Of Mice and Miniature cameras

Sometimes I feel like my memory serves me well, other times I think it is just there to mess with me. Case in point, last November the lady and I had headed to the Oregon coast for our anniversary. We spent the day traveling north from Newport hitting up fun local stores and more antique malls than I can count. While I never found that Leica for $5, I did see some other things. Like the pair of salt and pepper shakers that are a young boy (salt) using a large format camera on a tripod (pepper).

But while at this store, waiting for Jenny to purchase said salt and pepper shakers as a gift for me, I gazed into a display off to the side. There were a couple cameras in there, nothing special. Until I noticed the Falcon Miniature camera, with its instructions and box! I wasn't particularly interested, I had already given up on buying random cameras and started to focus my GAS in a more positive direction. But this camera happened to be special. It was the camera that a friend of mine had used in part of his wedding invitations. A small graphic of it in fact.

I had to ask how much. And when I saw the price of a measly $7 I couldn't say no!

Then I got home and rushed to find the invitation just to verify... damn mind I knew it had lead me astray. This was in fact not the camera he had used. I had been foiled again! Knowing now that I had to get him this camera I went straight to eBay to find one!

I typed in the name "TSL ULCA"...

I clicked SEARCH...

I looked at the price...

$50!? Really!? There were multiples, and they were all going for about that same price. That's just rediculous I thought to myself. It would be one thing if he was going to use the camera, but for something that will just sit on his shelf I can find a better gift. And so I did, and I shelved the idea of this camera.

That is until last week. I stopped in at the local flea market to see what they had, and you wouldn't believe my eyes when they saw this tiny little camera sitting in a case that read: "TSL ULCA".

The camera in all it's tiny glory!

"How much?" I asked quickly.

"I had it for $20, but give me $10 and it's yours" He replied.

Without hesitation I grabbed my wallet out from my back pocket and said "I'll take it!".

I got the camera home and went through it. It's stunning how simple these cameras are. It must have no more than 10 moving parts, and yet it has a 1/100th shutter speed. Time, or more accurately a Bulb mode, and even a lock so you don't accidentally hit the shutter! I gave it a nice cleaning, there was some metal corrosion inside, but the single element glass lens was in surprisingly good shape. It still even had the little adorable film spool inside. But no film...

The camera and reception card

The camera is made of 100% metal and glass. Which you may find surprising. As so many cheap little cameras were made of cheap little materials. But this robust little guy tips the scales at a whopping 4.8oz! The film advance also clicks as you wind it much like a Holga. Rather than the smooth advance of cheaper cameras. It turns out this was also made in 1935! Quite a bit older than I would have guessed. It still doesn't explain why these sell for such (relatively) high prices. But it does add a little bit of information. Truth be told I thought the TSL was part of the name of the camera. It is in fact for the different shooting modes of time, snapshot and lock.

The three different shutter modes

I wish I Could say I fired off a few shots with this. And in all honesty I was actually planning to! Seeing as I hadn't seen this friend in a month or so I figured I could cut down some 35mm to size. Throw on some cut down backing paper and go have some fun! But as fate would have it, the night I purchased this little metal man he texted me. Asking if I wanted to go to a show the following night. Camera gods, you have done it again.