Tintype photographer Buster falls in love with Sally, a secretary for the MGM Newsreel, and pawns his still camera in order to buy an antiquated movie camera.  At Sally's urging, Buster photographs news events that may be of interest to MGM, but all of his attempts turn out badly.

Sally tips Buster off about an impending tong war in Chinatown, and he covers all the dangerous action only to find that he had no film in his camera.  The following day, Buster is filming a regatta and Sally falls overboard from the boat of Stagg, a cowardly MGM cameraman who deserts her to save himself.  Buster rescues Sally and wins her undying love once his footage reveals who really saved her.