Germany 1956 – Subminiature – 16 mm – Rare. The Kunik Petie Vanity is one of the most unusual and sought-after cameras in the history of subminiature photography, often referred to as “spy photography.” Introduced around 1956 by Walter Kunik in Frankfurt (West Germany), it conceals a fully functional camera inside an elegant ladies’ powder … Read more55 Walter Kunik
Petie Vanity
Beauty accessory
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)
Japan 1954 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Kyoei-Sha Company was founded in 1938 in Tokyo and was renamed Showa as a reference to the reign of the current Emperor Hirohito. After Canon, Showa was the oldest to start produce 35 mm cameras in Japan. They produced very nice copies of German cameras … Read more54 Showa Kogaku
Leotax (Mod. F)
Germany 1933 – Subminiature – 16 mm – Rare. The Minifex was a groundbreaking subminiature camera introduced in 1932 by the German company Fotofex, founded by Fritz Kaftanski. At the time, it was considered the smallest camera in the world, using 16mm non-perforated film to capture 36 exposures in a 13x18mm format. Weighing only 185 … Read more53 Fotofex
Mini-fex
Smallest of its time
Germany 1954 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The camera industry of the 20th century articulates itself around a certain number of super iconic cameras, many of them produced by Leica. The Leica M3, is definitely a major cornerstone in that regards. Introduced in 1954, the Leica M3 sets a new standard for rangefinders … Read more52 Leica
leica M3
Super iconic
Japan 1952 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Minolta-35 was launched in the spring of 1947. At the time, Minolta had to recover from the war with only three factories left. Photographic film was rare, reserved primarily for medical radiography. The 120 format being prohibited by the authorities, camera manufacturers turned to the … Read more51 Minolta
Minolta 35 F
Italy 1950 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. Ducati was founded in Bologna (Italy) in 1926 by the three brothers Adriano, Bruno and Marcello Ducati. Even though today the company is principally known for its (exceptional) motorcycles, Ducati started its activity with the production of electrical condensers. Later, they diversified in the fields of … Read more50 Ducati
Simplex
Before the motorcycles
United States 1895 – Box Camera – Custom film – Rare. The Kombi camera was produced at the end of the 1800s by Alfred C. Kemper from Chicago. It was meant to be mass produced and an advertisement of the times mentions that more than 50 000 were produced in a single year. The … Read more49 Kemper
The Kombi
Early mass production
Italy 1952 – Compact – 127 film – Rare. Some designs are just Italian. Period. And sometimes design makes everything. Bencini, established in Milan in the late 1930’s was one of the flag bearers of the Italian camera market in the middle of last century. Most of the Bencini cameras were variations of a traditional … Read more48 Bencini
Comet III
France 1908 – Box Camera – 4×4 Plates – Rare. Introduced and sold in 1908 as the “one Franc camera” the Franceville No.1 was made of two shells in “black lacquer”, actually hardened papier-mâché obtained by molding and compression, is remarkably rigid and resistant to deformation. The camera is loaded using a small holder designed … Read more47 Natali, Collo & cie
Le Franceville No. 1bis
The one-Franc camera
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