Cost of 8x11 Minox Photography

I am intrigued by the Minox 8 x 11 cameras, and am probably about to start looking for "my" Minox B on that auction site. The size, the fine 15mm lens, the exquisite look of this excellent camera.

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But. But what about the cost and difficulty of buying film and having it developed and printed here in Toronto. I still count my dollars. I no longer think about how much I just spent on those bad photos or that wasted roll of shots, but still, the cost is relevant to me. I know, its sacrilege to allow paltry considerations of dollars and cents to interfere with the appreciation of beauty.

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My questions? Once I've bought my camera, how much should I expect to spend on film and developing and printing, say, a 24 exposure roll? (Is that the standard length?). Is it possible to buy film and/or mailers in Toronto?

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(I spend roughly CDN$8 for a 24 exposure processing-included roll of 400 ASA Loblaws-label Fuji. I'm prepared to spend, say, three times that, or maybe even four times, for 8 by 11.)

Daniel,

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I am not sure about the availability of film in toronto. I know that

here in Houston, there is only one place you can buy film. They are

asking about $11 for a 36 exp roll of b&w 400 ASA, and about 8 for a

roll of 36 exp b&w 100 ASA. The mailers are about 18 dollars. I know

that you can get film and mailers much much cheaper ordering them

from say B&H, but then there is shipping and you have to wait. (I

hate waiting) Then there is developing your own film, which in the

long run will be cheaper, and plus I think that is where the fun is.

I don't yet have all of the stuff to develope yet, and I am not a

rich man. (School is expensive) so I am plagued with the same

concerns you have. I hope some of this helps.

Daniel, <ol><li> It is not a good idea to buy Minox camera from eBay or other site: you need to check a Minox in person, other wide you may end up with a lemon.

<li> The best place to shop for Minox 8x11 is Alt Camera Exchange at Queen/Jarvis.

<li> You can buy film from Alt or from Eight Elms Photo & Video at Eight Elms street, two block north of Eaton Center.

<li> Or you can buy film and processing at www.submini.com

<li> Several small shops in Queen/Javis area also carry Minox B, C etc

<li> See how to check Minox camera thread

</ol> These will get you a head start. Later if you want to cut film from 35mm and develop your own, and consider buying a film slitter, Minox development tank, and Minox enlarger

<p> Eight Elm has better price on Minox factory loaded film and new Minox equipment and accesories. Ask for Mr Chan or Mr Lee.

To tell the truth, the cost of starting out with minox photography, aside from the cost of the camera, is not to bad at all if you do it correctly. as for the camera, i bought a perfectly working EC for 52 dollars on ebay. for film, i built a film slitter (flat bed) in my highschool shop class...you can do the same thing really at home. theres some sites you can find on www.subclub.org giving you pointers on this. as for the developing, you can easily adapt a plastic tank and reel to develop your bw minox negatives. these plastic tanks and reels are available for a few dollars at auctions, yard sales, etc. I would say buy a roll of 400 ASA film (100 feet bulk) for around 25 dollars and you will have all the film you need for the next 10 years. i would definitely refridgerate this film so that it keeps longer as well. chemicals (developer, fixer, clearing agent, stop bath) will cost you about 30 dollars in initial start up costs if you buy in sn small quantities. the fix, clearing agent, and stop bath will not go bad for a long time but your developer will need to be replaced about every six months...this costs about 9 dollars per gallon if you do it right. i would recomend gettign powder to mix a gallon (i use microdol x by kodak) and splitting this up into pint sized (no pun intended) packets and mix one up at a time...this way only one pint will expire every six months. other stuff to develop (funnels, graduates, etc...can be found on the cheep at places like walmart....a 50 cent funnel, a 2 dollar measuring cup will do just fine. i'd also get a shallow tray to work in to prevent spilling chemicals. so really aside from the camera you can be into doing some minox developing for 50-80 dollars and be set for a long time as far as consumables go......as for enlarging...i'd say it is much cheeper to use a scanner and scan your negatives into a pc rather than using a regular enlarger....i'm awaiting delivery on a primefilm film scanner for about 110 dollars from ebay and i'm eager to see its quality. another method, although primitive, is to use a light table, lupe, and digital camera if you have one...and actually take a digital photo of the negative through the lupe....this is a pretty rigged situation but i did it just yesterday as i havn't got my scanner yet. check out the results at www.geocities.com/goatvideopro

the page is still in progress but you'll be taken to the directory and can navigate through those pics from there. I would say that you should definitely get into developing your own b and w negs. because just the cost of 3 or 4 mailers and film alone would be alot more than the supplies to get started doing negatives. oh yes...minox cassettes....these are going for about 4 bucks for used once cassettes at www.swssec.com ....Steve is a great guy and will surely be willing to help you out with any questions or equipment you need. i would also recomend, if you're into computers at all, getting a negative scanner or if you already have a flatbed scanner getting an adapter for that. this is alot better than printing with an enlarger in my opinion.

Well, i was kind of rambling but i think this information is pretty valuable for a new minoxer and it pretty much emcompasses all that i've learned in the past month since i've started minoxing.

Blaine Martin