Lot 285 in the May 3 PHSC auction – A Lerochrome tri-colour camera
Toronto. Have you ever heard of a Lerochome camera? Neither have I – until recently. Around the time Kodachrome and Agfacolor were invented and sold, the so named tri-colour cameras began to show up.
As many of you know, the issue with earlier colour processes was that additive colour was used making the plates incredibly slow. Along came subtractive colour processes and film tripacks making colour photography both faster and simpler for the amateur crowd with lots of spare cash.
The tri-colour cameras used a trio of b&w negatives with filters, mirrors, prisms, etc. to create one negative for each of three primary colours. The cameras only came on the market for a few years before demand for them wilted and multilayer tripack film took over.
The beauty at above left was manufactured in the big apple. Just months after it hit the market in the late 1930s, the company changed its name to National Photocolor Corp. The camera is lot 285 in our May 3, 2026 spring (Estate) auction. Details and auction poster will stay pinned to this site until the auction begins.
