The PDQ was a street camera, used by photographers to shoot people on the streets, and then sell them a print, made on the spot within minutes of exposure.

 

Some say it’s so-called because the PDQ acronym is usually associated with the phrase ‘Pretty Damn Quick’. That would seem appropriate, but it’s more likely it refers to a slogan used for advertising the camera: ‘Photography Done Quickly’.

 

The PDQ shot pictures on rolls of direct-positive print paper. Turning a handle on the side released the paper and placed it behind the lens. After exposure, the photographer pulled a knob which activated a cutter that sliced through the exposed paper, dropping it into a one-shot developing solution contained in the tank below, before washing it and presenting it to the subject.