A Spy Camera with Style!
Here’s a cool little camera I picked up at a local swap meet for $18. It’s the Minolta-16 MG, a mid-’60s Japanese “spy” camera that used Minolta 16mm film. In its day, it was a very popular little camera, praised for its easy controls and ultra-portable size.
This is a really stylish little camera, and look at that case! Looks like something out of a James Bond movie! It came with a nice little square flash, into which you insert special flash bulbs. The flash complements the body very nicely, attaching to the side of the camera without ruining its nice, low profile. It has a built-in light meter and near-automatic exposure; you just turn a dial until the needle says your exposure is perfect, and fire away!
I just lament that I don’t have any Minolta 16mm film for this camera! It can be purchased on eBay, but it’s pretty expensive and somewhat cost-prohibitive to develop. We’ll see, though…I’d love to run a roll through it. Its fast f/2.8 lens allows for shooting in pretty dim light, so it’s the perfect covert camera! If you can afford the cost of film and developing, that is!
