From 2000 through 2001, the Japanese company Sharan (also known as Megahouse) produced a series of miniature replica cameras of historically significant models. The list of cameras was surprisingly lengthy and included models such as:
Contax I
Hasselblad SWC
Leica M3 (in chrome, black or Swedish Army)
ROBOT I
Rolleiflex 2.8F
Nikon F
Nikon SP
Pentax Spotmatic
Leica IF and IIIF
While seemingly a novelty, they are actually functional and use Minox film cartridges (or our Spy Film for Minox cartridges). Camera functions are generally pretty limited. Focus and aperture are both fixed, as is the shutter speed at 1/250th. The lens is a three element 15mm f/5.6 Azonon. Many cameras have moving parts to simulate the functions on the cameras they are imitating, but these don't perform any actual function.
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Sharan Miniature Rolleiflex 2.8F
Longtime customer, Matt Adamik, mostly comes by the shop in order to pick up Spy Film for his Rolleiflex. Wait, "Spy Film for a Rollei" you say? That's right. This mini Rolleiflex TLR is actually a subminiature camera that makes use of the Minox cassettes and produces the typical 8x11mm frame - and yes, it would have been much cooler if it made 8x8mm square images.
Back in 2000, a Japanese company called Sharan Megahouse started producing a whole series of miniature replicas of historically significant cameras. The list included such luminaries as the Rolleiflex 2.8F, the Leica M3 (available in chrome, black or the Swedish military model), the Nikon SP, Olympus Pen F, Robot I (we'd love to see this), and even a Hasselblad SWC. All of them were functional cameras, albeit in a limited fashion. They typically had a 15mm f/5.6 Azonon lens, fixed shutter speed of 1/250th, fixed f/5.6 aperture, and fixed focus. They also all used Minox film. Of course, Minox no longer produces their film but we have stepped in and filled that void with our very own, Spy Film for Minox.
Matt also owns the Sharan miniature Leica M3, which you can find an image of elsewhere in this same exhibit. Despite its diminutive size, it didn't take long for Matt's mini Rollei to get our attention. Two of our staff made sure to get portraits of the camera. Renee had him pose out in front of our shop, where she made this portrait with her Yashica Mat-124.