One hundred years ago, Kodak introduced a new cine camera and film to revolutionise first amateur cinematography and then still photography. The year was 1923, the camera was the Cine-Kodak Model A and the film was 16mm. Originally, 16mm was for amateur movie makers, saving costs that meant a 100ft reel of 16mm gave the same amount of shooting time as a 250ft reel of 35mm, then the most popular cine format. The new narrow gauge film went on to become equally popular among professional cinematographers. Meanwhile, 16mm made the transition into still cameras.
The first 16mm still camera
Unlike most 16mm cameras, the German Mini-Fex, made by Fotofex-Mareas in 1932, uses paper-backed film with frame numbers read through a red window. Image size is 13x18mm. At only 8x3x2cm, the body is tiny and overshadowed by a comparatively huge lens and shutter assembly. Several versions with different shutter/lens combinations were made. The most popular uses a focusing Vidar 25mm f/3.5 lens and a
