Debrie Parvo 35mm. cine camera

Debrie Parvo 35mm. cine camera, c.1930, made by Establissements Andre Debrie, constructeurs, 111-113, Rue Saint Maur, Paris. Fitted with a tessar 1-275cm lens by Carl Zeiss, serial no. 744120.

The Debrie Parvo was developed by Joseph Jules Debrie, built by his son Andre Debrie and was a relatively compact camera for the time. The internal magazines were held side by side, with the film fed from the magazine through the gate to a take up magazine through two skewed loops. The Parvo held approximately 400 feet of film inside without the need for an external film magazine, allowing for nearly 6 minutes of film at the standard 16 frames per second silent film rate. It allowed the camera operator to focus the camera lens but had a side optical viewfinder to be used during filming. It was hand-cranked and from 1922 onwards was produced with a metal body.