The Smallest 35mm Film Camera Ever Made

The first photographic cameras were fairly large, requiring a tripod and a hefty wooden box to house the light-sensitive chemicals. But by the 1930s, Leica introduced a new format that used motion picture film in small, pocketable rolls, which could fit in a miniature camera.

Rollei 35 was the next significant step towards making even smaller cameras. It was developed in the 1950s and was so compact that its size was limited only by the 35mm film cartridge.

35mm film, a.k.a. the 135 format, is a flexible, high-resolution image medium that is less than 1mm thick. It needs no electricity or batteries to work, but it comes in a package much larger than a memory card, weighing about 20g (.7oz). Yet despite that limitation, we continued to make cameras that would get smaller, lighter, and more feature-rich until the early 2000s, when the world began switching to digital.

Modern digital cameras can be incredibly small, but in practice, they still fall short compared to those made over twenty years ago. Smaller sensors, despite all the innovation, aren’t as capable as their full-frame counterparts, and the full-frame sensors simply can not fit in a chassis as small as those on a film camera due to physical limitations and peripheral components, such as a battery, LCD, and various ports.

Hence, this list of the smallest 35mm film cameras ever made includes all full-frame (inc. digital) cameras manufactured up to, and likely far beyond 2026.

In this article: Method for rankings and measurements. The smallest 35mm film camera. Second-smallest. Third-smallest. Fourth-smallest and thinnest. Honourable mentions. More tiny full-frame cameras. Support this blog & get premium features with GOLD memberships!

Method for rankings and measurements.

Thousands of camera models have been produced over our 200 years of photography. To make sense of this incredible wealth of options, this list is limited to the smallest cameras by volume.

Though surprisingly, the smallest full-frame cameras are more compact than their half-frame counterparts, this list is limited to devices that expose the full 24×36mm area. For practical reasons, I’m also excluding cameras that use custom/slimmed or cut-down 35mm film rolls.

To calculate the volume of the cameras, I used a calliper, as some of the figures posted online can be inaccurate or refer to a slightly different variant.

Film cameras come in all types of shapes, few of which are perfect boxes. Manufacturers often use the smallest dimension of their products to promote them. Whereas measuring the exact volume is difficult (unless you’re willing to submerge a priceless device in water).

Hence, this list isn’t perfect or definitive — but I don’t think we need to be this pedantic to learn which camera will fit better in tight jeans. Please consider it as a meticulous, product-in-hand guide with some slack, rather than a scientific journal entry.

With all that in mind, let’s take a look at the category winner, the smallest film camera ever made:

The smallest 35mm film camera.

Minolta TC-1 is the smallest full-frame 35mm film camera ever made. It measures just 99mm × 59mm × 29.5mm (172,310mm³) and weighs 185g (6.5oz).

There’s more to TC-1 than its tiny size: it has one of the sharpest expressive 28mm lenses ever made with unique circular apertures. It’s fully motorized, and it has excellent controls for its size with a full suite of advanced functions such as spot metering, custom ISO and exposure settings, and flash functions.

The insanely compact electronics of the TC-1 are housed in an extremely durable titanium chassis — a metal known for its high strength-to-weight ratio. Further weight and size reduction were possible thanks to a single-motor system that gears lens autofocus, film advance, protective metal lens cover, and film rewind.

The TC-1 easily fits in a shirt pocket or a jean pocket. Though not as slim as an iPhone, this camera is the world’s smallest full-frame camera with some of the best optical qualities despite being designed and manufactured in the early 1990s.

For an extended history of the camera, its features, and image samples I captured during my years with it, check out my Minolta TC-1 review.

Second-smallest.

Rollei 35 is the second-smallest 35mm film camera ever made. It measures 97mm × 60mm × 32mm (186,240mm³) and weighs 370g (13oz).

Introduced in 1965, this camera was paraded by Elizabeth II and millions of others until 2015, when the last copies were made.

Aside from being famous, this camera comes with a feature even the most advanced point-and-shoot on this list can not match: full manual control over a battery-independent mechanical shutter and aperture. On top of that, Rollei 35 cameras have a hot shoe, a filter thread, an excellent 𝒇2.8 40mm lens (on some versions), and a built-in uncoupled meter.

There are many versions of this camera, with slight variations over the fifty years in production; I had the chance to play with a few. The winning variant is the high-end Rollei 35 S (links to review), but the budget-friendly Rollei 35B isn’t far from it.

Third-smallest.

Fujifilm Cardia Tiara I & II, a.k.a. Fujifilm DL Super Mini, is the third-smallest 35mm film camera ever made. It measures 99.8mm × 60mm × 31.5mm (188,622mm³) and weighs 153g (5.4oz).

This camera comes exceptionally close to being the smallest by volume on this list. It looks nearly identical in size to the winner — TC-1 — but the numbers don’t lie.

Still, it may feel the lightest in your pocket as it’s less than half the weight of the Rollei 35 and 32g lighter than TC-1, thanks to its ultra-thin aluminum body construction.

Fujifilm Cardia Tiara I & II review.

Fourth-smallest and thinnest.

Ricoh GR1 is the third-smallest 35mm film camera ever made. It measures 117mm × 61mm × 26.5mm (189,130mm³) and weighs 180g (6.2oz).

Despite being the fourth by volume, the GR1 is the world’s thinnest camera, making it the easiest one to pocket. Like Apple and their iPhone Air, Ricoh sneakily measured the thickness of their product without the handgrip, which protrudes slightly from its body. That’s because the grip also houses the battery and the film cartridge, and there’s no way to make it thinner without reducing the size of the film itself.

Like many cameras in this list, the Ricoh GR1 is a premium tool for avid photographers, featuring motorized film transport, autofocus, and an excellent lens in a durable magnesium-alloy chassis.

Check out my detailed long-term review of the Ricoh GR1s!

Honourable mentions.

Following the first Leica and the Rollei 35, numerous designers and manufacturers went after the pocketable form factor. A camera is most useful when it’s on a person — including prolific and professional photographers — so image quality became part of the spec.

I love small cameras because they let me take photos on the go without carrying a bag or a neck strap, which I don’t like lugging around all the time (I always have a camera on me). And so, over the years, I sought out the most compact and lightest setups for daily walks, hikes, and overseas trips.

Having tested over 100 cameras of all sizes so far, I realized that numerous factors make them useful or portable. Some discoveries came as a surprise: cameras suggested as the smallest in class aren’t (once they’re carefully measured), whereas fairly unknown gems, like the Revue 35XE, would make the lightest load.

The Olympus miniature series, introduced in 1979, took off with the Olympus XA, the world’s smallest rangefinder camera (review). It weighed just 240g (8½oz) with batteries and film and measured a mere 102mm × 64.5mm × 40mm (263,160mm³). Though far from being the smallest on this list, it was nevertheless impressive to operate a manual focus patch on such a small device.

Unfortunately, I could not get used to the shutter button that responded to touch rather than a press, the often faded and hard-to-adjust rangefinder patches, amongst other issues.

I loved the updated look of the Olympus XA2 that came in a variety of neat colours (though most bodies were still black). Like the XA, these cameras were very small but featured a simpler zone-focusing setup. Unfortunately, they still had issues.

Another well-known camera amongst film photography enthusiasts is the Minox 35 GT (review), which is the fifth-smallest 35mm film camera by volume on this list. It measures 101mm × 62mm × 31mm (194,122mm³) and weighs 190g (6.7oz).

The 35 GT and many of its variants’ popularity comes down to their reliability and an easy-to-use design that’s relatively affordable and not particularly fiddly.

Minox made great cameras in several colour varieties, with some slight changes to the shape and operation. But of course, these cameras could not match the features of the more pricey TC-1, GR1, or even the original Rollei 35, which offer more control over exposure in a smaller package. Still, they would be my close second choice for a travel camera.

More tiny full-frame cameras.

Chinon Bellami is the smallest camera with a fast top shutter speed of 1/1000s on this list. It measures 105mm × 63mm × 33mm (218,295mm³) and weighs 220 grams (7.8oz).

Pentax Espio Mini: 107mm × 60mm × 35mm (224,700mm³), 155g (5.4oz).

Olympus Mju II: 108mm × 59mm × 37mm (235,764mm³), 145g (5.1oz).

Ricoh FF-1s: 107mm × 65mm × 36mm (250,380mm³), 225g (8oz).

Olympus Mju I: 117mm × 63mm × 37 (272,727mm³), 170g (6oz).

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