>Does anyone out there know when and by whom the zoom lens was invented? >And in which movie(s) it was first used? I can't guarantee it's the first, but one of the earliest uses I've seen is in one of those '30s Maurice Chevalier musicals--LOVE ME TONIGHT (1932), I think. Directed by Rouben Mamoulian. From what I understand, the variable focus length lens they used back then was a big, boxy thing where you manually manipulated the lens elements.