Which instrument captured motion of birds in early photography?

• A. Janssen Photographic Gun
• B. Zoetrope
• C. Kinetoscope
• D. Daguerreotype Camera

Answer: (A)

Capturing motion in early photography relied on devices that could expose several images in quick succession to freeze a moving subject. The Janssen Photographic Gun was built to shoot rapid, successive exposures, allowing a sequence of a bird in flight to be recorded on one plate or strip. This makes it possible to analyze how the wings and body moved frame by frame, which is exactly what you want when studying motion.

In contrast, a zoetrope creates the illusion of motion from drawn frames but doesn’t capture real motion. A kinetoscope shows motion that was captured elsewhere, primarily for viewing rather than recording a rapid sequence for analysis. A daguerreotype camera produces a single still image, not motion.