Wow, a production run of 500 cameras over 15+ years - that's not bad.
Here are some ads from the ASC magazine chronicling the introduction of the R-35 (click on the pic to see a better resolution version of the scan).
Several months before launch, Bausch and Lomb ran a complementary ad about the new Super Baltars available in the new Mitchell Bayonet mount developed for the 35-R
The new hand-held Mitchell is coming...
And now it's here, and ready for orders...
If you are a collector and look backwards on a camera type, you tend to get a picture of how they were modified in their later production life to fill a niche in their mature years, versus what the original intent was of the designer. Virtually every R-35/MK I/MK II/System 35 is modified from its original delivered form. (A motion picture camera is never thrown away, it lives on to do something new and specific.)
It is clear to me now that Mitchell intended the original R-35 design primarily to be a hand-held Mitchell. Clearly their traditional camera line couldn't fill this requirement, but this new design would address that shortcoming with traditional Mitchell quality and features.
![mark II blimp 5.jpg](./download/file.php?id=2127&sid=2fdec3d1378b69a900d5edf18fbcf7bc)
- mark II blimp 5.jpg (94.49 KiB) Viewed 36767 times
This layout photo from the Swedish Film Institute shows the features that make this possible with the R-35 - the pistol grip, the revised vertical stepped magazine that also acts as a shoulder rest, thumb lug, and the (not shown here) lens turret arrangement - all geared to this end.
The hand-held aspect of the design is taken so far that for tripod mounting, it is pointed out with an asterisk, an accessory adapter is required. Of course, because it's meant to be a hand-held camera.
These are poor-quality blow-ups from these ads which likely are the pre-production prototypes.
It looks like the main body casting may not be fully resolved yet, but the dog-leg motor casting and other features looks the same, Not sure how the normal mags will interface on the top, but hey - this is a hand-held camera, so who cares!
The tripod adapter can be seen here.
An Arriflex type thumb tab is incorporated for operator triangulation in the original R-35 front.
It would be interesting to reassemble an R-35 "as was" to see how ergonomically it would feel today. However, it won't be light (I'm still looking for a weight estimate, fully dressed with a full mag of film).
Curious to pin down the exact changes between the original run of R-35 and the rest of the Mark I's.
Here is a launch article about the new R-35 from the ASC mag:
When the Mark II variant arrives, the product is re-launched in ads as a more modern Mitchell studio camera and the hand-held feature fades into the marketing background. The later System 35 re-launch in the mid 1960's solidifies this direction as a complete studio system.
My hypothesis is that Mitchell originally wanted to build a light-weight, hand-held camera, with all the traditional Mitchell features, but the market proved it wanted something different. Having done their homework right on the basic core design, Mitchell was able to adapt the R-35 design accordingly to support where they needed to be in the market during the 500 unit run - a more modern evolution of the Mitchell "system".
It should be noted that the hand-held camera market was very competitive when the R-35 was launched, with both the ARRIFLEX II and Eclair Cameflex well established (and at half the price of an R-35).
What the hand-held world wanted was a light weight, hand-held but un-blimped silent camera. That didn't come along practically till the ARRI BL of 1972. But Mitchell had an answer for that - The Mitchell MK III. Hopefully we will discuss that design effort soon.
Please chime in if you agree or disagree on these humble theories.
- Sif
Wow, a production run of 500 cameras over 15+ years - that's not bad.
Here are some ads from the ASC magazine chronicling the introduction of the R-35 (click on the pic to see a better resolution version of the scan).
[attachment=8]Sept 1960.png[/attachment]
Several months before launch, Bausch and Lomb ran a complementary ad about the new Super Baltars available in the new Mitchell Bayonet mount developed for the 35-R
[attachment=7]December 1960.png[/attachment]
The new hand-held Mitchell is coming...
[attachment=6]March 1961.png[/attachment]
And now it's here, and ready for orders...
If you are a collector and look backwards on a camera type, you tend to get a picture of how they were modified in their later production life to fill a niche in their mature years, versus what the original intent was of the designer. Virtually every R-35/MK I/MK II/System 35 is modified from its original delivered form. (A motion picture camera is never thrown away, it lives on to do something new and specific.)
It is clear to me now that Mitchell intended the original R-35 design primarily to be a hand-held Mitchell. Clearly their traditional camera line couldn't fill this requirement, but this new design would address that shortcoming with traditional Mitchell quality and features.
[attachment=5]mark II blimp 5.jpg[/attachment]
This layout photo from the Swedish Film Institute shows the features that make this possible with the R-35 - the pistol grip, the revised vertical stepped magazine that also acts as a shoulder rest, thumb lug, and the (not shown here) lens turret arrangement - all geared to this end.
The hand-held aspect of the design is taken so far that for tripod mounting, it is pointed out with an asterisk, an accessory adapter is required. Of course, because it's meant to be a hand-held camera.
These are poor-quality blow-ups from these ads which likely are the pre-production prototypes.
[attachment=4]closeup.png[/attachment]
It looks like the main body casting may not be fully resolved yet, but the dog-leg motor casting and other features looks the same, Not sure how the normal mags will interface on the top, but hey - this is a hand-held camera, so who cares!
[attachment=3]closeup 3.png[/attachment]
The tripod adapter can be seen here.
[attachment=2]s-l1600 (11).png[/attachment]
An Arriflex type thumb tab is incorporated for operator triangulation in the original R-35 front.
It would be interesting to reassemble an R-35 "as was" to see how ergonomically it would feel today. However, it won't be light (I'm still looking for a weight estimate, fully dressed with a full mag of film).
Curious to pin down the exact changes between the original run of R-35 and the rest of the Mark I's.
Here is a launch article about the new R-35 from the ASC mag:
[attachment=1]part 1.png[/attachment]
[attachment=0]part 2.png[/attachment]
When the Mark II variant arrives, the product is re-launched in ads as a more modern Mitchell studio camera and the hand-held feature fades into the marketing background. The later System 35 re-launch in the mid 1960's solidifies this direction as a complete studio system.
My hypothesis is that Mitchell originally wanted to build a light-weight, hand-held camera, with all the traditional Mitchell features, but the market proved it wanted something different. Having done their homework right on the basic core design, Mitchell was able to adapt the R-35 design accordingly to support where they needed to be in the market during the 500 unit run - a more modern evolution of the Mitchell "system".
It should be noted that the hand-held camera market was very competitive when the R-35 was launched, with both the ARRIFLEX II and Eclair Cameflex well established (and at half the price of an R-35).
What the hand-held world wanted was a light weight, hand-held but un-blimped silent camera. That didn't come along practically till the ARRI BL of 1972. But Mitchell had an answer for that - The Mitchell MK III. Hopefully we will discuss that design effort soon.
Please chime in if you agree or disagree on these humble theories.
- Sif