Clarus MS-35

Pre-war Chicago was a hotbed of camera makers; about three dozen camera brands like Revere, Pho-Tak, Spartus, De Vry, and Busch called it home. In 1939, an outfit named International Photographic Industries, about which little is known, designed a new compact camera that was supposed to compete with Germany’s best. The idea was shelved due to the impending war, until peace prevailed again. I don’t know what happened to that group. Yet, one name keeps coming up as the driving power behind the resurrection of the camera: Paul Mann is mentioned in every article about Clarus as the promoter and the designer. He was tall on ideas but short on capital, so a law firm in Minneapolis, Minnesota, backed him up; therefore, the outfit had set up shop there. As legend has it, Paul Mann was a one-man band with no traceable roots in any legacy US or European camera makers.

I can talk about cameras, write about them, buy and sell, dismantle and reassemble, and with divine intervention, the rebuilt camera would also function. Further to that, designing a new camera is kind of impossible. What could have been was that Mann had dissected several camera models and created the MS-35. Moreover, rather than borrowing a shutter assembly from an established source, he used a focal plane shutter as the high-end, reputable German counterparts. However, it does not end there. The best design needs a matching production ability, which requires a legacy. I don’t see 1946 Minneapolis brimming with watchmakers or other fine mechanics lining up for a fledgeling camera startup.

In 1946, the new camera came to life. With all due respect to American entrepreneurship, it did not come close to the German quality. Giants like Kodak and Bell & Howell struggled with top-end models, say the Ektra and the Foton, so a flock of lawyers shepherded by a wannabe Ernest Leitz would not cut it.

The Clarus MS-35 took off like a led Zeppelin. It brings to mind the infamous Petri Fotochrome Color, also designed with good intentions, where at some stage in the model’s life, more cameras were returned than sold. Same here.

At first, sales were aggressive, with the camera price set at about USD 100, supported by installment plans for whatever months. The cost was more than most US-made cameras of the time, but it was cheaper than the German high-end brands in which field it had to play. Yet customers expected some performance even with the ‘Made in USA’ banner. The makers kept upgrading and improving, but the brand gained a poor reputation, so distributors washed their hands of it. Using Blackberry as an analogy, there were too many versions to handle and service, which killed the Clarus and the Blackberry.

The backing lawyers had enough and, in 1949, pulled the plug. A fresh group of investors (accountants?) bought the remnants. While continuing with the MS-25, they redesigned the camera, doing away with the focal plane shutter in favour of a down-to-earth lens-based leaf shutter. This model was sold under the Wescon name, but I guess the brand reputation was beyond repair, so in 1952, the brand ceased to exist.

The Clarus MS-35 had endless modifications, best described in vintagephoto.tv. Trying to relate the serial numbers to the list is futile, as the markings on the camera are poorly printed, not engraved, and illegible.

The camera is not pretty nor refined. It looks like it was assembled of leftover parts, like a potato head creation. The two units on my desk are similar, they are not identical; see the images below.

• The speed setting knob has a split personality. On one camera, it takes setting speed before cocking, on the other, after the cocking. I am unsure if this is due to the cameras being moody or by design. The manual does not refer to that.
• The hinged back used different types of locks. A tilting latch was later replaced with a sliding latch.
• The body’s chrome finish is pitted, while the skin is intact.
• True to its generation, there are no plastic parts; all are either cast or machined metal parts. Machining quality is rather poor, on par with the East German quality of the time.
• At 735gr of body only, it is much heavier than comparable models.
• Proprietary lens thread of 1.625″ limited the lens offering to own branded selection. The kit lens was a Wollensak Velostigmat 2.8/50, with optional:
  • Raptar 2.8/50
  • Wollensak 3.5/100
  • Elgeet 4.5/100
  • Wollensak 3.5/35
• The camera is bare from any frills, missing even a rewind clutch release. To rewind, press and hold the trigger.
• One tiny window is used as a finder to frame the picture. A second, even smaller, for a split view rangefinder.