C41
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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The Steky is a subminiature camera introduced by Riken Optical Industries in Japan in 1947, making it one of the earliest Japanese subminiature cameras produced after World War II. It uses 16mm film in a proprietary cartridge to expose frames nominally around 10x14mm, and features a fixed-focus lens with manual shutter speed selection but no built-in exposure meter. The body is an extruded aluminum tube closed at both ends, extremely compact and intended to be carried in a pocket or concealed on the person. Riken produced at least three distinct Steky models over the following years - the original, the Steky II, and the Steky III - each refining the lens, shutter, and body design.
Reference
Recommended film stocks for the 16mm format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Gold 200 is a daylight-balanced C-41 color negative film with warm color, moderate grain, and a classic consumer-film look.
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Kodak UltraMax 400 is a versatile consumer-grade ISO 400 daylight-balanced color negative film with T-grain emulsion, delivering warm Kodak colors, fine-for-speed grain (PGI 46), and wide exposure latitude. Currently in production and available globally as a single-roll and multi-pack.
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Before you buy used
About this camera
Japan's first postwar subminiature: a 16mm spy camera made by Riken Optical from 1947.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 16mm cartridge (~10x14mm frame) |
| Mount | Fixed |
| Years | 1947 - ~1950 (original model) |
| Lens | ~Stekinar 25mm f/3.5 |
| Shutter | ~1/25s - 1/100s + B, leaf |
| Flash sync | ~ |
| Meter | None |
| Modes | Manual |
| Weight | ~80 g |
| Battery | None |
Riken Optical (later better known in the West for Ricoh cameras) brought the Steky to market in 1947, filling a domestic niche for compact secret-photography equipment during the early postwar period. Japan's photographic industry was rebuilding rapidly, and Riken was among the first manufacturers to translate the European Minox concept into a Japanese-made product at a price accessible to the domestic market. The original Steky used a simple leaf shutter with a limited speed range and a fixed-focus lens stopped down to maximize depth of field.
The Steky II followed with minor improvements to the shutter and lens designations. The Steky III, the last and most refined of the line, added a somewhat wider shutter speed range and a higher-quality lens coating. All three models share the same basic tubular body architecture and cartridge system. Production of the line ended in the early 1950s as the Japanese subminiature market fragmented among numerous competing designs.
The Steky holds historical significance as an early marker of Japan's postwar photographic recovery and as the first widely available Japanese 16mm subminiature. While German manufacturers like Minox had established the subminiature category before the war, the Steky demonstrated that Japanese industry could replicate and adapt that concept quickly and at scale. The camera's commercial success, modest as it was, paved the way for more sophisticated Japanese subminiature entrants from Minolta, Mamiya, and others through the 1950s and 1960s. For collectors, the Steky series represents an accessible entry point into the Japanese subminiature category; examples in working condition appear regularly in Japanese auction markets.
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
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Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
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