Q.R.S - DeVry Kamra USA 35mm cameras Camerapedia The Tomei Collection
QRS DeVry Kamra

Camera type: Non-Rangefinder
Approx. date of manufacture: 1928
Approx. original price: $22.50
Approx. street value: unknown

The strangest camera I own. I've also seen this on short-lists of "strangest" cameras elsewhere, so it's not just me. I got this many years ago (so many I can't remember) with a box of stuff I'd bought at a swap meet somewhere. I still have the original box that this came in, so mine's in nice condition (the box is wearing well, too).

Beautiful camera. click for larger ad Bakelite/phenolic plastic, marbled burgandy. Looks like something from the 40s, but it's really from 1928. That makes it a very, very early plastic camera, and one of the earliest still cameras to use 35mm film (though the Leica still beat it by a few years). In the US, 35mm wouldn't take off until Argus started selling cameras in the early 30s.

The modern 35mm metal casette didn't evolve for another decade; this one takes a goofy magazine. I still haven't figured out how to eject it (it's stuck hard in there, and I don't want to break it by trying to extract it). I also can't figure out how to advance or trip the shutter. The camera looks very simple, but try to use it.

Not much is known about Q R S DeVry. The Q R S company made player pianos and piano rolls (still does). They lent factory facilities to the early Zenith radio corporation. They also made movie cameras for a brief period in the 20s, but this appears to be their only still camera.

©opyright by James Ollinger. All Rights Reserved.
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