I want to start minox, and I have some questions!

Anthony, my first pocket digital was a Minolta Xt with "only" 3 MP it would outperform my Minoxes (of course shot in color and Photoshoped into B&W).<P>As to the delays, I've always cursed the neveready cases on my various Minoxes, which are necessary when carried in a pants pocket for years (the Minolta travels in my shirt pocket).<div></div>

Here's one made last week with my Dental Hygeinest's polishing tool stuck in my mouth while I was photographing. No way I could ever shoot this with a Minox. Sony T100, 8 MP, autofocus, autoexposure, zoom lens, image stabilization, easily enlargable to 16x20.<div></div>

A Minox will do when nothing else is available. If you are on holiday and you plan to do some touristy shooting, then you bring what you might use, like a Big Nikon and its own supporting elements. But I will always have a Minox III or a B in my left pocket. No batteries required. Not everywhere can you drag a primary digital or larger film camera but you can a Minox. Yes, it has limits but with those parameters, you can enjoy it a lot.

 

I'll agree to Bill's earlier post, that Minox is getting a bit tricky when looking for film and other needs. But with some work you can find what you need. Film is waining but it will be here for a long time still despite the Digital world. Minox is a worthy project for anyone and now even more so.

 

My answer for you is, jump on this train. We await your work, your view point, your subjects.

Robert wrote:"What I would most like to see made available again is the Minox negative sleeves and envelope".

 

Robert, you can use regular 35mm film sleeve to store Minox negatives.

I have being doing this for years. I keep the Minox sleeve as collectives.

I've shot and printed 1000's of Minox 8x11 images (using Minox enlarger) and have to say that even at 5x7" that a similar and well done 35mm Tri-X image will look "better" to me. Not to bash the Minox prints, but they are what they are. It's not just grain enlargement, it's the stretching of tonal detail.

 

Minox photos are fun and can have an awful lot of charm. Get some cassettes and figure out how to slit and reload your film and there is no reason not to start using one today.

 

Trying to "beat" larger formats or digitals should not be the point IMO. Enjoy them for what they are.

PS I mostly used Techpan, but also APX 25.

@Mark Hahn,<br>

Since you did so many enlargements using the Minox enlarger I want to ask you some questions.<br><br>

 

When enlarging, do you use the diffussor?<br>

How is your bulb positioned?<br>

Can you tell me the lifetime of the Fisher bulb?

it's been some time, but the filiment goes down, my bulb has lasted forever, but I bought a spare, just in case. You have to use the diffussor IMO.

Anthony Kosky "Given the right film and processing

they can produce 10x8" prints which can hold their

own against any format."

 

Josh Root "Any format"? That is ridiculous. ...

If you had said 3x5 or even 4x6, I might have gone along with it.

 

I guess you have not see the super larged print from Copex. The Minox f/3.5 lens enables prints from Agfa Copex that have to be seen to be believed. Few 35mm cameras have a lens with the same properties as the Minox lens. It really does seem to break the "larger negatives less grain at a given print size" rule.

 

Some professional photographers, in viewing prints from 8x11 Copex larger than 8x10", nearer A3 immediately spot the difference. The Minox is f/3.5. They did not spot that the format was smaller.

 

Anyway the statement is to hold it's hold. Not to be better or even as good but not to be disappointed with by comparison.

 

For me the fine grain microfilm is only of technical interest as I prefer color and Minocolor is grainy from the 8x11 negative. Minocolor Pro is discontinued as most of the previously made Minox film are.

 

I have many shots with a Minox that would have been impossible with most cameras unless that camera was primed and ready waiting for the shot, but as the grab shot has to be done without the subject noticing and so posing for the image another camera soon becomes self defeating.

 

Many photographers like the subject pin sharp and the back ground out of focus. With subminiature more of the foreground and back ground are also sharp. It may detract from the subject, but for me in an idea world everything would be pin sharp. The Minox 8x11 gets closer to this than any of the other cameras I have used. A personal choice.

 

For color prints with standard film, like Minocolor, I have found that the Minolta MG-s, QT and Rollei 16s to give more pleasant results. At 4x6" these do not differ from 35mm prints. Slide enlargements up to 1 metre across "hold their own". Quarter frame does give for me a better optimum of camera size and negative size for standard slides and prints.

 

The later Minox 8x11 however has features that are not built into the quarterfame cameras. Since Minolta 16 film was discontinued in 1994 it has been left for the Minox the unique subminiature with factory loaded film available.

 

I have several Tessinas and the complete range of Minox 35mm cameras. The Tessina is delicate. I had it on my wrist and it got knocked dislodging the mirror and the film then didn't wind on. Fortunately only the view finder. Modern film is stiff and the loading fiddly. This means that you have to take more care and do more checks when loading film in the Tessina. It is also easy for the film to come off the feed spool making it impossible to rewind and so unload in daylight. In use the tiny dials, small writing and an iffy light meter make for loads of fiddling. Grab shot forget it. I do get a few people stopping to find out what on earth I am playing with in the street. If I spent the same amount of time with the Minox the same would happen but with the Minox it is slide out of your pocket, ever ready case opened, focus distance set, steadied at eye level, shot, closed, put away in a blink of an eye. The results from the Tessina have been "interesting". Two films give a strange grain effect, more like matt than gloss. It could be the scanner, but the third film (all cut from the same 35mm roll) is different. Not unpleasant, but not what I expected. So I am still pushing on with Tessina to see what I can get and to explain why I have yet to better or match the quarter frame Minoltas.

 

Minox 35mm are better in the sense film is cheap and still easy to find (110, APS, Minox has to be obtained in advance as you can't be sure of getting the film of choice and Minox in the shops is very rare these days). The Minox 35ML can not be beaten in image quality. Some of the later Minox models match it. Technically Rollei 35mm owners rate the Rollei has been a better lens, but when they own both it is the Minox they carry because it is smaller and a lot less weight. In use the Minox 35mm is almost as fast as the Minox 8x11 but you also have to set aperture as well as focus. Even though I like the Minox 35mm cameras for handling and the superior images they give I end up carrying an 8x11 and/or Canon Ixus II, Minolta TC-1 or Minox CD150. The Minox CD150 has a lens as good as the standard 35mm range but a zoom of 150mm. It has a built in flash and so making it smaller and easier to use in the situations where speed is important than fiddling with mounting the flash to the Minox 35ML. I have used bounce flash with 8x11 cameras - the ME2. I have the MF35 with it's angular position of the flash but have never used it even when positioned ready. One of the other cameras has always been grabbed first.

 

The Minox can be attached to binoculars and microscopes. I have done both. The copy stand is easy to transport and set up. I photographed a whole lab full of fossil specimens with a Minox C and ME2 in the 15 minutes between the technicians leaving and the class starting. This included having to stand on lab stools to get some of the specimens in the fame of the camera. The next opportunity would be the following year :).

 

The Minox 35mm have close up lens and a small copy stand, which is even smaller to carry than the Minox 8x11 one. The Rollei 16s copy stand is not well built. The Yashica Atornon and Mikroma copy stands require a set of lens. The best compromise is the Minolta MG-s stand and the quarter frame results are more pleasant and easier to see (slides) than the Minox ones.

 

Bill Mitchell Minox supplies are too uncertain at this

time to even consider it.

 

Minox have discontinued Minocolor Pro 100 and the choice of film in factory load is now very small.

 

For those you do not want to slit and develop their own film and enjoyed the

Minox factory loads this looks like the end of an era. I don't know if this is

temporary or not. Minocolor Pro 100 disappeared last year.

 

8x11film still advertise Sensia , Minocolor 100, Ilford Delta 100, Copex and

Minopan 25 but no longer advertise in English. The English part of their web

site is not updated. Price went up this month and for those in the UK (1GBP=

1.2215EURO) and USA (1USD=0.6007EURO) the strength of the Euro to other currencies makes it even more expensive by the time we import them.

 

e.g. Ilford 100 or Copex are now 8.90EURO which is 6.11GBP+VAT (was 4.50GBP) or 14.45USD

 

So lost are

 

Minocolor Pro 100

Minopan 100

Minopan 400

Vaio Pro 160

Tmax 400

Imagelink

Dias film

 

And it looks as if stocks of Minocolor 100 and Minopan 25 are on their way out.

 

Lab811 still has been holiday in it's news section. I do not know where

Minox sends film to. Minox Labs and Blue Moon continue to handle Minox film.

Minox Labs do a good job on scanning films negatives and Blue Moon handle

anything subminiature, but print small photos with big white borders, ie not

10x15cm border less as Lab811 used to do.

 

There are some places where you can order 9.2mm slit films to load into your own cassettes, or they will do it for you. There have been reports of some light leaks and rough edges on the film. As this is a service done by hand and not a factory controlled process then, like doing it your self it is prone not to be as secure as Minox factory loads.

 

Robert Meier: What I would most like to see made available

again is the Minox negative sleeves and envelopes. I don't

understand at all why these are not made any more. Used ones

on eBay go for anywhere from $3 to $15 a piece, which is

ridiculous. They should be 50 cents, or less.

 

I have been selling the Minox negative wallets for 0.90GBP each, in batches of 6 or 4 with Ilford Delta 100 and Spur HRXII on eBay. The wallets are expensive and with the drop in US$ to EURO are more expensive than they used to be a few years ago, even with the wallets not having risen in price.

 

Bill Mitchell "but now there are tiny digital cameras to

replace it, and give better pictures as well."

 

Minox have said that the 1.3Mp better the color performance of 8x11. We could argue for ever and a day about it. But take a 4x6" print from a pocketable digital there is less grain and equal sharpness in the digital. The results is "better" for most people. My camera phone is 5Mp and although I am still carrying a film camera I end up taking more digitally than on film.

 

When I went to hunt for a pocket size 35mm I was shown A4 prints from 2.1 and 3Mp digital, APS and Minox 35GT-E. The 35mm was capable of larger prints, sharper and better color. 3Mp already was better than APS and with 8, 10 and 12Mp cameras I guess they will out perform all but the best of 35mm cameras (of which there are a large number to choice from).

 

As in all arguments the different lens, formats and compromises in the design make for a different experience. My camera phone will out perform any subminiature I have, but in normal sunlight it is aim and hope because I can't see the LCD and if held at arms length (typical digital stance) I don't know how much camera shake I will make until I review the image in the shade. And, a big and, the battery live in the phone with MP3, FM radio and GPS is one day trip. I think my Aviator has had the same battery in it since new several years ago. Even the SLR batteries last for years.

 

Back to the original questions

 

"How expensive are the cameras?"

 

check out http://www.submin.com/8x11/collection/minox. Each camera variation is included and the main page for each camera includes details on it and a history of the prices seen at auction over the past few years. You can quickly see how cheap they can be and so you can set your price and know that you can, with a little care match that in a few weeks if not even in the next 24 hours.

 

"Can I get tri-x for it?"

 

Slit and load your own film. Film choice has been reduced and prices recently rocketed. See above.

 

"Do I need a special tank to develop the films in?"

 

No, but a special reel at least. The Jobo 8x11 reels are still made and you use them in a Jobo 1510 in the same way as a 35mm reel. These are easier to load than the stainless steel reels that go for collector prices on auction. The Minox daylight loading tank is an excellent design but you can't raise it temperature as easily for films needing 38C developing. It is easier to get consistant results with the Jobo8x11 reel with all film choices.

 

"How expensive is the film per roll?"

 

Was 4.50GBP, now 6.11GBP although I do still have some Ilford Delta, Minopan, Copex and Imagelink at the March price.

 

Gerald McMullon

www.mcmullon.com/forsale/submin

www.submin.com

 

Hello Martin Tai,

 

Re: Your # 6 (Parallax Compensation)

 

Indeed there is a compact camera with p.c., it's the Minox 110; this tiny little thing from the 70's ( "110" cartridge, 24 exp.10 x17mm), one of the best pocket cameras ever, has parallax compensation down to 60 cm and even a distance meter and automatic depth of field scale for its Rodenstock Ysarex 2,8/15 lens enabling superb results. It can use both X-cubes and strobe. I have two of them, they are my everyday companions, and I hope that film production would never be given up by Fuji.

Michael, I am glad that you like Minox 110, its lens has good reputation. I have a Minox 110S, however it's film advance mechanism slips and cannot advance the 110 film.

Hi Martin,

Yes indeed it's the "S" type... What a pity that there is "the great water" between us for I'm knowing a former member of the production line staff of "Balda Kamera-Werke" in near by Buende, which produced the "110 S" (the only model, which wasn't totally assembled by Minox in those years), and he has taken over all spare-parts and instruments after camera production ceased. One of my "110 S" was assembled by him at home some years ago (an extremely rare piece, because it has no serial no.! :-) ), he also can still assemble the "Balda 35" (the "sister" of the Minox 35 GT/GL), even the strobe for it.

Years ago he told me that there is a weak point in the advance mechanism, because there is a little part which would have better been built out of metal instead of plastics, it's somehow strained. No problem to repair it, and I think the spare-parts are of stronger material, for I had no trouble with both my "pockets".

If you would afford the postage you could get back soon your little patient well healed... You can send me an e-mail, photo.net has my address

Hi Marko,<br>Welcome to the club.<br>I'll give you some links as a startingpoint.<br>

<a href="http://www.submin.com/8x11/collection/minox/">A large overview of Minox stuff</a>. See the leftbar for accessories.<br>

<a href="http://www.kcbx.net/~mhd/2photo/film/develop/devtank.htm">About the development tank</a>.<br>

<a href="http://www.8x11film.com/spur/anleispule.html">A special reel for JOBO drums</a>.<br>

<a href="http://www.photo.net/bboard/q-and-a-fetch-msg?msg_id=003HH1">About the Minox enlarger</a><br>

Hope this will keep you busy for the weekend :-)

Hello to all Minox buffs,

 

I just phoned Minox for getting some info which would be of interest for you, too.

 

These films are available (36 exp. each):

Minopan-25, -100 and -400

Minocolor-100 and -400

 

All 8x!1-Minox with serial-no. over # 50ooo can be repaired, because they have all necessary spare-parts (after >50 years!) and even the selenium light-meter of the Minox B can be saved.

 

For the Minox C there is available the "8x11 PowerPack" with 4 cells 386 (silver oxide 1,55 V/105 mA) and for the Minox 35 range the "PowerPack 35" with 2 batteries CR 1/3 N (Lithium 3 V/170 mA).

 

Good news for all who want to start Minox, aren't they?

Hi Michael,<br>

www.8x11film.com has some other Minox film: Ilford Delta 100 and Agfa Copex. Camera repair can also be done by Don Goldberg of DAG. I send him my Minox B and he repaired him for $ 75,-