BLOG QUESTION: THE LATHAM LOOP

What is the Latham loop? How did it change cinema?

The Latham loop was created because people wanted to make a film that lasted more than a few seconds

without tearing. The Latham brothers, along with their father, invented the Latham Loop, a way of

pulling film through the threading device of the camera gently enough not

to tear the sprockets. It was also a device that enabled the film to gently spool over from back to front, allowing for longer films. Their projector was called the Eidoloscope. By 1908, the Loop became integral to any film projector and camera. The Latham Loop, now owned by Dickson, had became a pawn in Edison’s battle against independents. Combined with the "fricion feed", these innovations made by Dickson had proved a match for Edison.