MINOX
The subminiature Camera often seen in the spy picture. The first model was made in Latvia in 1938 and moved West Germany after the WAR. The first model made in Riga Latvia is socalled "Riga Minox" in Japan. There was changed to II, III,A, B, BL, C and so on. The Riga Minox is same size in shape but heavy as twice as a model Minox A.
The model A appeared in 1954 and B in 1958. Though they ware palmtop camera, had high functions as 1/1000 shutter, from 0.2m to infinity helicoid focusing, bright frame finder with parallax compensation and so on. As the lens had no diaphragm, a couple of filter such as orange, yellow and ND were avairable and were built in such a small body.
There were various accessories provided as a system camera. The Minox film has been suppriesd for long years, we can buy it ecen now and enjoy the smallest camers today.
In Model B, the exposure meter was built and is possible to set ASA 25-400 in the meter. The mater scale is automaticaly compensated when use of inside ND filter. Finishing is so nice, its as good as Leica or Rollei finishing. The right photo is Model B.
It is interesting that they have Minox Camera or MATCHBOX CAMERA page on the CIA Exhibit Center's site. Do you think they realy used Minox like in the movie?
How do I enjoy my Minox?
Once I often used to do a enlargement of 10x12 inches or larger print. I couldn't buy a Minox enlarger set at that time because of expencive. There was a Yashica Atoron like Minox camera and they had an enlargement lens for Minox film. Then I used to use a Yashica Atoron's enlarger head(lens with film carrier) in that moment. It was many years later when I got the Minox enlarger set. It was much nicer than Atron's unit but my Minox feaver had been cool down. Many years later gain, I tried to scan with 35mm film scanner and found that we could enjoy big pictures on the PC screen, without paper enlargement. It needs, of cause, the same care of dust or something as I were doing in the dark room process.
| MINOX A, B Specifications | |
|---|---|
| Camera | Minox, Wetzler West Germany |
| C.A. | A model 1954, B model 1958 |
| Film | 9.5mm film, 8x11mm 36 or 50 exp. |
| Focus | 0.2 - Infinity thumb wheel dial |
| Finder | Galilei, Bright flame |
| Lens | Complan 15mm F3.5 (4Ele,3Grp) |
| Shutter | T,B,1/2 -- 1/1000 M |
| Close Up | 0.2m |
| Weight | 90g(B) |
| Exp Meter | B only |
Related WEB site
Minox Lab(US)
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Sample Photo
Minox in Germany(Photo presented by Ed Romney)
Sample Photo 1 Union Square(SFO)
Sample Photo 2 At New Orleans(1973)
Sample Photo 3 At New Orleans(1973)
Sample Photo 4 At Kobe(1972)