C41
Kodak Portra 400
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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The MIOM Microflex II is a 6x6cm twin-lens reflex camera produced by MIOM (Manufacture d'Isolants et d'Objets Moulés) of France, introduced in 1958 as a refined successor to the original Microflex. MIOM was a French plastics and moulded-goods manufacturer that entered the camera market in the early 1950s with the Photax and Flex family of amateur cameras; the Microflex line represented its attempt at a conventional metal-bodied medium-format TLR.
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Recommended film stocks for the — format your camera takes.
C41
Kodak Portra 400 is a professional C-41 color negative film known for flexible exposure latitude, natural skin tones, and fine grain.
View profile →BW
Kodak Tri-X 400 is a classic black-and-white film known for strong tonality, visible grain, and documentary character.
View profile →BW
Ilford HP5 Plus is a flexible ISO 400 black-and-white film with classic grain and strong push-processing tolerance.
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About this camera
A 1958 French budget TLR refined from the original Microflex, with a brighter viewfinder screen for easier waist-level composition.
| Field | Value |
|---|
| Format | 120 film, 6x6cm (~12 exposures) |
| Mount | Fixed |
| Taking lens | ~Anastigmat 75mm f/3.5 |
| Viewing lens | ~Anastigmat 75mm f/3.5 |
| Year introduced | 1958 |
| Shutter | Leaf: ~1s - 1/300s + B |
| Flash sync | ~ |
| Meter | None |
| Film advance | Side knob, red-window frame count |
| Viewfinder | Waist-level, ground glass (brightened) + sports finder |
| Battery | None required |
MIOM's camera production was a sideline to its core plastics business. The company had produced the Photax fixed-focus 6x9 cameras before moving toward the medium-format TLR format. The original Microflex was introduced in the mid-1950s; the Microflex II appeared circa 1958 as a detail improvement, with the brighter finder screen as the most practically significant change.
French TLR production in this period occupied a distinct niche from the Japanese market: cameras like the Alsaflex, the Semflex, and the MIOM Microflex line served a domestic consumer base that was less exposed to the volume Japanese exports reaching North American and British markets. Quality consistency in French budget TLRs of the period is variable; MIOM's manufacturing tolerance is generally described as adequate but not exceptional.
The Microflex II appears to have been among the last models in the MIOM camera line before the company withdrew from camera production as import competition intensified in the early 1960s.
The MIOM Microflex II occupies a modest position in the history of French amateur photography equipment. It is a functional example of the European budget TLR format that paralleled Japanese production of the same period, made for a market that did not always have ready access to the Rolleicord or Yashicaflex models that dominated elsewhere.
For collectors, the camera's appeal is primarily as a French-made curio. MIOM cameras are uncommon outside France and occasionally surface at French camera fairs and flea markets at very low prices. The mechanical construction is basic but workable; a clean example with an accurate shutter can produce acceptable 6x6 negatives, though the optics do not compete with the better Japanese lenses of the same era. The brighter finder of the Microflex II is a genuine practical improvement over the original Microflex for users who intend to actually shoot with the camera.
C41
Kodak Portra 160 is a professional C-41 color negative film with fine grain, soft contrast, and natural color.
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