American cinematographer (Jan-Dec 1932)

December 1932 • American Cinematographer 25 of the Amateur Film by Cuido Seeber Translated by Hatto Tappenbeck, A.S.C. (Concluded from November) mm. wide, center perforated, but with two perforationholes between each frame, arranged side by side. The camera-movement consisted of a double arm which moved the film onto and off from two fixed pilot pins. The camera could also be used as a projector, in which case a flashlight battery supplied the electricity for the light. From Rochester, in 1917, came another camera which showed itself a true ancestor of the present 16 mm. equipment. This was the "Movette," which used 1 7 Vi mm. safety film, with two perforations per frame on either side. Negative film was used, supplied in a daylight-loading double magazine of 50 foot capacity. The camera was unusual too in that the magazine was placed in the camera at right angles to the axis of the lens, as may be seen from the illustration. The "Movette" camera was hand-cranked, and a separate mechanism was used for projection. This, too, was hand-driven. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Another interesting camera and projector for this 1 7 V2 mm. system was introduced about 1918 by the Wilart Instrument Co., of New Rochelle, N. Y. This firm was then a well-known manufacturer of studio cameras. Their amateur camera was known as the "Actograph," and was of truly professional design, with a metal box, fitted with a Bausch & Lomb "Tessar" lens. The camera was hand-cranked, with both 8:1 and 1:1 movements and double outside magazines identical with those now used on professional Bell & Howell and Mitchell cameras, but holding only about 100 feet of film. The magazines were placed on the top rear corner of the camera. This camera was later enlarged and marketed as a 35 mm. camera, 200 foot capacity, and known as the "Wilart News Camera." The design was later modified somewhat by the -Reprinted from "Filmtechnik," Berlin. New York Institute of Photography, and the camera rechristened the "Institute Standard." There are many of these cameras still in use.) In 1920 an Austrian firm introduced a 1 7 V2 mm. known as the "Clou," using 1 7 V2 mm. film perforated much as modern 16 mm. film is, save that the perforations were round. This little camera had a magazine in the rear, employing a single sprocket for both feeding and taking up the film. The film could be cranked either forwards or backwards as desired. The movement consisted of a heartshaped eccentric cam. The "Clou" was made to serve as a camera, printer and projector interchangeably. (EDITOR'S NOTE: About the same time, Andre deBrie in Paris introduced his "Sept" camera, a small, clockwork driven hand-camera for 35 mm. film, adapted to make either 7 metres of motion pictures or 250 "stills," singleframe size, at a loading. The "Sept," too, was adapted to take, print and project. It made pictures of excellent quality, and was the forerunner of both the "Eyemo" type of cine hand-camera and the "Leica" type of cine-film still-camera. ) Linhof, a well-known camera firm of Munich, tried with their "Coco" camera to utilize standard 35 mm. film split in half. But for a number of technical reasons, this splitfilm attempt failed, as had that of Birt Acres several decades previously. Edison had introduced a home projector which, in point of novelty, deserves mention. It was constructed along the lines of the standard projectors of its period, but used a special 22 mm. film bearing three rows of pictures, with a perforation between each row. After projecting the first row of pictures, the projection aperture was moved over to the next row, and the film cranked through backwards, while the last row of pictures was projected by a third movement of the aperture, and by turning the crank forward again. This was made possible by printing the several rows of images alternately in opposite directions. As the small image required a strong illumination, a fairly powerful arc light was used. About 1923 Pathe introduced the "Pathe Baby" (known as "Pathex" in America), a projector which used a film only 9Vi mm. in width. Later on this firm introduced several 9/2 mm. cameras, and established a large rental library. The optical reduction-prints of well known professional films helped tremendously in the sale of "Pathe Baby" apparatus, and secured a wide spread appeal all over the world. (EDITOR'S NOTE: Although the 9V2 mm. standard is but little used in America, it is extremely popular in other parts of the world, especially as it is claimed to be even more economical in operation than standard 16 mm.) We have already mentioned that the Eastman Kodak Co. initiated the 16 mm. film. With their original "Cine Kodak" (now termed the Model "A"), a relatively large, Continued on Page 41 0---CD CD CD ■O CD 'CD] 0 :oi 0 ~!oT 1°' "\<=> iD ° — L — ' — t. . I* t 1* t 1A H !?■! ■ E?& 1 * ■ « ■ i 6 ■ * m * ■ * ■ * ■ * ■ 1 Left, Pathescope 28 mm. film; Center, Duoscope 17' 2 mm. film; Right, Edison Home Movie 35 mm. Left, present 16mm. standard; Center, 16 mm. before splitting into 8 mm; Right, same film after splitting