To provide a vane drive device for camera suitable for such a design that an aperture for a photographic optical path is disposed near one end of a thin, long base plate.

The base plate 31 has the aperture 31a for the subject optical path on the right side rather than in the center of it. A set of diaphragm vanes consists of three vanes 33, 34, and 35. Among the vanes, the vane 33 disposed in the middle has an aperture 33a larger than the aperture 31a and is rotatable around the shaft 31c of the base plate 31. The vanes 34 and 35 have aperture restricting edges 34a and 35a for a diaphragm aperture and rotatable around the shafts 31b and 31d of the base plate 31. A drive pin 32b integrated with the rotor 32a of a motor is fitted in the long holes formed in the three vanes 33, 34 and 35.