The Gallery
|
|
Akeley cameras are some of the rarest of all hand-cranked cameras. The highest serial number I have ever seen is 405. It is nearly the last camera Akeley made, if not the last. There were never 450 of these in existence. I have been around antique hand cranked movie cameras for thirty plus years. I also worked as a cameraman in Hollywood for many years. I understand these cameras better than most people so I see them for more than their esthetic value. Yes, they have a look to them but for me they also have a feel to them. It is a user’s feel. Akeley #265 is a real working antique camera and will shoot film today. ...... Click Details for more info and pictures |
|
This is a Pathe from the earliest days of the motion picture industry. It was made and used in the industry within about thirteen or fourteen years of the first public screening of the first movie in December, 1895. This is a pioneer camera for sure. It comes complete with the early period tripod seen in the following pictures. There are very few famous cameras. Most cameras cannot be traced to any single story or event. This one can. This camera would be a prize possession and worthy of display in any Hollywood office, reception area or screening room. ...... Click Details for more info and pictures |
|
Historically this is one of the most significant cameras I have ever had. Thomas Edison and the Patents Trust put a death grip on the motion picture industry around 1908. They called themselves “The Motion Picture Patents Company”. Their basic premise was that they had the patent on motion picture film and the mechanical movement inside movie cameras that transported the film. No movie could be made without their approval and they didn’t approve of movies made by anyone outside “The Trust”. They even had “Enforcers” that would go to the set of films in production and destroy the camera right there. They sued everyone that tried to make an independent film. They also made it so no movie was to be made with screen credits. No credits for actors, directors or crew. Credits were to be for the production companies only. ...... Click Details for more info and pictures |
|
In 2003 I traveled Europe and the USA looking at professional 35mm movie camera collections. What I have seen is a huge variety of cameras and an even greater range of quality and condition. No where was there a camera and tripod in this fine condition. I have to say this is a unique camera. Further in the text you will read about this camera's unique mechanics but here I want to describe cosmetics. I can't stress what a fine example of an original camera this is. I didn't see anything even close to this in the British Museum's collection, the Paris Cine Museum, or in any of the many private collections. This camera is as close to the day it was made as anything I have ever seen. I believe this to probably be the finest example of an early, pioneer wood hand cranked camera in existence. ...... Click Details for more info and pictures |
|
The camera has the original side finder and crank. The side finder produces a wonderful period image that gives one some surprising insight to the cameraman's tools. First, the image is upside down. Cameramen from the period all worked with that image. All view cameras of professional quality present the image to the cameraman upside down. Even today it is this way with high end large format still cameras. Second, this image is much brighter in the center than it is on the edges. In low light the cameraman had to 'just know' where the image edge was. All cameramen knew where the image edge was or they didn't work for that producer or director again. ...... Click Details for more info and pictures |
|
Sold
Section (All cameras below are sold!) |
||||||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
Bell & Howell Model 2709-B |
|
Genesis Prestwich Model 4 |
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
A pair of museum quality
|
||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
"AUSTRALASIAN FILMS CAMERA" |
|
|
|
|
||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
Aluminum Debrie Interview |
|
 The Moy & Bastie Serial #370 SOLD Details |
 Ernemann ca. 1919 SOLD Details |
|||||||||||
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
||||||||
Mitchell |
 Bass ca. 1910 Serial #1048 SOLD Details |
|||||||||||||
