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Post by kodaker on Sept 24, 2012 9:45:54 GMT -5
I remember going to the state fair and seeing this type camera as prizes. I'll bet there were 100 different models. I never tried taking pictures with any of these.
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Sept 24, 2012 10:15:23 GMT -5
The wonderful Sub-miniature Japanese Hit "Spy" camera, a class sometimes known as Kiosk Cameras, for sale to tourists etc. They do usually work, and the surprise is a result at all from them.
Many bought for children, they got used once and discarded. New film is available, at a price!, or cut up 35mm film, you need an old backing paper though.
They did range in quality from one maker to another, one of two types boasted a few speeds or two aperture settings, most were fixed, with a meniscus lens, with a curved film path to compensate.
Expensive nowadays, they feature widely on Ebay, and popularity in collecting has pushed prices up.
Stephen.
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Doug T.
Lifetime Member
Pettin' The Gator
Posts: 1,199
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Post by Doug T. on Sept 24, 2012 15:35:25 GMT -5
I remember seeing tons of them in the shops around Times Square when I was a kid. That, camera shops, the automatic lucheonette, and shoe shine boys  Doug |
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Post by SuperDeluxe on Sept 25, 2012 0:15:13 GMT -5
Just bought one of these myself, a Minetta (it looks almost exactly the same as any of the ones in the photo). It's a nice toy, a conversation starter, and it made my niece and nephew laugh -- which was worth the price of the camera.
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Stephen
Lifetime Member
Still collecting.......
Posts: 2,718
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Post by Stephen on Sept 25, 2012 5:09:39 GMT -5
It seems that there were only handful of actual makers, mainly sub contractors to the Hit type camera Companies, that manufactured the basic parts for all the marques. Legions of names were used, some related to camera makers, some trying to sound the same, and some as promotional names, when the items were marketed in the States. The net quotes about 18 makers and 50 sub contractors.
The main player was Tougodo, the pre-war camera maker who made Meisupi TLR 35mm cameras. The boom period was the 1940's, but the designs continued for many years and were duplicated in Taiwan and Hong Kong productions as well.
They were almost unknown in Europe at first, and not imported to the UK at all, due to the post WWII general camera restrictions, although some turned up as toys after about 1955, when some restrictions were removed.
The other sales restriction in the UK was the 17.5 mm roll Film, it was not easily available, and difficult to get processed, the film labs did not like the unusual size, or the lower quality of the shots in the days when 120 sized was so common.
Stephen.
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