[Jamestown1630]

The Patterson/Gimlin film has been exhaustively analyzed, and is pretty convincing to many.

But they were prepared. The one time I saw something very strange, there was a camera a few feet from me, and I didn’t even think of it. When your mind is shocked by something that doesn’t make any sense, taking a picture doesn’t always come to mind in time.

[Mr. Jeeves]

Bob Gimlin already had the camera rolling when Patty showed up - he was filming the whole expedition as a documentary. Otherwise, yes, he would never have had time to set up and focus.

The original film is supposedly much sharper and clearer than the bad copies circulating around the Internet, but the reels have been lost (stolen) for a long time.