The Midget camera was introduced to the market in 1934-35 at a price of 5 shillings 6 pence and was also used as a gift in breakfast cereal packages. It's a small camera made of bakelite, weighing between 60 to 70 grams depending on the version. It's equipped with a simple 10/29 mm meniscus lens provided by Taylor, Taylor, and Hobson. The shutter is very simple, with a single speed (1/30). The film used is specific, a 16 mm coil, yielding 6 frames of 13 x 18 mm.

It comes in several colors (black, brown, lime green, olive, pink, red, blue). The base bakelite is black, and the other colors are achieved by mixing colored powder with the black base powder. Intentionally unevenly mixed powders result in mottled or marbled bakelite. This coloring principle and dosage variations multiply the results, much to the delight of collectors. Some colors, like blue, which appeared in 1937, are rarer than others. There are also variations in certain details, such as the front name inscription, the presence of a film press, the film advance mechanism, and the presence of lugs to facilitate opening the back. There's also a matching leather case available, but since it could be bought separately, mixed combinations are common.
The Midget camera was quite successful, probably more due to its amusing appearance than its average results.

In 1947, Coronet introduced a new model, the Cameo, with the same format but with horizontal shooting and a shutter speed of 1/25th.

Due to their size and film format, Midget cameras are sometimes mistakenly associated by broad-minded authors with spy cameras, although this was never the case.