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
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)
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 more65 Sakura Seiki
Petal
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 more61 Steineck
ABC Wristwatch
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
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
Japan 1949 – Subminiature – 17.5 mm – Rare. Konishiroku stands as one of Japan’s oldest photographic enterprises, with its origins tracing back to 1873 – a history predating even that of Kodak, which officially began in 1881. The company was established by Rokusaburo Sugiura, a pharmacist who embarked on selling photographic merchandise from Tokyo’s … Read more29 Konishiroku
Snappy
Police pocket camera
Germany 1940 – Compact – 35 mm – Very Rare. Introduced in 1938, the Robot II emerged as a slightly larger iteration of its predecessor, the Robot I, boasting several notable enhancements while retaining the core mechanism. A distinct variant was developed exclusively for the German intelligence service and military. Equipped with two perpendicular viewfinders—one … Read more23 Robot
Robot II “Luftwaffe”
WW2 Stuka’s camera
Kiev 1978 – Spy Camera – 16 mm – Infrequent. Starting in 1978, Kiev Arsenal embarked on a unique endeavor by crafting a distinct version of the Kiev 30 subminiature camera, cleverly concealed within a pack of “John Player Special” cigarettes. Market as a KGB spy camera designed for clandestine activities within the United Kingdom, … Read moreKiev Arsenal
Kiev 30 “John player special”
Latvia 1938 – Spy Camera – Minox film – Very Rare. Invented in 1936, the Minox camera soared to fame when James Bond (played by George Lazenby) wielded a Minox A IIIs in the 1969 film “On Her Majesty’s Secret Service.” The initial Riga iterations of the Minox sported a stainless steel casing, later transitioned … Read more10 Minox
Riga
Legendary spy camera
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