The Bell & Howell Dial 35 caught my eye with its quirky space age design. This half frame camera shoots in a stacked horizontal landscape format. It uses zone focus, has a 1.35v powered light meter, and can operate in shutter priority mode. It can also be used manually when the meter needle dial is pulled out. The f2.8 lens is nice and sharp for great resolution in this smaller frame of reference.
There is a hot shoe on the side of the camera. Film speed is set on the front of the lens with the "Bubbles" that are actually aperture windows, which correspond to the ASA. The shutter speeds are selected on the side of the lens barrel. The unique aspect of this model is the auto winder and rewind knob. This feature is convenient, and is also the weak link on many of these cameras. They have a tendency to get stuck or lock up. I had to experiment and make a properly sized wrench to service my units back to working order. That is another story in itself, but I learned that dry graphite lubricant helps with the sticky gearing inside the winder mechanism.
