You'll probably have to arrange to take it to some mutually-agreeable spot. Note: it will cost actual money. Economic value will depend on what the market is like for stuff like that, and whether the right buyer can meet the right seller at the right time. Or just put it on ebay and see what happens.

Having people take wild guesses on the internet won't really help, and won't stand up to pointed scrutiny when push comes to shove, either. Hire a professional.

Plus, when folks offer up websites with info, actually go to them and read them.

Good luck, and let us know how it works out.

Chip

Sure looks like Technicolor to me. Photo is from a Michael Powell production in England. He did make a Technicolor film ironically named "The Life and Times of Colonel Blimp".

Sure looks like Technicolor to me. Photo is from a Michael Powell production in England. He did make a Technicolor film ironically named "The Life and Times of Colonel Blimp".


The OP photo of a camera w/blimp looks a bit smaller then the original 3 strip Technicolor camera.

-Steve D.

The photo on the left in Steve D.'s last reply is one made for the original 3-strip Technicolor camera. The photo on the right is the same type of blimp, but modified to take the Technirama conversion of the 3-strip camera to Techicolor's version of VistaVision (8 perf horizontal film motion.) A further conversion to the Technirama blimp involved increasing the lens access glass on the right of the blimp (as pictured) to much wider proportions allowing for the making of "Super-Technirama" negatives via anamorphic prismatic lenses. The latter was usually printed to 70mm print stock but could be released on via Tech's 35mm dye-transfer printing method.

I've shot with both the 3-strip configuration and the Technirama style blimp and in neither case is it for the faint of heart. 300 lbs. plus depending upon what's inside!

The twin crank head is called a "gear head" mount.