The MIOM Photax III is a simple viewfinder camera made of bakelite–an early plastic–produced by Manufacture d’Isolants et d’Objets Moulés, a now defunct French company that specialized in electrical insulators and plastic molding. MIOM made several different cameras before and after World War II including eight variatons of their flagship Photax model between 1937 and 1960.
The most unusual and distinctive feature on this relatively rare camera is its telescoping lens barrel which must be extended by “unscrewing” it from the body in order for the lens to focus properly. Many rival camera manufacturers imitated this basic design including Eastman Kodak with its Duex model.
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