ASC Museum Minute: Mitchell BNC Camera
August 26, 2024

ASC Museum Minute: Mitchell BNC Camera

ASC Museum Curator Steve Gainer, ASC, ASK shares his insight on this historic filmmaking tool, which has a storied past.

This particular Mitchell BNC camera — serial number “BNC 2” — was used by Gregg Toland, ASC to photograph classic films including Citizen Kane, Wuthering Heights, The Grapes of Wrath, The Long Voyage Home and The Best Years of Our Lives.

Orson Welles and Gregg Toland, ASC while shooting Citizen Kane (1941) with BNC 2.
Director Howard Hawks and Toland pose with BNC 2 and actress Frances Farmer during the production of the film Come and Get It (1936).

Following Toland's untimely death in 1948, the camera was sold to a rental house and later acquired by New York-based cinematographer J. Burgi Contner, ASC, who used it to photograph numerous TV series and commercials.

This ad appeared in AC Jan. 1960 and features J. Burgie Contner, ASC (second from left, pointing at movement) with BNC 2.

His son, James A. Contner, a veteran cinematographer and director, kept BNC 2 in storage for years until he was contacted by Roy H. Wagner, ASC and Gainer to ask if he would consider donating it to the Society for preservation and display. Contner, who had a long relationship with the Society due to his father, generously did so.

Roy H. Wagner, ASC and James A. Contner with BNC 2 at the Clubhouse. (Photo by David E. Williams)

The camera was then completely dismantled, refinished and restored to its original configuration in full working condition, as Toland had used it. This effort took almost a decade to complete.

(Photos by Steve Gainer, ASC, ASK)

Today, BNC 2 is on display at the ASC Clubhouse in Hollywood. It was officially unveiled during an Open House event in 2018:

A brass plate mounted to the camera’s display base reads:

MITCHELL BNC 2
Built in 1935, this camera was used to film Citizen Kane (1941) and many other pictures photographed by GREGG TOLAND, ASC. It was later owned and used by J. BURGI CONTNER, ASC. It was donated to the AMERICAN SOCIETY OF CINEMATOGRAPHERS in honor of their artistry and their memory by JAMES A. CONTNER.

The camera’s precision movement helped make it reliable, rock-steady and very quiet. (Photo by Richard Edlund, ASC)
The classic Mitchell badge. (Photo by Richard Edlund, ASC)

Each episode of the ASC Museum Minute video series showcases a unique item in the Society's extensive collection of vintage cameras and other filmmaking tools. Previous episodes can be found here. More episodes are now in production.

The ASC Museum collection is curated by Gainer and co-curated by Richard Edlund, ASC.

(Photos by Richard Edlund, ASC)