Tuesday, June 9, 2009

“Bolex isn't Bowflex” - Daryle Lambert's antique and collectible Blog – Film making is popular.



Bolex is the Best - Thanks to Flicker.com


Bowflex can make you muscles but Bolex will put money in your pocket. The title is rather catchy, don't you think? Up until recently I had very little interest in movie cameras but Cindy convinced me that we needed a camera to make films for the 31 Club [ Daryle Lambert's Antique and Collectible Club ] which could be posted on Youtube. After that my son, Joshua, began to show interest in movie making. I started to do a little research and I ran across an article on Bolex Cameras that I will share with you that said there was a small but very active group of collectors that were into movie cameras.

It seems that Bolex cameras are in a class by themselves and they have stayed popular since the early 30's. I didn't know but it must be a fact that during the 40's and 50's, movie making was as popular as still life photography. These cameras were spring operated. Can you imagine that? The duration of each shooting was limited, so often there were many slices done to make each movie. Bolex was considered expensive in its day but these cameras have proven to be worth every penny of their cost. They were meant for personal use but often found themselves being used commercially

It is a rare garage or house sale where I don't run across one or more movie cameras so it is only logical that almost everyone must have owned one at some time or another. Bell & Howell and Kodak also were in the camera business, however, their quality never seemed to match that of Bolex. It seems that watches weren't the only wonderful things made in Switzerland and cameras, even though they didn't receive an immediate acceptance here in the USA, didn't take long for their quality to steal the hearts of most photographers.

The great thing about movie cameras is that they don't seem to draw much interest at the sales, even if their price is reduced to nearly nothing. That is great for us because we know that there are collectors just waiting for the great cameras we find for them.

By checking on eBay you will find Bolex selling for starting on average $200 and then going up from there. You may find yourself turning $25-$50 into $500 pretty quickly. No Bolex will give you that Altas body like Bowflex, but at my age give me the Bolex.


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