<P> In 1894 the Polish inventor Kazimierz Prószyński constructed a projector and camera in one, an invention he called the Pleograph . </P> <P> Due to the work of Le Prince, Friese - Greene, Edison and the Lumière brothers, the movie camera had become a practical reality by the mid 1890s . The first firms were soon established for the manufacture of movie camera, including Birt Acres, Eugene Augustin Lauste, Dickson, Pathé frères, Prestwich, Newman & Guardia, de Bedts, Gaumont - Démény, Schneider, Schimpf, Akeley, Debrie, Bell & Howell, Leonard - Mitchell, Ertel, Ernemann, Eclair, Stachow, Universal, Institute, Wall, Lytax, and many others . </P> <P> The Aeroscope was built and patented in England in the period 1909 - 1911 by Polish inventor Kazimierz Prószyński . Aeroscope was the first successful hand - held operated film camera . The cameraman did not have to turn the crank to advance the film, as in all cameras of that time, so he could operate the camera with both hands, holding the camera and controlling the focus . This made it possible to film with the Aeroscope in difficult circumstances including from the air and for military purposes . </P> <P> The first all - metal cine camera was the Bell & Howell Standard of 1911 - 12 . One of the most complicated models was the Mitchell - Technicolor Beam Splitting Three - Strip Camera of 1932 . With it, three colour separation originals are obtained behind a purple, a green, and a red light filter, the latter being part of one of the three different raw materials in use . </P>

When was the first hand held camera invented