I'm hoping that someone here might be able to help me. I'm trying to identify a part that looks to me like an old bulk film loader, but given its size, it doesn't look like it would hold much film, so it confuses me if it is for a movie camera or an old still camera. Does anyone here recognize it? It MAY be modified from its original version as its "Second life" had it screwed to a vehicle as part of a film prop. I'd really appreciate any thoughts or leads.
How big is it? Ca. 8mm tall (1/3")? Ca. 16mm tall (2/3")? Bigger? Does the inner cage rotate?
It looks to me like some kind of a film buffer, that takes up speed variations in feeder spool vs. film transport speed by storing some length of film. Film would enter through the slot, coil (several times) around the rolls of the cage and exit through the top wrapped around the cone.