Canon Dial 35
Faceplate variations of Dial 35: Bell & Howell vs. Canon; and Canon Dial 35-2 image by 大大兒 (Image rights) |
Shooting grip with the Dial 35 image by Rasmus Andersson (Image rights) |
The Canon Dial 35 is an unconventional half-frame 35mm camera with clockwork automatic film advance. It was made in Japan by Canon from November 1963. The Dial 35 was also sold as the Bell & Howell Dial 35.
The body has an unusual "portrait" format rectangular shape, with a short, wide-diameter lens barrel containing the CdS meter photocells window around the 28mm lens. Rotating the lens barrel sets the speed of the Seikosha shutter; the aperture is set automatically. A button below the viewfinder can be pulled out to give manual aperture control, for manual exposure settings or flash. Film speed is set on a scale around the meter window.
Focus is set on a lever around the top of the lens barrel, with a display inside the viewfinder.
There is a cylindrical handle at the bottom, which also winds the clockwork mechanism. On the (user's) left is an accessory shoe. The film runs vertically, from the cassette at the top to the take-up spool at the bottom, giving a landscape-format 24×18mm frame when the camera is upright.
Dial 35-2
The 35-2 has a black nameplate at the top in place of the engraved name and a longer-lasting clockwork motor. Speed range is increased to 1000ASA, the meter uses a different battery and a hot shoe is added.
Specifications
- Manufacturer: Canon
- Introduced: Nov 1963
- Film: 35mm 24×18mm Half-frame
- Shutter: Seikosha 1/30–1/250s+B, with Flash sync
- Film speed: 8–500 ASA
- Lens: Canon SE 28mm f/2.8 (5 elements in 3 groups), focus down to 0.8m
Bell & Howell Dial 35-2 image by Rick Soloway (Image rights) |
Links
- Dial 35 on Canon's Camera Museum
- Dial 35-2 at Jim Grey's Down the Road
- Dial 35/35-2 manual at Butkus.org
Dial 35 interior view, showing half-frame film gate and battery holder image by Denny Narciso (Image rights) |