"BABY" CAMERAS

Baby cameras are the smaller versions of those
which are available in different formats or film sizes.
Some manufacturers produced their own smaller versions of
some popular cameras and were officially known as Baby
cameras, notably Rollei (which produced their Baby
Rolleiflex in both grey and black body colors from 1931 to
1968), Kodak (which offered Baby Brownie, Baby Hawkeye,
and other models), Zeiss, Minolta, Yashica, and the
Baby Pearl from Konica.

More recently, the Japanese company Sharan (formerly
MegaHouse) began producing a line of Classic miniatures,
which were also marketed by Minox, the subminiature
camera manufacturer and producer of the Minox film
used by the miniature Classics. Minox went on to make
their own versions of some of the classics as digitals.

     


The cameras pictured below, with their standard-size format
models, are scaled-down versions of well-known full-size
cameras. The different sizes of the smaller versions have
been labeled as: "baby" (smaller), "mini" (even smaller),
and "micro" (smallest).

With only 3 exceptions, all the cameras pictured below
are functional and capable of taking photos. Two of the
non-working exceptions are the micro versions from Glico,
which are very detailed replicas, but unable to take pictures.
"Glico" is a Japanese candy company, which offered "gifts"
consisting of various items, including detailed miniatures of
both Rollei TLR's and Nikon F's in boxes of their products.
The third is a key fob that resembles a 35mm Pentax SLR.

Most of the full-size versions pictured with the baby cameras
were borrowed from the Fleetwood Camera Museum,
in North Plainfield, New Jersey, to which I extend my thanks
for the assistance of their personel in the photographing
of their cameras and mine together.
The full-size Leica IIIf, Nikon F, and No. 1A Pocket Kodak
were photographed through the courtesy of Black Lab Studio &
Imaging in Flemington, New Jersey, to which I also extend
my appreciation.


ROLLEIFLEX From the left, are pictured a
"Glico" replica of a Rollei 2.8F, a Sharan/Minox
digital version of the same camera, a Rollei Black
Baby made by Rollei from the 1930's to the 1960's,
and a full-size Rolleiflex twin lens reflex, using 120 film.

The "mini" camera (2nd from left) is part of the
offering from Sharan/Minox and takes digital images.
An identical mini is available which uses Minox film.

The Black Baby, a limited-production 1960's variation
of the 6x6 TLR, started off as a black model in 1931,
but was changed to a grey body for the next 2 versions.
It was made by Rollei and takes 4cm x 4cm photos on 127 film.



Rollei

Pentax

PENTAX Another classic is the 35mm.
single-lens reflex Pentax. The company also produced a
smaller version, the Pentax 110 (on the far left) which takes
110 Instamatic film. Like its big-brother, this one has
interchangable lenses and a tele-converter. The
mini version in the middle is from the Classic
Collection of Sharan and takes photos
using Minox film. The tiniest Pentax camera (in the
front) is actually a key fob and does not take pictures.

NIKON F The 3 Nikons pictured (from the left) are a
micro-sized version (like the Rollei above, it came from the
Glico candy company), a mini Nikon F from Sharan that
takes Minox film to make negatives 8mm x 11mm, and
a full-sized Nikon F, which uses 35mm film.

Nikon F

Nikon SP


NIKON SP Nikon was also well known for
its rangefinder cameras made after World War II.
The smaller version pictured on the left is from
Sharan and takes 8mm x 11mm negatives on Minox film.
The larger camera is a Nikon S model and uses
standard 35mm film.



IKONTA The Baby Ikonta (520/18) on the left is from
the 1930's and takes 3cm x 4cm negatives on 127
film. The full-size Ikonta (521) on the right takes
120 film and makes 4.5cm x 6cm negatives.
Both were made by Zeiss Ikon in Germany.

Ikonta

Kodak Folding


KODAK FOLDING The Kodak folding cameras
pictured here are from the time circa World War I
and range in negative size from 4.5cm x 6cm Vest
Pocket Model B (on the right), to the 6cm x 9cm No. 1
Pocket Junior (in the middle), to the 2 1/2" x 4 1/4"
No. 1A Pocket Kodak (on the left).


CONTAX The Contax I, a 35mm rangefinder
camera from Zeiss Ikon of Germany, was
first manufactured in 1932. The full-size
version is shown on the right; the smaller
version from Sharan, on the left, takes Minox
film and produces negatives 8mm x 11mm.

Contax

Leica IIIF


LEICA IIIf The first Leica, built by Oscar Barnack in 1913
when he was an employee of Leitz, may not have been
the first 35mm still camera made, but the brand became the most
popular. The full-size Leica IIIf [or "3F"] model (on the left)
was produced in the early 1950's. The mini-version, created by
Sharan and using Minox film, is one of 3 Leica models ("If," "IIIf,"
and "M3") replicas produced by both Sharan and Minox.


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