Vintage Bell & Howell 3inch f/2 Incre-Lite 16mm Projection Lens Bokeh Test and Review
- Mohsen Jalali
- Jul 24
- 2 min read
Another 26mm projection lens here, another Bell & Howell product; this vintage Bell & Howell 3-inch f/2 Incre-Lite 16mm Projection Lens, and we will take a look at its bubble and swirly bokeh. I really suggest you scroll down after reading these lines, and enjoy the completely unedited photos as shot by our Nikon Z7 in vivid colors mode. What I mean by these photos being unedited is that even the brightness and contrast of these shots are untouched. Yet, the mesmerizing beauty of these shots captures the eye of even the most common beholder.
This beauty with full-metal jacket is another masterpiece by Bell & Howell that used to rule the projector market for decades in the US and the world. The Incre-Lite lineage of 16mm projection lenses was known to be the brightest of these lenses, and the f/2 is considerably fast for a 3-inch, i.e., ~76mm focal length. Similar to the previous two Bell & Howell lenses that we reviewed, this one was in production in the early years after WWII, and it seems that they were produced in the late 1940s and early 1950s, while they were being used later into the 1960s, too. The barrel of this lens is longer compared to the previous Bell & Howell lenses that we tested, and the elements seem - and only seem - to be fewer than them.
Without further ado, scroll down and enjoy the magic of the bokeh in these photos.
Color Shots
This lens gives a strongly swirly and bubbly bokeh. Look at the first color shot below. As you see, the image is smaller than the sensor area, and therefore vignetting is maximal. The image gets smaller especially when the lens is screwed out of the helicoid to focus on farther subjects. You can see complete images below with lots of vignetting, as well as circular images in the middle of the sensor, but what is common in all of them is that they're all super sharp in the middle. The shots were so sharp that at first I couldn't believe my eyes, but got used to it!
We were able to get so close to the subject that these photos can be assumed as macro photography sample shots (in fact, we've taken so many macro shots recently that I think we need to create a new section for reviewing the macro capabilities of projector lenses).
Besides being swirly and full of bubbles, the bokeh is soft and the depth of field is very shallow, as expected from a f/2 lens.
Black-and-White Photography
The contrast you see in the unedited black-and-white shots below serves as proof that no matter how primitive vintage lenses can be in terms of their coatings or element structures, they still can give beyond acceptable contrast levels. While enjoying the shots below, bear in mind that these photos are shared as shot by Nikon Z7 in black-and-white mode, without the slightest post-production editing, even in the scale of tampering with brightness and contrast.
Flare
We move on to the flare quality. Look at the shots below. As the sun was setting, these were the only flare shots that we could get and share. They're amazing, especially the halo of light that you can see in them.
