Japan 1957 – Subminiature – 16 mm – Rare. The Ricoh Golden 16 is a luxurious, gold-plated variant of the Ricoh 16 series, introduced in Japan around the mid-1950s. It emerged during the heyday of subminiature cameras, a category prized both for discreet, “spy-style” photography and for their appeal as fashionable, high-status objects. Finished in … Read moreRicoh
Golden 16
Germany 1947 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Akarette I, introduced in 1947 by Apparate & Kamerabau (AkA), was the original and earliest model of the Akarette line, preceding the more widely encountered Akarette II. Designed just after WWII by the Armbruster brothers, it featured advanced elements for its time, including interchangeable lenses, … Read moreAka
Akarette 1
Japan 1956 – Reflex TLR – 127 film – Infrequent. While not incredibly rare, the Ricohmatic 44 serves as a captivating example of an ambitious yet largely unsuccessful attempt to enhance the user’s photographic experience. Ricoh’s engineers dedicated their efforts to crafting an appealing design, highlighted by a stylish semi-transparent flip cover (though it unfortunately … Read moreRicoh
Ricohmatic 44
Germany 1952 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Futura S is a 35mm rangefinder made by Futura Kamerawerk starting in 1952. Futura Kamerawerk, founded by Fritz Kuhnert, is an interesting camera company as it was a german company trying to create a good quality rangefinder differentiating itself from the format Leica was successfully … Read moreFutura Kamerawerk
Futura S
Germany 1959 – Compact – 16 mm – Rare. The Goldeck 16 was manufactured by Goldammer of Germany in 1959. It is a beautiful, well built and very interesting camera. The most notable external feature is the large lever that both loads the shutter and advances the film in one simple movement. The size and proportions … Read moreGoldammer
Goldeck 16
Japan 1952 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Tanack are Japanese Leica copies, made from late 1952 by Tanaka Kōgaku The Tanack IV-S, whose design is very close to that of the Leica III, is the most popular of the series which had started with the Tanack 35. The main difference to the … Read more95 Tanaka
Tanack IV-S
France 1955 – Spy Camera – 16 mm – Infrequent. The Stylophot is a pocketable mini camera which makes 10x10mm images on 16mm film. It was produced in France in 1955 and presented as a “pen” camera, due to its resemblance to a fountain pen with the pen clip attached to the side. “Stylo” being the … Read more93 Secam
Stylophot
Private eye camera
Germany 1952 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Edixa Reflex was produced by Wirgin in 1952 and was West Germany’s most popular series of SLR’s with focal plane shutter. The Edixa Reflex was the early brainchild of a then unknown technical mechanic named Heinz Waaske that later created one of the most successful … Read more91 Wirgin
Edixa Reflex
Japan 1953 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Asahiflex was an innovative 35 mm SLR camera built by the Asahi Optical Corporation in 1952. It is widely regarded as the first SLR camera built in Japan and brought up quite a few innovations Unlike the majority of Japanese camera manufacturers of the time, … Read more90 Asahi
Asahiflex Ia
First Japanese SLR
Japan 1955 – Spy Camera – 8 mm – Rare. Produced around 1955 by Suzuki the Camera Lite is a Spy camera hidden in a zippo-like lighter. It was produced as a simplified version of another Spy Camera, the Echo 8. In 1953 the Echo 8 made an appearance in movie “Roman Holiday.” A reporter, Gregory … Read more86 Suzuki Optical
Camera Lite (model 1)
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