There are certain places in the world known for the manufacture of photographic equipment. Wetzlar, Germany. Rochester, New York. Perhaps even Ann Arbor, MI. But Minneapolis, Minnesota? Yet, during the 1940s and 50s, Minneapolis was home to the Clarus Camera Manufacturing Company. A firm which only ever made one camera, the Clarus MS-35. History The 1930s was an era for the development of precision miniature cameras. Kodak's introduction of the daylight loading 135 film cartridge in 1934 and the popularity of German made Leica and Contax cameras prompted multiple American companies to introduce their own offerings and hopefully capitalize on a lucrative emerging market. Previously, I talked about the Perfex Fifty-Five , another camera that emerged as a result of this. The story of Clarus began in 1939, when International Photographic Industries, Inc. of Chicago announced the model MS-35. The camera had been designed by Paul Mann, who was a primary financier of the company, and