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
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
Japan 1950 – Reflex TLR – Bolta film – Rare. The Tanzer was produced in the early 50s in Japan by the Nomura optical company. Not much is known about the Nomura company, which apparently only produced this camera in two versions (with and without flash synchronisation) and did not leave a notable mark. The … Read more47 Nomura
Tanzer “smile”
Japan 1948 – Lighter – Lighter fluid – Rare. The K.K.W. Camera Lighter is very well known to camera collectors as it is often the first non-camera item to join their collection. The K.K.W. Lighter is a beautiful example of Japanese craftsmanship. It was first manufactured in 1948 in Occupied Japan as a wick lighter … Read moreK.K.W.
Camera Lighter
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 more45 Lumiere
Super Eljy
Germany 1936 – Compact – 35 mm – Rare. The Zeiss Ikon Nettax, produced in 1936 was a very high-end device. It was a very expensive camera, making it a very desirable collectible today. It is beautifully built out of light chromed metal and sheathed in very soft black Saffiano veal leather. The objectives are interchangeable using … Read moreZeiss Ikon
Nettax
Germany 1957 – Reflex TLR – 127 film – Rare. Descendant of the Rolleiflex Baby of 1931, this version popularly known as the “Grey Baby” Rolleiflex, was introduced in 1957, it was then replaced by a black version in 1963. This model helped kick-start a brief boom for 38 mm “super slides” whose slide mounts … Read more43 Rollei
Rolleiflex “grey baby”
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 more41 Tessina
Automatic
Like a luxury watch
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