Prestwich Model 4 cameras are from the very beginning of movie making.
They are from such an early time that the concept of feature length
films hadn't been thought of yet. When this camera was made a long
movie was 10 minutes. Edison's "The Great Train Robbery"
from 1903 was only 12 minutes.
Early Lumiere' Brothers cameras were the top of the line and only
held 50 feet of film, like this Prestwich, in film boxes on the outside
of the camera. The difference is Prestwich Model 4's were the first
to hold 400 feet of film. In the early days Model 4's were the top
of the line cameras, along with Lumiere cameras. Lumiere Brothers
sold their camera manufacturing rights to Pathe' Brothers and ceased
to make cameras after that. Pathe' took the mechanics of the Lumiere
camera and made many improvements. Pathe' cameras then took the industry
by storm until the all metal revolutionary Bell & Howell 2709
cameras came on the market around 1912.