I picked up one of these in a job lot of photo junk but don't currently have a compatible camera, so can't test it. It seems to scan barcodes successfully - there are some on line on the Butkus site - but I'm not sure it's transmitting the infra-red signal that relays the code to the camera. As I understand it, you press the infra-red emitter to an IR receiver on the camera and the emitter should push in as a press button and transmit the signal to the camera. I've tried pressing it while watching it through a camera that can normally see infra-red from remote controls, and there are two problems - the emitter doesn't seem to move at all, and there's no signal visible. Is there something about this I'm missing?
I remember reading about these cameras when they first come out, to me it was a luxury item, way out of my financial reach. Many years later, one come into Vinnies where I volunteer. I purchased it and have it in my collection, I do not have the bar-scanner but then again I have never put film in it. It is one of those things from the past I could not have then but available to me now.
I suspect that it's eit I've had a couple of these cameras second hand in the past, but not recently. I suppose the best thing to do is keep it and hope another camera turns up.