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So far, the Mikronette could be a German submini, but that "Optikotechna Prerau" engraved on its top did not ring a bell. Also, it looked strangely familiar. The dead giveaway was the name on the lens, an uncoated 20mm f/3.5 Mirar, with stops to f/16 and focusing down to 0.5 meters. I remembered the name Mirar was used on lenses made by Meopta, the Czech optical and camera colossus. Could this be an early version of the Mikroma, Meopta's long-running subminiature?
To find out, I borrowed, through the good offices of Adorama in New York, the last version of the Mikroma, the model II. I placed the two minis side by side. Bingo! The Mik-roma II of the mid--'60s and the Mikronette were nearly identical, right down to their 20mm f/3.5 Mirar lenses, with apertures to f/16 and focusing to 0.5 meters! True, the later model has a coated lens, shutter speeds from 1/5-1/400 sec plus B, and, wonder of wonders, a PC flash outlet next to the shutter-speed dial. It also has a conventional threaded shutter release in front of the frame counter. But its general appearance and dimensions are nearly identical to the Mikronette. The inside of the Mikroma II and its film-transport system are also identical to the Mikronette's, except that the later model's film aperture has been enlarged to 10x14mm.
But wait a cotton-pickin' minute. If the Mikronette has no shutter-release button, how the hell do you take a picture? Listen carefully as you wind the film and you'll find out. Push the winding tab to the right and, while maintaining light thumb pressure, let it spring slowly back to its original position. As the lever moves back almost all the way, the tiny metal focal-plane shutter fires with a fairly quiet click-ingenious, but not as convenient as the Mikroma II's conventional shutter button. Both models have decent viewfinders, are very nicely made, and are said to perform well.
A handmade manual!
The reference works I could muster were a bit hazy on the Mikronette's dates of production, but here I really lucked out. Included in the package with the Mikronette was a hand-typed mimeographed manual with actual hand-labeled photographs tipped in! The code at the bottom of the pages, "B1.1368/41.", establishes with reasonable certainty that the manual was issued in 1941, and also that the camera was probably a limited-distribution prototype.
If you've got a Mikroma (or other 16mm subminiature) gathering dust in your attic, getting film is no problem since film is readily available in black-and-white or color, and reloading cartridges is easy. As with most out-of-production subminis, the big hang-up is cartridges. You'll need two for the Mikroma, and the best way of finding them is by contacting your fellow submini maniacs at www.subclub.com. Granted, most folks are content just to collect 'em these days, but shooting, developing and printing your own sneaky subminiature pix is challenging and lots of fun.
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