A microfilmer is a camera that is used to photograph documents to create a more compact and permanent record of the original in the form of roll-film or microfiche.
Libraries often keep newspapers and magazines which have been converted to roll-film or microfiche form using microfilmers.
Many companies have switched from microfilm to digital imaging systems, which offer more convenient computer retrieval of records.
A planetary microfilmer takes a snapshot of a stationary document held on a flat surface.
In the 1951 film When Worlds Collide, a roomful of planetary filmers and their operators are shown as they race against time to preserve crucial books for survivors of a doomed Earth.