Mikronette
The Mikronette is a viewfinder camera for 16 mm film, made by Optotechnika in Prerov, Czechoslovakia (because the country was occupied during the War, the camera is engraved with the town's German name, Prerau).[1] It is very clearly the predecessor of the better-known Mikroma made only a few years later, after Optikotechna had been renamed Meopta.
The body of the camera is in fact almost identical to the Mikroma. It has the same curious sliding control at the back to advance the film, but (unlike the early Mikroma) has a separate shutter release button; this has an external thread for a cable release.
The lens is a Schneider 2.5 cm f/3 Kinoplan (presumably originally a cine lens), with helical unit focusing down to 0.6 metre. this is the same standard lens as used on the Schatz & Söhne Sola subminiature camera, for which several other Schneider lenses were available. It seems likely these would also fit the Mikronette.[2]
Notes
- ↑ Mikronette with Schneider 2.5 cm f/3 Kinoplan, sold at the December 2009 Westlicht Photographica Auction.
- ↑ Schatz Sola sub-miniature camera with Schneider 2.5 cm f/3 Kinoplan (several copies of this lens), 2.5 cm f/2 Xenon, 5 cm f/5.5 Tele-Xenar and 13 cm f/1.5 Xenon; sold at Christie's in September 2005.
