Eumig Viennette 5 Super 8 Camera

The Eumig Viennette 5, made in Austria, came on the market in 1970. It is a wonderful camera but unfortunately it turned out to be interim technology. This one did away with several limitations imposed by the earlier 8mm movie cameras. For some reason the industry stayed with the fifty foot film load. Looking back I think it would have been better if a larger film cartridge had been developed. A two hundred foot cartridge would have allowed twelve minutes of filming. It is capable of taking movie pictures at either 18 or 24 frames per second. The lower speed is economical, while the faster speed gives a much smoother viewing experience.

This camera is ergonomically designed. That makes it very easy to use, but is a problem when taking photographs of it as it can only be laid on its side.

The camera uses a reflex lens. What the photographer sees is what will be on the screen. The long bar at the top powers the zoom function on the lens. The large knob allows zooming the lens manually.

Gripping the handle depresses the lever at the back and that allows the trigger at the front to run the camera. The circle with the line through it on the side is the focal plane of the camera. When using manual focusing that is where to measure the distance from the camera to the subject.

If you look closely at the lens you will see dust specks all over it. This is why you should put a UV filter on your camera's lens if at all possible. This lens will take a filter and I regret not getting one for it.

The button on the upper right releases the back door catch. The red button below releases the slider that is used to open or close the aperture by plus or minus one f-stop. There are two cable release openings under a plastic cover that can be accessed when the rear lever is depressed. One of the cable release connections allows film to be exposed one frame at a time for stop motion and animation. The other runs the film normally.

The back door of the camera hinges down allowing insertion and removal of the super 8 film cartridge.

The super 8 film cartridge goes into this slot. The aperture can just be seen at the bottom of the slot.

The bottom of the handle has a screw holding the camera strap and another holding the access plate to the battery box.

The slots on the various screws, such as the one holding the battery box cover, are sized to be fit with a small coin, in this case, a dime.

This shows the battery box removed from the camera's handle.

The battery box holds six AA batteries, delivering 6 volts to the camera. This shows the terminals that attach to the camera's electrical system.

This shows the cap to the battery box with dime sized slots on the screw that holds the cap in place.

This shows the interior of the battery box and its detached cap.

This is another view of the open battery box, showing the cap's terminal strips.

The thread on the wrist strap attachment is the same as the standard thread on a tripod. Removing the wrist strap allows the camera to be mounted on a tripod.