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Camera-Lite Spy Camera Cigarette Lighter [140294]

Currency:USD Category:Cameras & Photo Start Price:75.00 USD Estimated At:150.00 - 400.00 USD
Camera-Lite Spy Camera Cigarette Lighter   [140294]
SOLD
225.00USDto 8*************e+ buyer's premium (56.25)
This item SOLD at 2024 Jan 27 @ 10:49UTC-8 : PST/AKDT

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Manufactured by Suzuki Optical Co. Japan. Combination camera/cigarette lighter. Circa 1955. Base plate engraved "Pt. Pending. Camera-Lite, Continental NY." No serial number. Includes original printed instructions.
In the 1953 movie "Roman Holiday", reporter Gregory Peck hires a photographer to take spy pictures of Audrey Hepburn with his Echo 8 Suzuki Optical cigarette/lighter spy camera. The publicity and massive demand caused Suzuki to make a simplified version of the camera: The Camera Lite. The newer version had a fixed-focus lens producing 6 x 6 mm images on tiny 8 mm film cassettes. It only had one shutter speed (1/50), a fixed aperture and non-optical viewfinder.