Feinwerktechnik Mec 16
You will immediately notice the Mec 16 the first time you see one, especially if you have happened across the gold version of the camera. This shiny, little subminiature camera is quite the eye-catcher and is unusual both in appearance and design.
The Feinwerktechnik Mec 16 is a West German subminiature camera produced in the 1950s, shooting 10x14mm frames using 16mm film cassettes. It is generally considered to be a premium 16mm still camera, at least premium compared to other cameras of its class, which may or may not be saying much. It is pretty comparable to a Minolta 16, so if you think that camera is premium quality then the Mec 16 won't disappoint those expectations.
The early models of the Mec 16 had a 20mm f2.8 lens (the later Mec 16SB upgraded this to a 20mm f2, which is fairly impressive for a camera like this) that could be stopped down to f16. The metal focal plane shutter has speeds in the range of 1/25 (some models have a 1/30 as their slowest speed) to 1/1000, plus Bulb for long exposures. Both shutter and aperture are controlled by dials in opposing corners of the camera's top plate, with a third middle dial used for scale focusing.
It seems the technicians at Feinwerktechnik (which roughly translates to "precision engineering" in case you were wondering) had a flare for style. The Mec 16 was produced in at least four different finishes: gold, silver with tan, silver with black, black with tan, and apparently a black with white or grey leatherette. The gold version is said to be the most common which is pretty cool since it also happens to be the sleekest-looking version. One last side note, the Mec 16 uses somewhat proprietary film cartridges that will be one of the biggest challenges to using this camera, assuming the one you buy doesn't come with its cartridges (unfortunately fairly common). But our research indicates that the cartridges used by the Whittaker Micro 16, so at least you have one other possible source for cartridges to fit in your Mec 16.
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