Monday, October 1, 2012

Miniature Cameras

Thomas H. Miller & Wyatt Brummitt.  Eastman Kodak Company.  This Is Photography.  Its Means and Ends.  Published by the Case-Hoyt Corporation for Doubleday & Company, Inc., Garden City, NY, 1945,  1952, 1955, 1959, 1963.
The authors write:

     "Back in the '30;s there appeared a new type of camera, the miniature.  Originally, its claims to fame were based on the facts that (1) it used short lengths of 35-mm motion picture film, (2) it usually had a fast, short-focus lens that permitted picture making under the most unlikely conditions, and (3) it was a precisely engineered mechanism.  Too, because many and fascinating accessories were provided for it, it became the favorite of gadgeteers.
    But the miniature's appeal changed and broadened vastly when Kodachrome film was made available for 35-mm cameras.  The whole plan, which involved the color processing and return of the customer's film in little slides suitable for projection, ushered in a new kind of personal photography. 
     The first miniatures came out of Europe, and some are still produced there.  But today America is making more miniatures than is Europe.  And the quality of many of our cameras is unbeatable."

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