Akeley Tripod and Panoramic Gyro Head

For use with an Akeley Pancake Camera, this unique invention by Carl E. Akeley was advanced for the period. The entire unit was a radical departure from the standard heads of the day. Its gyroscopic movements for both the pan and tilt allowed for very smooth motion following fast action…

Produced by Wilart Cinema Industries, New Rochelle, New York from 1924 to 1927, The Institute Standard was a custom designed 35mm motion picture camera manufactured by Wilart Cinema Industries specifically for the New York Institute of Photography. In addition to…

W. Butcher and Sons Empire Cinematographic Cameras were offered in 4 models in their 1914 Catalog…but were they actually manufactured by Butcher & Sons? The Empire No. 3 looks just like the earlier Prestwich No. 5…but is it?…

The Charles Urban Trading Company introduced its new “Junior” or Model A Bioscope Camera in its August, 1907 Catalog. Described as a “Marvellous Value” and it stated “every Exhibitor should possess his own Animated Picture Camera”…

The Prestwich Kinematograph Model 5 cine camera for 35mm film became Prestwich’s most popular model. It contains two 400 foot internal wood magazines. It is hand-cranked with two eight-frame-per-turn shafts and one single frame shaft. The film drive is by…

On July 5th 1923, The Eastman Kodak Company of Rochester, New York introduced 16mm Safety Film and one of the first companies to make movie cameras for the new film was Victor Animatograph Co. and their Victor Cine and Victor Ultra Cine Cameras…

The original Cine-Kodak Model A 16mm movie camera holds a significant place in the history of filmmaking. Introduced by the Eastman Kodak Company in May 1923, it was the first 16mm camera produced and heralded Eastman Kodak’s brand new 16mm safety film…

The Kino Hand-Camera

Sometimes referred to as the “GoPro” of the 1920’s…the Debrie Sept is a French made, clock-work motor driven camera taking 18×24mm exposures on 35mm film. It can be used for still pictures as well as for cine sequences…

America, 1920’s

A Camera With No Name.

This mystery camera was used in the 1920’s to shoot a few short films in New Jersey and the east coast of America, but who is her maker?

The Debrie Parvo 35mm motion picture camera was developed in 1908 by Joseph Jules Debrie, built by his son Andre Debrie. It was their desire to make a more portable, compact and versatile camera…

“Revolutionary new movie principle cuts cost of taking motion pictures 75%. Astonishes movie world! ”

"Simple, efficient, reliable."

This 35mm motion picture camera, made in London by Moy and Bastie sometime after 1909, is the largest version available and is …

“A Motion Picture Camera for Amateurs.

TAKE your own motion pictures. Come back with a moving picture of the good times you have had. You can take your own motion pictures with Movette. The camera is small, compact, easy to carry and operate.”

“The Bioscope Is the handiest, most compact and efficient machine obtainable.”

The picture worth a thousand words...

When I opened the image I was shocked to see not the Pancake, but a new previously unknown Akeley camera under Martin Johnson’s arm…

“No elaborate directions are needed. There is even an automatic indicator showing just the right speed at which to turn the crank.”

— 28mm Pathé-Frères KOK Cine Camera Operations Manual

In 1903 Heinrich Ernemann launched the marketing for his ‘Kino’ camera for 17.5 mm motion picture film, It was Germany’s first small-gauge camera made exclusively for amateur use.

“There is a remarkable camera in Hollywood. It is the most difficult motion picture camera to operate successfully now in professional, but with it have been photographed some of the most thrilling action scenes on the screen today…”

The Kino Model E was manufactured by Ernemann Cameras in Dresden, Germany beginning in 1917.. The model E cinematographic camera was renowned throughout the world for its robustness and its cinematographic qualities…