Cranks and Motors - Text 2
Dickson left Edison in 1895 to take part in the founding of a new company dedicated to moving pictures, the American Mutoscope and Biograph Company (AM&B). The camera developed for AM&B used an electric motor just like the Kinematograph. This type of motor was probably the only viable source of energy for this camera, with its large film gauge (68 mm) and designed to shoot at a higher frame rate (about 30 frames per second) than most later film systems. AM&B did use this camera for the production of a wide variety of pictures photographed both on the company’s rooftop studio and on location, but its size and weight still restricted the range of locales and subjects that could be filmed. To begin with, several persons were required to carry and set it up.