Subminiature camera

Minox B subminiature camera

Subminiature camera is a type of film camera in which the size is generally 4 x 2 x 1 inches or smaller, and made to use film smaller than standard 35 mm. Due to their size they are sometimes referred to as "ultra-miniature" or "pocket" cameras.

Description

Early in the 20th century professional photographers used medium to large-format film cameras, i.e. cameras whose film size was 120 mm or larger. The cameras they used were the familiar, yet bulky "press" cameras, whose photographic qualities were outstanding, but in terms of portability left a lot to be desired in the hands of the general public, who preferred the smaller twin-lens reflex cameras, folding compact cameras, or the Brownies made by Kodak. When 35 mm became the standard film beginning in the 1950s, the change in film size also resulted in a change in camera size; the new cameras which held the film were referred to as "miniature" in comparison to the larger models.

"Subminiature" in this sense referred to film which was clearly smaller; according to one source these were "...still cameras taking pictures 12 x 17 mm. or smaller on 16 mm. or narrower film." The small size of the film likewise ensured a small size to the camera, and with the smaller size came a realization that the optics had to be improved to get at the very least good results from the subsequent picture. To that end several companies - Minox, Pentax, Narciss, Minolta, Yashica, and others - would create cameras small enough to easily slip into a shirt pocket.

Formats

Edixa 16 camera (1962)

Kodak Pocket Instamatic camera (1972)

Pentax Auto 110 single-lens reflex camera (1979)

Kodak Disc 8000 camera (1982)

Minox 8 mm × 11 mm.

Minox has made particularly small picture cameras; not only the format, but also the film itself is extremely small, its width is 9.5 mm. In the hand some models were not much wider than a silver dollar; they were nicknamed "spy cameras", and their size and ease of concealment made them very effective for espionage. In private hands, the Minox system has only been used by some dedicated amateurs, but it has found a consistently modest spread over many years.

16 mm. film

In the early 1960s, several cameras made to use the 16 mm. narrow film came on the market. However, this format was not widely used and was forgotten, in part due to Kodak refusing to make film cartridges for them. The Franke & Heidecke Company of Germany (later called the Rollei Company) had to assemble and distribute film for their own camera (the Rollei 16). Another well-known German camera is the Edixa 16, which used the same cartridges according to the DIN standard 19022; both cameras used 12 mm × 16 mm. film. Originally also double-sided perforated film was used, which had to be self-made, i.e. had to be wound by a narrow-film camera coil. In 1970 Minolta introduced a ready-made cassette with 16 mm. film, which also used the recording format 12 × 16 mm.

Type 110

The original Kodak Instamatic was introduced in 1963 with cartridge-based 126 mm film, and was an immediate success. Despite the size of the film, the camera itself was small. The Pocket Instamatic was introduced by Kodak in 1972, a slightly-smaller model that lived up to its name, and could be loaded with 110 film cartridges. This film had a 13 mm × 17 mm format, and its ease of use made it extremely widespread in the 1970s. Indeed, it was consumer complaints about loading and unloading roll film that led to the creation of film cartridges, and 110 film was just the format that led to a major increase in amateur photography. Although this increase involved cameras later to be known as "point-and-shoot" for their simplicity, at least one manufacturer - Pentax - created a true SLR subminiature camera with an interchangeable lens system that was small enough to take advantage of this film.

Kodak disc

In 1982 Kodak tried to revive the idea of the pocket camera with the disc, a fifteen-image film in which the individual negative size was 8 mm × 10 mm, but it had a barely significant success in the 1980s. In contrast to 110 film, only very few camera manufacturers have acquired a license; sophisticated models were not available at all, so that this format gained little to no importance for amateur photographers. Further adding to the woes was developing the film; Kodak required a 6-element lens developer to process and print the negatives to get the best clarity. Photo labs, however, such as those one-hour facilities within drug stores or big retailers like Wal-Mart - had 3-element lens developers made for larger film stock. The printed results from disc film from these 3-element lenses were unsatisfactory to the consumer, and Kodak ceased manufacturing the cameras in 1988, with the film discontinued at the end of 1999.

Discontinuation

Film and film cameras of all formats and sizes became obsolete with the arrival of digital format in the mid-1990s. This meant for the consumer the immediate creation of the image in positive (as opposed to negative), dispensing with the need for a third-party film developer as well. Kodak would be the major company hit hardest by digital; it would go bankrupt in part due to film sales collapsing as a result of the change to digital, which was ironically invented by Kodak. Today, digital cameras have taken over the niche held by film cameras, with the role once held by subminiature cameras now held by cell phones and tiny cameras as small as a pencil.

References

• Mannheim, L.A. (editor). The Focal Encyclopedia Of Photography, Desk Edition; Focal Press, New York, London (1956)
• Orphan Cameras; website dedicated to cameras no longer produced, and containing instructions for subminiature camera models[1]