A.C.Kemper Kombi
A.C.Kemper Kombi

A.C.Kemper Kombi

This is the Kemper Kombi Camera and Graphoscope, an interesting combination box camera and viewer from 1892 manufactured by Alfred C. Kemper in Chicago, Illinois. As a camera, one of the interesting features is adjusting aperture by way of interchangeable plates. It could also take either circular or square photos depending on removable inserts. As a graphoscope the back could be opened and light shone through it to project an image.

As found elsewhere on the web, namely submin.com, the Kombi had several “firsts”:

  • The world’s first miniature roll film camera
  • The first camera to use film manufactured by Kodak solely for use in a non-Kodak camera 
  • The first camera to combine the taking and viewing of photographs in the same instrument.
  • The first metal-bodied roll film camera
  • The first interchangeable back for roll-film cameras

It’s diminutive size and build quality did not go unnoticed at the time. Per the 1895 The Hardware Dealer: There is about it a welcome absence of the cloth bellows parts which distinguish the average camera.

MakeAlfred C. Kemper
ModelKombi Camera and Graphoscope
Yearc1892
Format1.5 inch Kodak rollfilm (1 1/8 x 1 1/8 negatives
Shutternon-capping
SpeedSingle (1/60)
Lensmeniscus
 
Focus3ft – ∞
Apertureinterchangeable plates
Light MeterNo
RangefinderNo



The back of this particular camera was jammed shut and I just got around to gently getting it open. At first I was thrilled to see a roll of film inside, only to discover it’s just the backing paper, though that will come in handy should I attempt to run a roll through it.

For a more in-depth review, check out Mike Eckman’s write-up of this very camera!

One comment

  1. Pingback: Alfred C. Kemper Kombi (1893) - mike eckman dot com

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