MODEL BNC VIEW FINDER

Mitchell Camera Corporation, Glendale, California 1946-1968

View finder for the Mitchell Model BNC (Blimped Newsreel Camera) 35mm motion picture camera, identified for the BNC by its Mitchell "acorn" style manufacturer's tag and its parallax cam set equipped for use with the BNC model.

This cam set which attaches to the view finder, was part of a focusing system designed to correct for the parallax between the view finder and the camera's taking lens. Through a series of cams, the view finder was automatically set based upon the focal length of the lens selected. The five cams are variously marked 35, 40, 50, 75 and 100 corresponding to the typical focal lengths of lenses in use at the time.

This focusing system was designed by George A. Mitchell, under Patent No. 2,012,515 dated August 27, 1935 and assigned to Mitchell Camera Corporation:

Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office

Source: U.S. Patent and Trademark Office