Subminiature Photography - Types

Types

There are many subminiature cameras. Minox, followed by Tessina, GaMi, Rollei, Yashica, Mamiya, and Minolta are the best-known manufacturers. All made small, precision cameras and a few were still in production in 2006 but by 2011, only the Minox TLX model was still in production. Getting film and processing for most smaller cameras is a challenge as they are no longer supported. Most require cutting your own film, and home-processing.

The best known subminiature formats are—in increasing size—Minox (8×11 mm), Kodak disc (8×11 mm), 16 mm (10×14 mm), Super 16 mm (12×17 mm), 110 film (13×17 mm), Tessina (14×21 mm), half-frame 35 mm (18×24 mm), and Advanced Photo System (APS), different aspect ratios on 24 mm film. While many subminiature cameras were inexpensive and poorly manufactured (thus giving the format a bad name), Minox, Tessina, Gami, Edixa, Rollei, Pentax and Minolta made quality cameras capable of producing fine results—even enlarged. Some of these formats, or non-standard cartridges loaded with an otherwise standard ciné format, are best described as specialised (e.g., Minox); half-frame 35 mm uses standard 35 mm film; cameras such as 110 and disc were aimed at the mass market.

First making an appearance in the late 19th century, often as concealed cameras, subminiature cameras became popular soon after WWII when many consumer markets required small, inexpensive cameras. Friedrich Kaftansky's Mini-flex was designed in 1931, on the market in 1933. Walter Zapp's Riga Minox appeared in 1938. Kodak's introduction of the 110 camera in the 1970s and the Kodak disc camera in the 1980s brought the subminiature camera to the forefront of the photographic market. But the many cheap, poorly made cameras that soon appeared drove Kodak out of the market.

Various formats of subminiature camera have come and gone over the years as newer formats have replaced older one. In addition, many larger format cameras, especially 35 mm, become smaller in size and weight—partly due to the consumer demand for subminiature cameras—and were able to replace some subminiature formats. For example, full-frame 35 mm cameras, such as the Minox 35 and the Olympus XA, were made as small as earlier half-frame subminiature cameras such as the Olympus Pen, using moderate wide-angle fixed lenses to minimise lens barrel depth. Some subminiature formats, such as the Minox and 110 formats, continue in production. Most other subminiature cameras are still usable if film can be obtained, particularly if the photographer is prepared to do the processing.