<p>I have owned 3 different Minox 35's. One Minox PL and 2 Minox GT. <br>
I used to live in South Korea. I was a young kid back in the 80's and I used to go to camera shops and couldn't stop admiring those little Minox 35s'. I used love the design. The slick body made with black plastic and how the lens opens and the size of them. And I used to have fantasies about German cameras. They used to be new or secondhand but the prices were just too dear for a little kid. As I grew up and the Minoxs' price somewhat came down with the introduction of digital cameras but they still held the value. But I was able to purchase secondhand ones. They dreams come true.<br>
But the photos taken were very disappointing. Practically all photos extremely underexposed. <br>
I have been wondering, Is it my fault? The new batteries (not 5.6V anymore) caused underexposures? Maybe Minox 35s' are prone to early light sensor cell failure?<br>
I have sent the cameras to the US and here in New Zealand for repairs and replacing light cell but nothing helped. <br>
Last year I was lucky enough to purchase a Ex-demo Minox GT from Sweden (If I remember correctly). I used to be in show windows when Minox were selling new but somehow never got sold to a customer. It had been in storage. So the camera was virtually new with no wear and tear.<br>
I have been taking my first test roll for about a year and last week I got the filmed developed. The results were so much like my other Minox 35s'. All heavily underexposure. This time I used silver oxide button sell plus a special adaptor to bring down the voltage to 5.6V.<br>
I used to study photography (film) and now I think I can conclude that Minox 35s' are not well designed cameras even when they were new. The exposure is horrible. The sharpness of the lens isn't that great (soft focus) and just a little more physically reliable than Russian cameras. The Minox spy cameras are great! The photos taken by those tiny spy cameras surprise me every time. But not really the Minox 35s'. Even my Lomo gives better shots most of the time. I must say I occasionally like the soft focus of it but that's it. Minox 35s' were quite successful in the market for quite a long time because of their predecessor's name, the spy cams, the beautiful body design and because they were made in Germany.</p>
<p>I am not writing this to put down Minox 35 lovers. They may really love their Mnox 35s' for their own reasons. <br>
I am just angry with Minox. And with all the time, money and efforts I spent to make the cameras working. <br>
Now I'd like to put down my Minox, keep it in my collections and stop wasting films wondering what's wrong.<br>
I want spend more time with my trusted Rellei 35 and sometimes unreliable Lomo.<br>
Thank you for reading.</p>
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