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 more94 Coronet
Midget
Cereal box gift
Japan 1948 – Subminiature – 16 mm – Rare. The Tone Micro was manufactured by Toko in 1948 At the time, a lot of Japanese manufacturers were producing micro cameras which were mainly intended as toys. The most common production was the Hit type, with which it was hardly possible to take any picture. They … Read moreToko
Tone Micro
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 more55 Mamiya
Super 16 (Mod.III)
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
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”
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
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 more39 Showa Kogaku
Gemflex
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 more37 Asahi Musen
Steky (Mod. 1)
Germany 1936 – Compact – 127 film – Rare. The Gewirette is a small viewfinder-type camera made by Wirgin in Wiesbaden. The name Gewirette is derived from the company name Wirgin Brothers (GErrüder WIrgin). The Gewinette is a wonderfully crafted camera whose lens collapses into the body to make it more compact. To load and … Read more36 Wirgin
Gewirette
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 more27 Morita
Kiku 16 (mod. 2)
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