1951-1956 ECHO 8 Cigarette Lighter Camera Prestine Condition (1st Version)

Description

1951-1956 ECHO 8 Cigarette Lighter Camera
What an awesome piece of retro spy equipment that is pretty much in new condition (see pictures, no visible scratches). The inside is in excellent condition as well and has never had lighter fluid installed. The film and rolls have been installed into the camera and still have pictures available to take (I accidently snapped a shot).
My grandpa passed away recently and I found this while cleaning put his office. He also happened to work for the CIA for a large chunk of his life so I wonder if this was used for work at some point. I am not sure if this was purchased for work and just never used or if he used it a few times and just kept it in great condition or just bought it to buy because it is a brilliantly crafted invention. The film was installed and is still in tact. You can see from the pictures it is almost appears to be new because it was stashed away in a safe for who knows how long. Here are some details about the unit with some narrative:
Manufacturer: Suzuki Optical Company Japan.
Dates Manufactured: 1951-1956.
The Echo 8 Lighter-Camera is a disguised subminiature camera manufactured by Suzuki Optical Company of Japan between 1951 and 1956. The Echo 8 camera is housed in a fully-functioning cigarette lighter case. The Echo 8 is a clever and quite usable spy camera. It takes 20 6 x 6mm exposures on an 8 inch load of 8mm single-perforated film.
The Echo 8 camera is shown with its box and film slitter. The film slitter is an accessory used to cut strips of 16mm film down to the 8mm size required by the camera.
The lighter lid is raised and the sliding viewfinder cover is open. The camera is sited by looking down into a waist-level viewfinder that peers out of that square hole in the lid.
To uncover the waist-level optical viewfinder the Echo 8 nameplate is slid to the right.
The square hole on the side of the lighter case is the only tip that this is not just an ordinary cigarette lighter. Behind the hole, a cover plate protects and conceals the camera lens. The plate retracts as the shutter release is pressed.
The fully functional lighter mechanism, shutter speed selector for instantaneous (1/50 second) and bulb exposures, and the aperture selector. The lens aperture can be set to f3.5, 5.6 and 8. The lens is an Echor Anastigmat of 15mm focal length. Focus is not adjustable.
The chrome lever next to the lid is the shutter release. The serrated wheel adjacent to the shutter release is the film advance. The film advance automatically stops when the film has been wound to the next frame. After the 20th exposure has been taken, the advance wheel turns freely. This is how you'll know you are at the end of the roll as the camera.
A professional spy should be able to disassemble and reload/refill his Echo 8 in the dark. That black box on top of the camera body is the waist-level finder. The viewfinder objective lens can now be clearly seen.
To load film, a chrome plated cover is removed from the camera body. It was not necessary for a photographer to load their own film. Loaded cassettes could be purchased for 35 cents each, or 10 for 3.00 US dollars.
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