The measurements can be done by counting frames if you have frame-advance.

An abacus is a counting frame.

Rechnen unter Strom", (calculation under current):"From counting frame to electronic brain" and "Exclusives from the Basler super brains Bernoulli und Euler", exhibition in 2006. "

Introduced an automatic film counter; this counter senses the thickness of the film backing to accurately begin counting frames, obviating the need for the ruby window that forced the photographer to read the frame number off the backing paper of the film.

The abacus (plural abaci or abacuses), also called a counting frame, is a calculating tool that was in use centuries before the adoption of the written modern numeral system and is still widely used by merchants, traders and clerks in Asia, Africa, and elsewhere.

These old-style counting frames are as old as the hills and are still a great way for kids to learn to count.