Thoughts on a 16mm SLR system

Kodak's data sheet for TMax100 goes to about 140 cycles/mm, which comes out

closer to 60MP.

 

But yes, color films are less, for many reasons, so 6MP is probably fair.

Kodak's data sheet for TMax100 goes to about 140 cycles/mm,

Datasheet - Shmatasheet.

Add a lens and camera and 100 cycles/mm is the max.... if you're lucky and the optical wind is behind you!

 

Which, over the full width of a crappy bit of single-sprocket 16mm film amounts to about 2600 pixels. Or two tenths of naff all in terms of megapixels.

 

Here's the thing: would it sell?

 

Definitely not in any good quantity. Now a question for you as you probably say you will buy it but how much would you be wiling to pay for it?

Where would all those spy movies be without a Minox?

Don't forget there are excellent and relatively cheap Olympus Pen F/FT/FV bodies to be had, with a full range of lenses and other accessories (if you can find them). They scratch my occasional itch for tiny photography.

 

This is the answer. Does everything better than the 16mm concept, and takes standard 35 mm cartridges. Fun factoid, Rollei had a 16 mm, beautiful, jewel like in appearance. Slow but steady seller when the 16 mm ultra mini camera fad was an item, Sales for it suddenly fell flat, why, Rollei introduced the Rollei 35, which didn't have the 16 mm headaches, and again, took standard 35 mm cartridges. And was a sales success. Practicality and convenience wins out.

What about the good old Minox subminiatures?

For spy work, fine. For those who want headaches with film and processing not easily available in the mainstream, fine. Again, my Kodak Retina 1b is very pocketable, and uses easily avallable 35 mm in standard cartridges.

I have used a Rollei 35 since the very first day offered for sale at MiniCam on 32nd st in NYC. Also use Retina and Contessa folders. And my XA has produced a couple remarkable pictures. All are Handy small cameras, but they are too heavy to always carry in pants pocket...at least for me.

The little Minox 8x11 cameras sit in pocket and are hardly noticeable. I have very good simple to use film slitters and find loading cassettes a much simpler task than rewinding 120 film on to 620 spools for my Medalist.

Somehow, my phone and I become easily separated. And then, I have a negative rather than a digital file.

These are all personal preferences, so not suggesting that this is only path, or best path, for every one, just what I like to do.

As for 16mm reflex camera, that has already been done...the little Pentax. Small, but more cumbersome to handle than a viewfinder camera.

Of course subminiature format doesn’t take the place of 35mm, MF, or LF...at least not for me. (There was a gentleman who made stunning 11x 16 prints from Minox negatives, but that’s way beyond my skill level.)

Subminature is a PITA to deal with every day. Processing for those who don't do their own, major pain. Film a major pain (and you have to have the cartridges). And 110 is not much better (and today's film selection limited) .I'd rather carry a 35 mm compact scale focus folder or a Rollei 35, or Barnack Leica with a collapsible lens. My vest pocket has plenty of room for either choice.

If the OP likes the images coming out of the 16mm then why not just use the 35mm and crop. The results are the same aren't they?

If the OP likes the images coming out of the 16mm then why not just use the 35mm and crop. The results are the same aren't they?

 

You might find a wider angle lens on the 16mm camera. But if it is the same lens, then yes.

As a former Olympus FT owner I can attest to their outstanding qualities, even today I can readily make 8x10 prints of my 1960s Oly negatives which often fool people about what camera/lens combos were used. Would I do it again...no way. My phone beats it hands down, and although I'm a Johnny-come-lately to the technology, the phone is always with me and a camera isn't...not even my Barnack Leicas or my Minox.

Yeah, it's tough to justify a subminiature film camera in the smartphone age. I shot b/w film with a Minox IIIs on and off for years; I carried one everywhere in a knife belt case daily from 1995 to around 2015. I made hundreds of great shots, both general photography and family pics. I also shot color film (Fuji Reala, Kodak Supra 100) in a Minox B up until Minox Processing Labs closed.

 

I enlarged 4x5 and 5x7 prints from films like Agfapan APX 100 and T-Max 100 on an Omega D-3v with a 50mm EL-Nikkor. But once I lost access to a proper darkroom and began scanning my negatives, I just couldn't manage decent scans out of the teeny Minox negs. More to the point, while the Minox produced absolutely unique-looking images and the camera itself was (and remains) a great conversation piece... now everyone's smartphones were capable of capturing "better" images. So I put it aside. The smallest camera I shoot with now is an Olympus Pen F, which is another jewel.

 

Recent print scans from my late-90s Minox shots:

 

back to the 1950s or maybe it was the earlier 1960s I remember my mother had a pocketable TLR called a Goertz Minicord which produced reasonable prints. My recollection was that it used split 35mm film in special cartridges. We sent them off to the drugstore for processing, but I do remember that the company offered home developing kits for them. I only have a couple of shots from that camera, the one below is one I took with it of my mother, the first time she let me use it (photo from a print) . I was going to post a picture of it, but realized I had copied it from somewhere years ago, so just Google it to see a fine, pocketable subminiature TLR. Edited April 10, 2022 by SCL

As a former Olympus FT owner I can attest to their outstanding qualities, even today I can readily make 8x10 prints of my 1960s Oly negatives which often fool people about what camera/lens combos were used. Would I do it again...no way. My phone beats it hands down, and although I'm a Johnny-come-lately to the technology, the phone is always with me and a camera isn't...not even my Barnack Leicas or my Minox.

 

I am a fan of the Olympus Pen F line, and the non EE Pens. 1/2 frame 35 mm, is a nice format to live with. A great street camera. Barnack like in approach. I would love to own one. My little Olympus 35 RC has been optically and mechanically delightful to use. And I've shot a lot of nice photos with it.