Here is a camera making the point that small manufacturers could make them both beautiful and well-engineered. The Rilex, regarded as a press camera, was produced around 1948 by Riley Research Co, a small family business based in Santa Monica, California. The comany was run by Curtis Riley, a Lockheed engineer. His idea when designing this model, was to come up with a press camera of lighter weight than the competition. In the company Curtis Riley would handle anything metallic. His wife would fold leather bellows.

The camera is fairly compact and above all lightweight, as it is integrally aluminium-built. Do not forget taht Riley was working for Lockheed, and that the aeronautical industry was making extensive use of aluminium. It uses 2 ^1/4 x 3 ^1/4   sheet film.The optical block can tilt and swing in all directions.The rotating back contains  a small ground glass with an aluminium protective cover. Viewing can be done either through the external finder, or through the sports finder, or, if present, through a rangefinder separate from the viewfinder.

The front assembly is fixed on 2 racked rails. A large scroll wheel allows to move the optical block forward in order to focus, but also to reduce size, since contrary to other press cameras this one does not fold, which is its sole shortcoming. Fortunately it is not too large !

Handling is quite pleasant thanks to the handle on the left-hand side, with the feeling that the camera is robust and well-built.

The buyer could equip this camera as he saw fit. It could be sold with or without lens. Various shutters (Rapax, Graphex, Compur, etc) and lenses (here a Kodak Anastigmat Spécial) were on offer. The camera could additionally receive an optional rangefinder, such as the Hugo Meyer of our copy.

3 models were produced : A, B, and AB, however no identification of the differences seems possible.

The camera was never patented and just 800 copies would have been manufactured before the company disapepared without releasing any other model.