144 - Kowa Optical Co., Japan | Bell 16

Kowa Optical Co., Japan | Bell 16 Estimate: €1,000–1,200 Year: c.1959 Serial No.: 29611 Condition: B+ English: A rare Japanese 16mm subminiature camera manufactured by Kowa Optical Co., originally developed as the camera section of the remarkable Kowa Ramera, a combined transistor radio and camera. The Bell 16 is the much rarer standalone version of the camera, without the radio unit. It uses Minolta 16 cassettes and produces 10 × 14 mm negatives. It is equipped with a fixed-focus 1:3.5 / 25 mm lens, aperture control, and shutter speeds of B, 1/50, 1/100, and 1/200 sec. Film advance and shutter cocking are combined in an ingenious push-pull mechanism. With its exceptionally compact metal body and unusual origins as part of one of the earliest radio-camera combinations, the Bell 16 is one of the more distinctive Japanese subminiature cameras of the late 1950s. English: Rare Japanese 16mm miniature camera from Kowa Optical Co., originally developed as the camera component of the extraordinary Kowa Ramera, a combination of a transistor radio and a camera. The Bell 16 is the much rarer standalone version without the radio component. It uses Minolta-16 cassettes and produces 10 × 14 mm negatives. It features a fixed-focus 1:3.5/25 mm lens, aperture adjustment, and shutter speeds of B, 1/50, 1/100, and 1/200 second. Film advance and shutter cocking are combined in an ingenious push-pull mechanism. With its exceptionally compact metal body and its unusual origins as part of one of the earliest radio-camera combinations, the Bell 16 ranks among the most remarkable Japanese miniature cameras of the late 1950s.