Bell & Howell movie cameras are iconic pioneers of the American film industry. From forcing the standardization of film to 35mm in the early 1900's, introducing the first all-metal camera, and later introducing the first spring-driven 16mm movie camera in 1923, Bell & Howell movie cameras and equipment are the picture of American cinematic and home-movie innovation.
Not the least of which was the Bell & Howell 2709 35mm hand crank camera, introduced in 1911. They were used for early silent films and they were expensive! So expensive that only studios—and Charlie Chaplin (plus a few others)—could buy them. But there was a great reason for the high price: the Bell & Howell 2709, from the beginning, has boasted the steadiest camera movement ever made.
In 1963, a Bell & Howell Zoomatic home-movie camera in use by a private (and un-expecting) citizen, captured the now-famous Zapruder film, a silent, color motion picture film of the tragic assassination of U.S. President John F. Kennedy.