Minox 35EL - the smallest 35mm film camera

My father's old camera.

He loved his little 'spy camera'. A product of the cold war, he used to say - the weapon of choice for spies on both sides. It has a retractable lens that closes flat to about the size of a packet of cigarettes. The Russians made an identical copy called the 'Kiev 35A'.

It has a simple clockwork mechanism and an electronic light meter built in. The 1:2.8 35mm lens is ideally suited to document photography.

Maybe one day the fabled '35mm digital file' will enable me to bring it back to life in the digital age by slotting a CCD inside it.