Ruberg Art Deco Camera — Concert Photos, Historical Images, Travel Photos & Camera Collecting Blog

As I've stated several times in my blog posts, that the flashy, colorful odd, unusual, or bazar cameras are items I'm attracted to. That's been the same my entire life. I believe that's probably true for the majority of individuals. People are always looking for something out of the ordinary, not the usual mundane, usual products or items. Maybe I'm wrong, but that's how my brain operates. With that in mind, this week's camera and maker of the camera fits right into this category, the Ruberg Art Deco camera.

The company.

The Ruberg cameras were manufactured by the Ruberg & Renner company, which was located in the Delstern district of Hagen, Germany, during the 1930s. The company was started in 1918 by Josef Ruberg, who originally started producing drive trains for bicycles, motorcycles, and automobiles. After 1930, the company started making simple cameras. In 1931, Josef obtained a patent for the construction of a simple camera in Germany. He also received a patent in the United States in February 1932.

"Due to the simple and very inexpensive production of all the parts of the camera from synthetic resin which was done from a single pressing process makes it possible to place a cheap camera on the market which is affordable to all", it says on the patent application. In the 1930s, Ruberg & Renner manufactured four models with 25 designs for export to the USA, Great Britain, and France. The cameras' construction ended in the mid-1930s where the company started producing products to help the German war effort.

The Camera

As noted before, the Ruberg cameras are straightforward cameras with several different variations of the same build. The Art Deco version I have has the standard helical telescoping lens tube found on all of their cameras. On the back of my Art Deco camera are chrome patterns on two corners, giving it a modern look. The cameras take 127 size film and have a straightforward shutter system. Some later models even enjoyed the lens's focus, even though it was a fundamental zone focus. My Art Deco version is a metal body camera with a dark brown resin lens tube. My camera has either B for time exposures or I instantly, which is 1/25th second exposures. There is primary aperture control. Pulling on the chrome arm with the ball on end seems to change the aperture settings inside the camera's lens. Looking at the aperture settings, I can't see much difference. I'm guessing they are in the F8 to f11 or f16 settings.

Bottom view of the Ruberg Art Deco Camera

The camera sports a straightforward pop-up sports finder. Mine is pretty wonky and doesn't stay erect and kind of flops down a bit. The film advance is just a bare knob to advance the film. Loading the film is basic. There is a latch on the side of the camera to open the back. The film slides through a channel to hold it flat. There is no pressure plate to keep it flat. There is a black piece of felt glued onto the backdoor on my camera, so I'm not sure if that's normal or just the previous owner did it to the camera I have. The red window cut out for the felt is professionally done, so it may be something they did in the factory.

Opening latch on the Ruberg Art Deco Camera

Film channel on the Ruberg Art Deco Camera

Back open with lens extended on the Ruberg Art Deco Camera

Back open with lens retracted on the Ruberg Art Deco Camera

The Ruberg Art Deco Camera with lens extended

Conclusion.

I enjoy this camera and am now looking for other Ruberg & Renner versions to add to the collection. I like the twisting lens, but most of all, I like the different colors the cameras come in. The shutter in my camera isn't working so I haven't taken photos with it. At some point, I'll be purchasing some 127 size film to run through the many cameras I have that take that film size.

Thank you for taking a few minutes out of your day to read this blog post. As always, I enjoy your replies and comments, so please keep them coming. Until next week, please be safe.

Camera Collecting Blog

For this camera collecting blog, I want to give you a little background on my interest in anything photographic.

I can still remember when my uncle gave me my first camera. I was nine years old. It was a Univex twin lens camera, and I was mesmerized looking down through the waist level finder. Everything was backward, but my brain quickly figured out left was right, and right was left. I took that camera on vacation to Alaska shooting 620 films and still have the negatives and photos.

Fast forward to when I'm 16. I find myself in the front row at concerts like Traffic, Humble Pie, David Bowie, Led Zeppelin, Queen, and all the classic bands of the '70s. My three friends and I went to see bands at least a couple of times a month. I first was published in Rolling Stone, Musician Magazine, Guitar Player, and other publications. In later years, we published a blog on the shows we saw and also have images on my website. I'm in the process of writing a book on my experiences and pictures from this period.

My passion for all things cameras and photographic started when I turned 18 and started working at the local camera store. I worked there for almost 20 years. I sold all the classic cameras of the 1970s and '80s like Canon AE-1, Nikon F, Minolta SRT, Pentax Spotmatic, Topcon Super D, and many large and medium format cameras. To this day, I can tell these camera cameras even from the outline they have. During this time, I started to collect anything photographic, but the real passion is for cameras and lenses.

I've had a great career in the photo industry, which has lead in many different directions. My different positions were, Professional Photo Lab Manager, PrePress and high-end scanner salesman, Representative for Sinar and Broncolor, Leaf Digital back representative. The most recent job was the Profoto Rep for the US, West Coast, for almost 15 years. During these times, I've had the opportunity to travel. I always found some time to seek out cameras or photo items in the town I've gone to. I've also had the chance to meet and work with some fascinating photographers over my career. Mary Ellen Mark, Jim Marshall, Dan Winters, Annie Leibovitz, and many, many others.

Currently, my camera collection is around 500-600 cameras. It includes many exotic and colorful Kodaks like the full line of the Beau Brownies, the very rare, Super-Six Twenty, the 35mm Ektra model and lenses, and the string set models. I also have 10-12 Leica's from the original A, the hockey stick models, into the M4 black paint, and some of the newer digital. I own from the subcompact models through to many 8x10 cameras with exotic brass lenses.

I've devoured the McKeown's camera guides and own most versions of the camera bible going back to 1984. I own a collection of camera collecting books in the neighborhood of about 100, including camera manufacturing books. I collect cameras, but my photographic collection includes 200 or so panoramic images, several hundred Daguerreotypes, Ambrotypes, original glass negatives, camera advertising, figurines with camera, and many, many more items. I started the Camera Collecting page on Facebook.

When eBay started back in 1996 or so, I was an early adopter using its platform. In 1997 when I joined them, my seller number was 1034 and currently still sell on eBay under Clix, which is my seller name.

Due to recent tragic events from the Covid-19 lately, my career with Profoto ended, and I'm onto the next chapter. One of the options was to start writing articles on camera collecting, which has always been my passion.