Bell & Howell 432A?

[beerpotato]

Hi everyone, rank newbie here. I just got a brand-spankin'-old Bell & Howell 432 Autoload camera, with no manual. (Three guesses where I bought it from...) I think I've figured most of it out, but I have a few questions and wonder if anyone can help me:

(1) I can't seem to find a mercury battery (PX-14 2.7V, I think) for the light meter, and none of the camera shops I checked knew of a substitute. What can I do? (I'm guessing I can skip the built-in meter and use an external light meter to determine the exposure, which leads to the next questions...)

(2) What fps does this camera actually shoot at? One website says 18/24, another says 18/36, another says it has single-frame... Which is right?

(3) What shutter speed does it work at? A helpful document I found on the web says that it's likely to be 1/36s, but I can't say for sure...

(4) Does the camera have a built-in tungsten light filter? What's the thing on top that looks like a tripod mount (with a screw in it) except that it's on top of the camera??

(5) Hmm, does anyone have a manual for one of these things?? (Someone on another forum mentioned www.craigcamera.com, but they want $18 for a copy!!)

Thanks anyone and everyone for your help!

- Chuck

[ulrichsd]

Welcome to Super 8!

This info is from http://www.kolumbus.fi/puistot/

Bell&Howell
432 Autoload
Year: 66-68
Lens: B&H Zoom 1,8 / 9 - 45 mm
Focustronic
Manual / Auto Exposure
Frame rates: 18, 36 + single frame
No sound
Special "Focustronic" focusing that enlarges the finder picture x 10, then focused with zoom buttons.

>(1) I can't seem to find a mercury battery (PX-14 2.7V, I think) for the light meter,

Mercury batteries are no longer produced in the US (bad for the environment). There is a replacement but they are not very accurate. So you can either get the batteries from some other country, or you can just use an external meter. Considering that the cameras meter is about 35 years old it probably wouldn't be very accurate anyway. I'd opt for the external meter.

(2) What fps does this camera actually shoot at? One website says 18/24, another says 18/36, another says it has single-frame... Which is right?

18, 36 (slow motion), single frame (animation, etc)

(3) What shutter speed does it work at? A helpful document I found on the web says that it's likely to be 1/36s, but I can't say for sure...

1/36s is correct at 18 frames per second. At 18 FPS there are each frame is approximately 1/18th of a second. Each frame, the shutter is open half the time and closed half the time. Thus, 1/18th divided by 2 = 1/36th

(4) Does the camera have a built-in tungsten light filter? What's the thing on top that looks like a tripod mount (with a screw in it) except that it's on top of the camera??

Probably, look for a knob with a light and a sun on it. If it has a built in filter thats probably what it will look like.

The screw thingy on top is a mount for an external light.

(5) Hmm, does anyone have a manual for one of these things?? (Someone on another forum mentioned www.craigcamera.com, but they want $18 for a copy!!)

Not me, sorry...

Hope this helps,
scott u.