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The first Minox was released in 1936 by Walter Zapp, a
Baltic German. The camera uses special Minox film* (see below). The Riga factory VEF manufactured the camera from 1937 to 1943. After War the camera was redesigned and production resumed in Germany in 1948. Due to its tiny size, the Minox was rapidly well known as a spy camera. Walter Zapp originally wanted the Minox to be a camera for everyone, requiring only little photographic skills. The camera was produced to high standards, manufacturing costs of the Minox were too high for a broad market. So it became more or less a luxury item. All Minox cameras are designed to be used at full aperture, so there is no aperture setting. This needs good optics. They are able to focus down to 20cm (!)

The model presented, a Minox B, was launched in 1958,
its successor was the Minox C. The camera has a selenium meter which is coupled to the speed setting. So it's a semi-automatic camera, easy to use

* Minox subminiature film is a special film format for 8x11mm negatives on 9.25mm film. It is often referred to as 8mm film, which is wrong, as 8mm is a movie format. It comes in cartidges or cassettes, ready to load like the much later 110 film.

Minox film is still made by other companies, but it's a bit hard to find. If you have some cartridges, you can reload them. You will need a matching film slitter, a dark room or a good changing bag and some patience.

15mm F3.5 coated Complan lens, F3.5, min. focus 0.2m (!)
Shutter speeds: 1/2s - 1/1000, B and T setting
8x11mm picture format
Size 97x28x16,  Weight 92 gr.
ISO 25-400, viewfinder with full parallax correction, special flash socket, coupled selenium meter, built-in green and ND filter with automatic correction for the ND filter

Some pictures of the camera:


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The camera, case, chain and manual.

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Case open.
The chain is very handy for close focussing. It has beads at 20, 24, 30 and 40cm. The total length is 60cm.

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The camera closed.

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Camera front closed. Well protected and shutter blocked.


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Back view. Nothing to see in closed mode.

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Seen from the top. Distance setting. Film counter. Shutter release.
Speed setting. Meter.

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Seen from below. Nothing to see as well
.

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Camera open. To the left: Lens behind shutter. The ring indicates that the shutter is cocked. Viewer and filter slider. To the right: Meter window.

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Green filter in front of the lens. The filter slider is above the viewer.

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ND filter in front of the lens. It sits beyond the green filter. It has to be in place before metering as it switches the meter to a matching range.

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Seen from the back.
Finder with full parallax correction.

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Camera open, seen from the top.

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Meter scale. Aim the subject, press the button for 2-3 second and release. The needle will show the result and not move again. Then meet the big triangle with the position of the needle by moving the speed dial, they are coupled. You now have set the appropriate speed. It's not necessary to set the point of a speed indication, the camera can deal with intermediate settings.

Meet the point next to the triangle in case of the green filter before the lens. If you use the ND filter, just slide it before the lens and measure again. The meter takes it into account.

Only when you change to a film with a different film speed, the meter has to coupled anew. Turn the speed dial until the little ISO Triangle meets the new film ISO. The marks to the right and the left help to set intermediate film speeds. Then open the film compartment and change the film. Do not close it yet. Now turn the the speed dial to 1/100s. Then close the film compartment and you are set.

One more indication: if the coupling turns the setting beyond 1/2s, the camera has to be set to B or T for picture taking. Nevertheless there are 2 indications: if it stops at the point between 1/2 and B, you have to expose 1 second, if it stops at B, 2 seconds via setting to B ot T. Please use the remote shutter unit, if you have one.

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Camera open, seen from below. To the right of the opening: lever to open the film compartment. Press with your thumbmail and pull further apart.

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Camera film compartment open.
Minox sold its own film in double cartridges.

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A Minox cartridges with their cases.

For more information about Minox cartridges and accessories, please consult this page.


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The film chamber. The serial number indicates an early model from 1961.

This camera is very easy to use, slide it open and it's ready.
Aim the subject, press the meter button for 2-3 second and release. The needle will show the result and not move again. Then meet the big meter triangle with the position of the needle by moving the speed dial, they are coupled. You now have set the appropriate speed. It's not necessary to set the point of a speed indication, the camera can deal with intermediate settings. Set the distance. Look through the finder again and compose your picture, then press the shutter. After taking a picture, you have to close and open the camera for film advance and shutter cocking (push-pull). Please note that film is advanced every time you open and close the camera. So if you have opened the camera, take a photo before closing it. If not, you will lose it anyway. If you want just one single photo, close the camera after taking the picture and do not open it again. Putting a film is easy, drop the cartridge into the film chamber, advance to the first frame and that's it.

It's a very good semi-automatic camera with a very good lens, superb picture quality, good quality finish in an extremely small body. This camera feels very solid. It has a luminous lens. Picture results were good. It can focus down to 20cm without extra lenses. It's a good choice if you want a high quality point and shoot camera even smaller than those for 16mm film.

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