Some time in the 80's a couple of friends and I decided to go on a cycling,
youth hosteling holiday in Kent. We picked Kent because we thought it would
be flat; we didn't factor in the wind. Anyways, the details are now greatly
muddied by time, but somewhere along the way we encountered a hostel manager
selling this camera. I already had a few folders bought for cheap and, even
though I'd never heard of Steky, I instantly wanted the IIIA to be the jewel
of my collection. The seller wanted 20 pounds - not an insignificant amount
of cash to me back in those days. As I didn't have the money with me I had
to send him a check once I got back home. By return mail came the Steky IIIA
with its two lenses and leather cases for everything.
At the time that I bought it I had intended to use the Steky but rolling 16mm
film into tiny, fiddly cartridges in the dark room was beyond me. Today, I
don't really see the attraction of sub-mini cameras as users although they
do have a cult following of enthusiastic users. I doubt, therefore, that I'll
ever really use this camera but I still love having it around. It's beauiltifully
built, an engineering jewel, and just amazing that they managed to fit so many
features into such a tiny package.
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