England 1934 – Subminiature – 16 mm – Very Rare. The Midget is a subminiature camera made by Coronet in England starting 1934. The Midget was as small as a match box and designed to be used as a gift in cereal packets. The designers took advantage of the way Bakelite could easily be moulded … Read moreCoronet
Midget – 94/99
Cereal box gift
Japan 1948 – Spy Camera – Custom film – Very rare. The Petal is an incredible device. It was the smallest subminiature camera in the world, produced by Sakura Seiki in Japan in 1948. It has a round (or octagonal) main body the size of a coin and was intended for inconspicuous photography as it … Read moreSakura Seiki
Petal – 65/99
Private eye camera
Germany 1948 – Spy Camera – Custom film – Very Rare. The ABC Wristwatch camera, designed by Austrian Chemist Rudolph Steineck was first introduced in 1948 and was produced for 3 years. This fancy looking wristwatch is in reality a disguised sub-miniature camera allowing to take discreet photographs while pretending to check for the time. … Read moreSteineck
ABC Wristwatch – 61/99
Japan 1959 – Subminiature – 16 mm – Infrequent. The Mamiya Super 16 was manufactured by Mamiya Camera Company of Tokyo in the early 1950s. Mamiya was well known for the Mamiya Six, a 6×6 foldable they had been producing since 1940. Starting 1949, they made a successful series of 16 mm cameras that lasted until … Read moreMamiya
Super 16 (Mod.III) – 55/99
Japan 1978 – Subminiature – 110 film – Infrequent. Launched in 1978, the Pentax Auto 110 was a very exciting camera, causing quite a stir among photography fans. It was indeed a (super cute) miniature version of a 35 mm interchangeable lens reflex. Pentax engineers were the first to release a 110 reflex, equipping it with … Read morePentax
Auto 110 – 46/99
France 1937 – Subminiature – Custom film – Rare. The Eljy and Super-Eljy cameras were produced by Lumiere (from the Lumiere brothers) from 1937 and are among the most recognizable French miniature cameras. They were extremely popular cameras as they were built with almost no major evolution from 1937 to 1951 when they were replaced … Read moreLumiere
Super Eljy – 45/99
Switzerland 1957 – Subminiature – 35 mm – Rare. The Tessina, produced in Lugano in 1957, and is probably the smallest half-frame 35mm camera ever built. And possibly the strangest. It is a twin-lens reflex with pop-up viewfinder and a clock-work motor drive designed for waist-level inconspicuous photography. The almost 400 parts used in making … Read moreTessina
Automatic – 41/99
Like a luxury watch
Japan 1949 – Subminiature – 14 mm – Very Rare. The Gemflex is an incredible subminiature camera. It was produced by Showa in occupied Japan in 1949. The Gemflex not only resembles a miniature version of the well known Rolleiflex 6×6 twin lens reflex, but is operated like one. It is one of the smallest … Read moreShowa Kogaku
Gemflex – 39/99
Twin Lens miniature
Japan 1947 – Subminiature – 16 mm – Very Rare. The Steky is a beautiful subminiature camera produced by the Asahi Musen Company starting 1947. It was then taken over by the Riken Optical Company (Ricoh) in 1950. At the time, film and processing costs were expensive so 16 mm cameras were very popular. But … Read moreAsahi Musen
Steky (Mod. 1) – 37/99
Japan 1956 – Subminiature – 16 mm – Rare. The Kiku 16, measuring under 6 cm, stands as one among the myriad of subminiature cameras that emerged from Japan in the mid-1950s. What sets the Kiku 16 apart is its remarkably refined craftsmanship, seemingly crafted to emulate a miniature version of a Leica. A button … Read moreMorita
Kiku 16 (mod. 2) – 27/99
You must be logged in to post a comment.