Item: Early Movie Camera / Projector: the Biokam
Sold For: $2,727.77
Bids: 30
Date: Aug 04, 2012
Auction: Ebay
Description and Image By: petrifactioneer
One of the very earliest home movie cameras produced in the UK around 1900 the Biokam was a hand-cranked movie camera which took 17.5 mm film and could be attached to a magic lantern and converted into a projector (as my last photo, a web image, indicates). The device measures 5½” x 3” x 2½” and its mechanism is mounted on a sturdy brass plate contained within a polished mahogany case. The example on offer is missing its name-plate, four tiny screws (which fasten the lens mount in place and attach the front panel of the camera to the rest of the body) and the adapter ring for attaching it to a magic lantern. It has one lens, the Voigtlander Projection Lens (it originally had a separate Voigtlander “Euryscope” Lens for when it was being used as a camera). However the rest of this rather rare device from the early days of cinematography is in excellent condition physically, mechanically and cosmetically.