SCAT

A very small and light 16mm submini. Some say it is the smallest camera to use 16mm film -- and they might be! But then some say it uses Minox film -- which it doesn't. It measured 30 x 43 x 48mm and weighed only 2.5 oz. It is from Italy and has a very uncomplicated design -- although it has a focusing lens and adjustable aperture. It was made by the Società Costruzioni Articoli Tecnici (hence the name S.C.A.T.) around 1950, perhaps earlier. Different sources claim different specifications on this camera. It is possible, but unlikely, that different models were made. Much like the Steky and Rollei, it uses two separate cassettes and pushes the film from one cassette to the other. And while it uses 16mm film, it is paper-backed film with exposure numbers on the back -- like HIT cameras. The cassettes do not open like the Steky cassettes so you need to load the film by pushing it into the "feeder" cassette and putting the other end of the roll into the "take-up" cassette. Like the Steky, it uses the perforations to advance the film, so it requires single or double perforated film. Unlike most 16mm cameras that produce 10 x 14mm images running horizontally, the SCAT produces 7 x 10mm images going vertically -- like a 35mm half-frame camera -- and just about the same size as Minox images. Like the early Mamiya 16mm cameras it has a dual pop-up viewfinder. The lens is a 25mm f3.5 optic with waterhouse f-stop settings of 3.5, 5.6, 8, and 11. It focuses from 1.5m to infinity with marks for 1.5m, 3m, 5m, and infinity. Like the HIT cameras, there is a single shutter speed. Sorry, no tripod socket, cable release connection or flash shoe!