HaarFager
Rollei 16
This Rollei 16 has been hailed as quite possibly the best subminiature camera ever made. It was made by Frank and Heidecke and produced between 1963 and 1967. Only about 28,000 were ever made. The body is made out of metal and is chrome and matte finish, with black snakeskin inserts. It took pictures on 16mm film with an image area of 12x17mm, and had the capability for 18 exposures in the tiny cartridges it used. It came with a nice wrist strap (which I found out is missing from most of these cameras on the used market), and a thick, leather case for protection. Also featured on this camera was a hotshoe for a matching flash unit and a tripod thread. Now that I've given the specifications of this camera, I'll tell you the reason why I own one.
In 1974, ABC-TV had a show that premiered called "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." It featured Darren McGavin as a newspaper reporter working in Chicago, Illinois and he always seemed to be coming up against monsters, vampires, aliens and swamp creatures. He always had his trusty camera along to get pictures of these monsters and the camera he used was one identical with this Rollei 16. For years, I just assumed he used a cheap 110 camera - one that I didn't think would be good enough quality for newspaper photography. Recently, however, I found out this was not the case. Now knowing that this little camera was one of the best of it's kind, I learned that it would have been quite sufficient for images that would be used in newspapers. The monsters were always chasing Carl Kolchak, so the pictures hardly ever turned out anyway. And the show lasted less than a full season, so I guess we'll never really know if the camera was good enough for newspaper work or not. I always loved the show, since I first saw it in 1974, and have always loved his little camera. Once I found out what kind it was, I located a used one on an online auction site and became the high bidder and became the proud owner of one! I'm so happy with it, but to use it, I've just cut down some 35mm film and shot one negative at a time. Apparently 16mm film is relatively easy enough to find, but you have to have the tiny cannisters to be able to use the film. So, if anybody knows where these can be found, please let me know.
2833ff
Rollei 16
This Rollei 16 has been hailed as quite possibly the best subminiature camera ever made. It was made by Frank and Heidecke and produced between 1963 and 1967. Only about 28,000 were ever made. The body is made out of metal and is chrome and matte finish, with black snakeskin inserts. It took pictures on 16mm film with an image area of 12x17mm, and had the capability for 18 exposures in the tiny cartridges it used. It came with a nice wrist strap (which I found out is missing from most of these cameras on the used market), and a thick, leather case for protection. Also featured on this camera was a hotshoe for a matching flash unit and a tripod thread. Now that I've given the specifications of this camera, I'll tell you the reason why I own one.
In 1974, ABC-TV had a show that premiered called "Kolchak: The Night Stalker." It featured Darren McGavin as a newspaper reporter working in Chicago, Illinois and he always seemed to be coming up against monsters, vampires, aliens and swamp creatures. He always had his trusty camera along to get pictures of these monsters and the camera he used was one identical with this Rollei 16. For years, I just assumed he used a cheap 110 camera - one that I didn't think would be good enough quality for newspaper photography. Recently, however, I found out this was not the case. Now knowing that this little camera was one of the best of it's kind, I learned that it would have been quite sufficient for images that would be used in newspapers. The monsters were always chasing Carl Kolchak, so the pictures hardly ever turned out anyway. And the show lasted less than a full season, so I guess we'll never really know if the camera was good enough for newspaper work or not. I always loved the show, since I first saw it in 1974, and have always loved his little camera. Once I found out what kind it was, I located a used one on an online auction site and became the high bidder and became the proud owner of one! I'm so happy with it, but to use it, I've just cut down some 35mm film and shot one negative at a time. Apparently 16mm film is relatively easy enough to find, but you have to have the tiny cannisters to be able to use the film. So, if anybody knows where these can be found, please let me know.
2833ff