These days, the phrase ‘full-name’ is
second only to ‘diamond-encrusted’ in bumping up the price of a camera. But
back in pre-digital times, any cam that tool 35mm film was a full-frame
shooter. The simple mechanics of consumer-level cameras meant they could be
built smaller than their modern digital equivalents – as evidenced by the 10 x
6 x 3cm Minoc 35 range, the smallest full-name cameras ever made.
Why should I want one?
Well, apart from the fact that it’s a
proper 35mm camera that won’t ruin the line of your jacket, the 35 GT is also a
very capable shooter. An f/2.8 aperture, 35mm focal length and quiet operation
make it great for street photography and the GT is also well known for the
accuracy of its automatic exposure system, which allows you to take successful
long exposures. All of which is handy when you’re paying $11 a roll to see the
results.
What to look for
Minox
35 GT
Minox gave its 35 series cams different
colored shutter buttons, so only go for a yellow one. Have a squint through the
viewfinder and check the light meter needle moves around in response to
different brightnesses, and don’t assume it’s knackered if your pics come out
blurry – like any film camera with manual controls, it’ll take a bit of getting
used to.
Stuff’s top four micro cams
NanEye
2B
This grain-of-salt-sized camera is a marvel
of miniaturization. It’s mainly used for endoscopy, so you can shove it where
the sun don’t shine – or rather, your doctor will.
The
World’s Smallest Camera
This is not the world’s smallest camera.
Still, calling it The Camera That Is Smaller Than The Majority Of Other Cameras
doesn’t sound quite so impressive.
Pentax
Q
The world’s smallest and lightest compact
system cam won’t blow your DSLR out of the water – its tiny form is partly due
to a sensor the size of a flea’s brain – but it sure is portable.
Lomography
Fisheye Baby 110
Miniature, cartridge – based 110 film has
been revived by Lomo for this super-wide angle snapper, making it great for shots
that look as if they were taken in 1982
Stuff’s
top four micro cams
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Details
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Price
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$96
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Website
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eBay
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Also in 1981
The inaugural London Marathon takes place.
MTV is launched. France’s TGV trains start running
Film
Escape From New York
The President’s been kidnapped? Well, we’d
better get a dangerous criminal on the case. Yeah, that seems like a good idea.
And while we’re at it, we’d better make sure he’s got a mullet, eh?
Gadget
DeLorean DMC-12
Doc Brown’s car of choice for a time
machine, and the car of choice for rich nerds ever since. It was built, as so
many of the most glamorous things in the world have been, in a suburb of south
west Belfast
Game
Donkey Kong
In perhaps the single most important
development in video games, Shigeru Miyamoto created the first game that was
written as a story before it was programmed. Yes, it seems an obvious thing to
do now
Music
Krafrwerk – Computer world
The eighth long player by the tech-obsessed
German electro gods formed the soundtrack to the Summer of Calculation; if you
can remember it, you were there
