Bolsey 8 Camera

My Bolsey 8 camera

Being a big fan of Bolsey cameras, I was thrilled when a Bolsey 8 camera showed up unexpectedly with a "lot" of cameras purchased online. It was buried in the photo, and all you could see was part of the case, so to my surprise, I picked up the camera and unzipped the case to find a somewhat rare Bolsey 8.

 I've owned several different Bolsey cameras and even written about a couple in my weekly camera blogs. One is the Bolsey Flex-Trio, which I had in the original box with the flash. Just a year or so ago, I wrote about the unusual Boley Model C twin-lens camera. Both cameras are very well made, and I've always enjoyed shooting with them and having them in my collection.

 In 1956, the Bolsey 8 camera was marketed and sold as the only miniature 8mm movie and still camera made. There was even a "Lady Bolsey 8" camera sold in the United Kingdom, which I'll need to keep my eye out for a possible future purchase.

 There are many movie cameras that have single-frame capability, which is used in animation. Still, none of them that I'm aware of can change to different shutter speeds when using the camera in the single frame mode. The Bolsey 8 has just that capability and is extremely small and compact. There's an excellent website for subminiature cameras at www.submini.com, and if interested, they have a copy of the Bolsey Manual.

History:

The Bolsey Camera Company was established in 1947 in the United States by Jacques Bolsey, born Yakov Bogopolsky in Kyiv, Ukraine, in 1895. Bolsey's journey into camera design began in Switzerland, where he initially studied medicine but soon shifted to mechanical engineering and photography. 

 In the 1920s, he designed the Cinegraphe Bol, a 35mm cine camera, and later developed the renowned Bolex line of movie cameras, which became highly regarded for their precision and durability. After selling the rights to Bolex to Paillard in Switzerland, Bolsey contributed to developing the Alpa camera before immigrating to the United States in 1939.

 In America, Bolsey worked for the government during World War II, designing aerial and ground photography cameras. He then founded the Bolsey Camera Company to produce user-friendly, affordable, and durable cameras for the consumer market. The company's most iconic products were compact 35mm rangefinder cameras, such as the Bolsey B series (B, B2, B22, Jubilee), which featured cast aluminum bodies, coupled rangefinders, and built-in flash synchronization—a rare feature at the time. 

 The Bolsey C series combined twin-lens reflex (TLR) and rangefinder designs. The company also produced subminiature cameras using 8mm film and pseudo-TLR models like the Bolsey-Flex.

 Bolsey cameras gained popularity in postwar America for their accessibility and portability, appealing to amateur photographers and families. However, by the late 1950s, the company struggled to compete with the influx of advanced, competitively priced cameras from Japanese manufacturers. 

 Although the Bolsey Camera Company ceased operations in the early 1960s, its innovative designs and commitment to democratizing photography left a lasting legacy. Today, Bolsey cameras are prized by collectors for their unique blend of engineering, aesthetics, and historical significance.

My Camera

My Bolsey 8 camera is 3.25" tall by 2.5" deep by 1.25" wide and weighs 12.3oz. The camera is tiny yet easy to hold and extremely well-built. The Bolsey 8 has a clock drive spring motor that advances the film cartridge in the camera. My Bolsey 8 camera has a Bolsey Elgeet Navitar 10mm f1.8 lens. A wide-angle lens (6.5mm) and a telephoto lens (20mm) were also available for the camera. The serial number on my camera is 08823, stamped on the back of the camera just under the viewfinder.

The Bolsey 8 camera has variable shutter speeds, which include 1/600, 1/300, 1/200, 1/100 & 1/50. These are set on a small dial just above the lens. The Bolsey 8 also has an aperture range from F1.8 to F22. A large wheel sets the aperture on the side of the camera body, showing what aperture the user has the camera's lens set to. In between the lens and the aperture settings are the focus marks for the distance you are from your subject. The focus on the lens needs to be set from one foot to infinity, with another setting in between, for landscape, group, or portrait. You cannot miss this in front of the camera. 

Also, on the front of the camera, below the lens, is a wheel that turns with "M" on the top, "L" in the middle, and "S" on the bottom. To use the camera as a movie camera, turn the wheel to "M," and for still photography, turn the wheel to "S." Press the button to activate the shutter on the camera in either the "M" or "S" modes. "L" locks the camera's shutter so you can't accidentally run the camera while the camera is in your pocket or fitted camera case.

 On the right side of the camera is the large winding key, which you turn clockwise to wind the motor. In the back, in the top corner, is the footage counter, which tells you how many feet of film are still available to use on the roll.

On the left side of the camera is nothing more than the Bolsey logo on a metal label on the top left front of the camera, and on the bottom right back of the camera is a window that allows you to see the recommended exposure settings information imprinted on the special Bolsey 8 film cartridge. To take the side of the camera to load the film, you pull the side off the camera by pulling from the small knob on the top of the camera. The back will come off, and you can insert the film magazine into the camera body. Then, just snap back on the side of the camera for shooting.

 The film used in the Bolsey 8 camera is a single 8mm magazine of 25 feet. The roll of film that was still in my camera was Kodachrome 25, which is a fantastic still film and one used extensively in the late 1950s and early 1960s. I can remember it's a film my dad used in our family movie cameras.

Results:

The camera wasn't used because the film in it is very old and Kodachrome, a type of film for which processing is no longer available, is not available. 

 

Conclusion:

I can tell you the camera was in good working condition. All the shutter speeds worked, and the lens was clean, so it would have been fun to try it out and see what results you could expect.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes from your day to read about this two-in-one camera. It is an excellent still and movie camera built into one small, dynamic package.

 I'd love to hear from you about this or any other cameras I've written about. Click on the link to read other camera reviews I've done.

 I also have an online store called Cuny's Camera, where I sell old, vintage cameras, lenses, and other knickknacks.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Bolsey Model C-Twin Lens Reflex

My Bolsey C camera

Very early in my camera collecting career, the Bolsey cameras have been a steady companion in my collection. I believe this goes back to when, in my 20s, I'd go to local Flea markets, which were usually held in older Drive-in theatres due to their expensive areas, and find Bolsey cameras. Usually, they were the B2 models and generally in fair to poor condition.

 Every once in a while, I'd find one in working condition, which was a rarity. The thing that drew me to these cameras was the odd shape they have. They are generally smaller than the standard 35mm camera. Still, they have an odd shape where the front of the camera is much broader than the rear. The corners of the cameras are rounded off, giving them a sleek and modern look for their time. I compare them to the shape of automobiles of the time, which generally had rounded curves and were comfortable to use.

 The Bolsey C was a camera that I've always had my eye on to add to my collection for many years. I can remember looking through the Bible of all camera collectors, McKeown's camera guide, and seeing the Model C and the other Model B and Jubilee models, with thoughts that someday I'll have one in my collection. That day was about 4 years ago when I purchased another "lot" of cameras with the Model C within that lot. To my surprise, the camera was almost mint and had a working shutter. Even the fitted case was in excellent condition. The camera appeared almost unused for 70-75 years since the camera was initially introduced in 1950.

History:

Bolsey Camera Company can be traced back to Yakov Bogopolsky, a trailblazing figure in the early 20th-century photographic industry, who played a pivotal role in the evolution of compact cameras. Born in 1895 in Ukraine, Bogopolsky left for Switzerland in 1913-14, where he studied medicine in Geneva. Due to the Russian Revolution and WWI outbreak, he could not return to Russia. While studying medicine, he worked as a portrait photographer to earn money. During his time in Switzerland, he changed his name to Jacques Bolskey. While in Switzerland, his passion for photography grew. He even invented a camera that photographed the beating heart of a dog, which was used in surgery.

 One of Bolskey's earliest successes was the Bolex line of cameras he designed while working for Paillard, a Swiss company. These cameras, primarily for motion pictures, became highly regarded for their precision and durability. While in Switzerland, he also worked as a designer at Swiss watchmaker Pignons S.A., which produced the first Alpa camera.

 After 22 years in Switzerland and being denied citizenship there, he eventually immigrated to the United States in 1939, changing his name to Jacques Bolsey. Bogopolsky's most significant contributions were realized through the Bolsey Camera Company, which he founded in the 1940s in New York. 

Bolsey's hallmark was producing user-friendly, affordable cameras that maintained quality. His most iconic designs were the Bolsey B series of cameras, which debuted in the mid-1940s. These cameras, such as the Bolsey B, B2, and Jubilee, were compact and housed in durable cast aluminum bodies. They featured a coupled rangefinder and a fixed-focus lens, making them accessible to amateur photographers. The Bolsey cameras were marketed as an ideal solution for everyday photography, emphasizing ease of use and portability.

 One of Bolsey's key innovations was incorporating a built-in flash synchronization system, a feature uncommon in consumer-grade cameras at the time. This innovation further solidified the company's reputation for blending functionality with convenience. The cameras became popular in the United States, particularly among families looking to capture moments during the post-war era.

 Despite its early success, the Bolsey Camera Company struggled to compete with emerging Japanese camera manufacturers in the 1950s and 1960s. Companies like Nikon and Canon began producing more advanced and competitively priced cameras, dominating the global market. Bolsey's commitment to simplicity and compact design became less appealing as photographers demanded more advanced features.

 By the mid-1960s, the Bolsey Camera Company ceased operations. While short-lived, Bolsey left a lasting impact on camera design, particularly democratizing photography. The company's cameras remain collectors' items today, valued for their unique blend of aesthetics, engineering, and historical significance. Jacques Bolsey's vision and ingenuity continue to be celebrated in the world of vintage photography.

My Camera:

My Bolsey Model C is two cameras in one. It's a twin-lens 35mm camera that incorporates both a waist-level finder and rangefinder into the same camera body. The camera is 3.75" tall with the chimney down and 4.75" tall in the up position, 4.25" wide by 2.5" deep, and weighs 1 lb 2.6oz. The camera is made from aluminum and has a gleaming finish. The camera has a Wollensak Anastigmat 44mm f3.2 lens in a Wollensak shutter. My Bolsey C also still has the red round Bolsey emblem intact on the viewing chimney. So many Bolsey cameras are missing this, as they are easily lost.

 The camera has a waist-level finder with ground glass at the top for focusing and is parallax corrected to 2', which is also the minimum focusing distance. According to the Instruction manual, the waist-level finder is "exactly as you will shoot it. "The waist-level lens is also the same as the taking lens.

 The camera also has a coupled rangefinder with split image capability built into it. It has the best of both worlds for focusing. Both the waist level and the rangefinder on my camera are bright and accurate. The separate viewfinder is offset on the right side of the camera for framing purposes. Also, on the back of the camera, there are two sockets on the left side made for the flash unit that snaps into them. A flash with a normal PC cord won't work on this camera.

To load the camera, the back is removed from the camera body by switching a lever on the bottom of the camera to the "open" position. The back slides off, exposing the standard 35mm camera film chamber. You slide in a 35mm film cartridge into the open area on the left, bringing the leader over the roller and the drive gear with the sprockets, and slide the leader into the take-up spool. IMPORTANT: wind the camera; you need to pull the winding lever up slightly before the camera will allow the camera to advance to the next frame. If you don't do this step, you'll tear the sprocket holes from the film because the drive gear is locked until you pull the winding lever up before winding. Put the back onto the camera and lock it. At this point, lift the winding lever and advance two times to get it to the first frame. On the back of the camera is a depth-of-field scale.

One other function of the winding lever is cocking the shutter. The Bolsey Model C uses a bar to prevent users from taking double exposures. The shutter release is a lever on the right side of the camera. Behind the shutter release is a bar with a red dot on the end. After you take a photo, the bar with the red dot springs forward, preventing the shutter release from returning to the normal "taking" position. After you take the photo, lift the winding knob, and advance to the next frame, the bar with the red dot is pulled back into the camera, allowing the shutter release to move back to the "taking" position and cocking the shutter. If you try to take a photo with the red dot showing, the shutter doesn't trip, and no exposure is made. Not all Bolsey cameras have the red dot bar to prevent double exposure. I have several other Bolsey cameras (B2 Special in red and a grey B3) that don't incorporate this feature.

The camera only has 5 shutter speeds, 1/200, 1/100, 1/50, 1/25, and 1/10, along with "B" and "T" for timed exposures. The 1/25 and 1/20 are in red, warning of slow speed to use a tripod or some way to keep the camera steady. The control of the shutter speed is a slider bar above the speed indicating which speed will be used. The aperture settings go from f3.2 to f22. These are controlled by a separate sliding bar under the lens with a pointer pointing at the set aperture.

Close up of shutter spped and aperture controls on Bolsey C camera

My results:

Where I live, it's usually overcast and raining, but I had a few hours where the sun almost poked its head out, so I loaded a roll of film into the camera and drove to two different places close to my home to take photos. The first was a local park with a playground, and the second was a home with a massive Christmas display. The display mainly consists of plastic figures on the front of the house. I figured I get a few good photos here. Here are the results of the photo journey.

Conclusion:

I need to admit, I wasn't sure how this camera would perform or if I would like to use this somewhat oddball camera. I have to admit, the camera worked great, and it was really fun to shoot with. I really enjoyed the waist-level finder and thought it was bright and accurate in its ability to focus sharply. I also tried the rangefinder, which performed just as well. On a scale of 1-10, I'd give this an 8, maybe even an 8.5, in its usability, a joy to use, and results.

 You can get good results using either the rangefinder or waist-level finder. It's the best of two worlds built into one camera. If you don't have one, you should add this to your collection. Try to find a good working example to take out and use. I don't think you'll be disappointed.

 Thank you for taking a few minutes to read about this fantastic camera.

 Until next week, please be safe.

Bolsey-Flex Trio Camera

As I was sitting at my desk a few weeks back as I was figuring out what camera to write about next, I looked down at a box of cameras I have in my office, and on top was the Bolsey Flex Trio, which is in the box and complete with the instructions. As I started putting together my thoughts about the camera, I had to pull out the camera, and many different ideas came into my mind.

My Bolsey-Flex Camera & Instructions

My Bolsey-Flex Camera & Instructions

The camera for its age isn't in great shape but does work. The camera uses 120 size film, which is a HUGE benefit to me since the film is so readily available. I decided to load a roll of Black and White film in it to shoot as I walked through my neighborhood. I processed the film and was somewhat impressed by the Bolsey-Flex. It's a Pseudo Twin Lens Reflex camera, which means it looks and feels like a TLR camera but works more like a Box Camera due to its simplicity.

Camera Research

I was researching the camera, only to find that a friend of mine, a brilliant writer and camera collecting blogger, Mike Eckman did a blog post on the same camera just a few months ago, which you can read here. With that said, Mike has quite a bit of information on the designer, Jacques Bogopolsky, and camera companies he worked for. The famous movie camera, Bolex, was named after Jacques Bogopolsky, and he also designed cameras for Pignons S.A., the original company that made Alpa Cameras.

For my blog post, I want to concentrate on the experience of using the camera, the image quality, and my overall thoughts on how such a beautifully designed camera handles out in a natural shooting environment. I want to offer a few facts on the camera in general. The camera is an all-aluminum cast body with beautiful light green coverings. In the box comes all you need to take the camera out into the world to take photos.

The Camera

The camera measures 4.75" tall without the viewfinder in the closed position and 6" with the finder in the "up" position. The camera is 3.75" wide, which includes the width of the knobs. It is 3.75" deep, including the lens in the focused to the closest focused position, and 3.5 with the lens focused to infinity. The Bolsey-Flex incorporates an elementary zone focusing lens which can focus from 5 feet to infinity. The focus on the camera is strictly a "guess focus" style. While this is a Psuedo TLR camera, the top lens does nothing more than frame the photo in the camera. There is no focusing capability when looking through the viewfinder.

On the Bolsey-Flex shutter, you have the capability of "I" for an instant, which shoots the shutter at 1/50th of a second shutter speed, and "T" for a time exposure. The camera does have a synchronized shutter which couples with the flash attachment. The camera also has an 80mm lens with three aperture settings, F7.7, f11, and f16. 

The flashgun takes 2-"AA" batteries to power the Type No.5 flashbulbs that fit the top. You unscrew the bottom of the flashgun to put the batteries into it. It would be best if you took the camera case off the camera to use the flash. The flashgun fits into the camera synchro port, which is below the lens and held by the screw that holds the case into place. When you trip the shutter, the camera sends a signal to the flashgun, which fires the flashbulb. 

My unit seems to be in good working condition. Unfortunately, I didn't have bulbs when I loaded the camera with film and did all my shots outdoors. It would have been fun to shoot with bulbs. I'll need to test another camera that uses a flashbulb in a future post, not that I have some bulbs to try.

To load film into the camera, there is a knob on the left side of the camera with "Open," Close" on it. Turn the knob to "open," and the top of the back swings down open to load the film into the camera. Nothing special here as the. Put the empty spool on the top and film onto the bottom area. The shutter won't fire until the winding lever is turned to advance the film. On the back of the camera is the red window with a sliding cover to see when the film is advanced to the following frame number.

 Images

Here are some of the images I took with the Bolsey-Flex camera.

Rocks

Rocks

Backyard Aspen

Backyard Aspen

Evergreen Tree

Evergreen Tree

Dogwood

Dogwood

Conclusion

I thought the camera did a very excellent job for a pseudo-TLR camera. It's not much more than a glorified box camera. The camera was easy to hold, the exposures were good, thanks to my sunny 16 rule when exposing to sunlight. The lens vignettes a bit, but I enjoy that. The ease of operation and see the frames in the red window when advancing were spot on. I'd recommend this very well-built camera to anyone.

 Thank you for taking some time to look over this post. Until next time, please be safe.