There are two wood film cores. Most often these were lost as the core had to have the film wound on it each time one wanted to shoot as the raw film stock came without a core that would fit the Pathe. Actually the cores that came with the film didn't fit any camera but were designed for the rewind machine. Before that the film came without perforations and the cores were designed to fit the perforation machines.

The Pathe' is certainly the most mechanically sophisticated of all early cinema cameras. Pathe' took the industry by storm and remained the camera of choice until the Bell & Howell model 2709 took that coveted spot away from them. In the years just prior to World War I, Pathe' cameras were used on more movies throughout the world than any other camera. Billy Bitzer's autobiography, "His Story", is a really interesting and easy read. He used his Pathe' to shoot "Birth of a Nation". He said in his autobiography that he personally shot every foot. From the pictures I've seen of Mr. Bitzer and his camera this one is identical but I'm fairly sure this wasn't his.