Sankyo 8-E 8mm retro cine camera

Made in the 1950s, this is a rather special 8mm cine camera. It has a full die-cast metal case, with a gold finish.
It has a rotating turret with 3 lenses (38m, 13mm, 6.5mm) 

You switch from one lens to another by rotating the turret – very quick and simple.

This is a clever camera - the lenses are all geared together so that when you change the aperture on one lens, the apertures on the other lenses change in sync. 

This particular example shows few signs of use, and the external body is in good condition – no dents, and only minor scuffs / scratches.

One of the lenses (16mm) is a little cloudy and would benefit from some cleaning while the others appear very bright and clear. The apertures operate well.


The camera runs on a clockwork motor using a clever centrifugal governor that maintains the motor at the correct speed. It has a very large range of shooting speeds: 48 / 32 / 24 / 16 / 8 frames-per-second.

The footage counter works just fine, and is very clear to read.

All in all a really lovely camera.

Note that this camera takes Double-8 film (not Super 8) which is rather a specialist format. We have not film tested this camera so can't guarantee fully, but it seems to work OK. See the video for the clockwork drive operating.

Here is a link to a company that processes Double-8 film:

https://niagaracustomlab.com/

Any questions at all – please don’t hesitate to ask.