8mm Movie Camera
In 1974, responding to a "for sale" ad in a New York newspaper, I bought a Canon 8mm movie camera from a guy in Brooklyn.
As a film student in High School, I used it extensively over the next few years.
With interchangeable lenses and manual f-stop and focus settings, it was the closest thing to "pro" I could afford.
Thirty-three years later, after corresponding with a camera collector in California, I learned that my camera was
"a little more special" than I knew. It seems that Canon produced this camera in very small numbers, and
never actually sold it at retail, opting instead for a more elaborate variation, the turreted Cine 8T.
How that "guy in Brooklyn" came to own a not-sold-anywhere camera will likely remain a mystery....
If you have any more information or insight into this camera, please write me.
Here is my camera, the Canon Cine Model 8S, on the left, and the first 8mm movie camera sold by Canon, the Cine 8T, on the right:
Several lenses were available ... 6.5, 13, 25, 38, 50, and 75mm.
Other than the lack of a turret, one difference between the 8S and 8T is that
the viewfinder on the 8S is not set up to use the 50mm lens
Another difference between the two cameras: The 8T has an additional viewfinder that
allows one to look through (and focus) the lens that is not currently in use by the camera.
The 8S has a plugged hole where the viewfinder would be.
This would suggest that Canon was planning to use the same body for both the one- and two-lens models,
but then dropped the single lens model altogether.
 |
 |
Here is the serial number plate on my 8S
Canon maintains a webpage describing the 8T, which includes a mention of the 8S:
"A lower class camera, the Canon 8S with a simpler viewfinder and without a turret, was also designed, but it was not marketed."
Canon has another page with some insight on the history of the development of their first 8mm movie camera.
Scroll down halfway through this last Canon camera history page for another mention of the 8T's development.
Here are pictures of 8T advertising, found on the Canon site.
There is of course no marketing for the 8S.
 |
 |
 |
 |