Marios_Mar--
A Bolex is a 16mm film camera manufactured by a Swiss company called Paillard Bolex. They made a variety of 8mm/super8mm/16mm film cameras but the model that everyone knows and most people covet is the H-16 Bolex 16mm film camera. It takes a wide variety of high quality prime lens types (Switars, Angenieux, Cooke, etc.) and yields an outstanding image that almost matches the image quality of larger, much more expensive Arriflex SRII/Aaton/Zeiss combinations.
The Bolex was originally a small, hand cranked camera that you could take almost anywhere and trust to operate reliably in even the worst conditions. With attachments, it loses some of its portability, but its still handier than any other 16mm camera. The Bolex and the much heavier Arri S were extremely popular among student and experimental filmmakers for decades.
The H-16 Bolex saw a bit of a resurgence in the 1990's because so many music video directors used the small Bolex to get a portable, high quality image that larger 16mm cameras wouldn't allow.
The Bolex now has a wide range of accessories, including crystal sync electric motors that let you shoot sync sound. Due to the small size of the Bolex, you can only fit 100 ft. rolls inside the internal magazine (about 3 mins.).