Miniature 16mm film cameras were popular in Japan after the WWII, as film and development was expensive. While some of these cameras were closer to a toy, the Steky series in particular are surprisingly well-made and capable of taking decent pictures.

About $150 in 2023 adjusted for inflation

The camera is surprisingly simple and robust. There are no clever mechanisms, springs to wind or knobs to turn except for the aperture control and film advance. The lever is not as much a shutter release as a shutter trigger - you can press it as many times as you like and it will overlay the frames on top of each other. There is no focusing mechanism either. There’s an extremely tight nob to adjust the shutter speed, with a choice of 1/25, 1/50 and 1/100.

Originally, the 16mm film would come in special casettes, and the camera would pull the film from one casettes to another.

Unfortunately, these are extremely rare today. Forunately, nothing is stopping one from loading a small piece of 16mm cine film in a darkroom.

Reloading the camera (reenactment)

To load the camera, the entire side comes off, exposing the film transport. You then insert the takeup spool and thread the rest of the film around the rollers, the pressure plate and finally into there the supply cartridge would have been.

Reloading the camera in a dark room

To unload the film after shooting, you pull of the side of the camera, and the film sort of falls out.