Purple is a color you do not see often enough in the world of film photography.  Of course, you rarely see cameras themselves decked out in any color other than chrome or black, but our repair tech Mike Knight is slowly changing that trend one camera at a time.  He recoated this Canon TX in a lovely shade of rich, glossy purple.  And then Cinestill of course has chosen to box their new 400D film in purple, which we think was a great choice.  These two made too great of a combination for us not to document.

So many of the cameras that we see come through our shop have extensive, fantastical, quirky, complicated, or epic backstories.  The Bell & Howell FD35 fits somewhere in there for sure.

You would be forgiven for thinking the FD35 was simply just a rebadged and rebranded Canon.  After all, this was a pretty common practice.  In reality, the Bell & Howell FD35 existed in its own right years before Canon released their own version, which would be known as the Canon TX... but we are getting a bit ahead of ourselves.

The relationship between Canon and Bell & Howell dates back to the early 1950s.  Canon had interest, after WWII, in expanding into the North American market but they needed a known brand to help them get their foot in the door, so to speak.  They originally approached Bell & Howell about such an agreement but were rebuffed. We have read that Bell & Howell didn't like that the Canon factories were mostly wooden buildings, prone to burning down and interrupting supply.  We also know that racism and lingering anti-Japanese sentiments, so close to the end of WWII, also played a role in their decision.  It is also possible that Canon's reputation was not yet well known enough to win over Bell & Howell.  Despite all odds, Canon was persistent and finally, in 1961, they reached an agreement with B&H. 

At first many cameras were marketed with both names on the camera: Bell & Howell / Canon but, over time, Canon produced cameras with only the B&H name for the North American market.  In the early 1970s B&H requested a camera of their own that they could sell.  Canon had just released the FTb and was about the release the TLb (a simplified version of the FTb).  Canon took that latter camera, added a hotshoe and it became the Bell & Howell FD35 in 1973.

Canon must have thought the FD35 was a good idea because, in 1975, they rebranded it with their own name and sold it as the Canon TX.  From our research, black FD35 cameras are kind of rare and Canon apparently never made a black TX.  

Quirky history aside, the FD35 is a rock solid camera, better even than the Canon TLb, because this one has a hotshoe.  If you're looking for a great starter/student camera and want one with an interesting history as bonus, this FD35 is the one to get.