Re:Travel with Minox

<p>Revised thread</p>

<p>http://www.photo.net/minox-camera-forum/003HBr</p>

<p>The photos in that thread disappeared.

 

The old photo was enlarged with Minox enlarger on Agfa paper, then scanned with a flatbed scanner.

 

I try to filled in the gap with re scanned photos from old negatives, with Plustek 8200i Ai film scanner at 7200dpi</p>

<p>Mykonos<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18072840-lg.jpg" alt="" width="900" /> <br>

Restaurant by Aegean Sea, 1998 June Minox C, Minopan 25<br>

After staying two days in Athens, we boarded Triton and cruised the Aegean Sea.<br>

The first port of call was a beautiful Greek isle Mykonos. This place is photogpohers' paradise.<br>

The distinct whitewashed cubic houses accented with blue windows blue doors or groves of red and purple flowers are all over Mykonos. Dome shaped white chapels with single bell arch or three bell arches against a background of extra ordinary blue sky; or blue stair way with red geraniums flower pot on every step was good picture subject.<br>

By regulation, all home owner must painted their houses twice a year, and only in white.<br>

The narrow lanes in Mykonos paved with irregular shaped stone slabs wind through the town full of jewellery shops, gift shops and restaurants. I snapped away with my 35mm cameras and Minox C . It was about time we must head back to the dock for last tender back to the ship.</p>

<p>Further down, a row of cubic white houses with blue doors perched right on the edge of the Aegean Sea. What a familiar scene !!<br /> Immediately I recognized it as the EXACT SPOT of a color photo I saw in a 1997 Minox brochure, there was a discussion thread in Submini list, Some said it was in Germany, some said definitely in Italy, I said it was in Greece, but nobody knew for sure. I never thought I would literally walked into the picture, and took picture with a Minox, what a coincidence.</p>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18075093-lg.jpg">

<p>The words on the wall of the restaurant were "CLUB VERANDAH".<br>

You can see the house with four second floor windows at the left hand side of my photo, this is the same building at the right hand side of brochure photo; the table clothes are the same style in both pictures.

The blue sea in the photo was Aegean, and the distant mountain was another Greek isle. Mykonos streets are paved with large irregular stones, unlike other Greek isles, such as Rhodes or Crete, where the streets are paved with pebbles.<br>

The lane behind Club Verandah leads to the main dock full of fishing boats.<br>

There is only one rows of houses backing to the Aegean Sea on Mykonos, on the street called Ag. Anargiron</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18072941-md.jpg" alt="" width="680" height="458" /><br>

A view of Mykonos from the cruise ship<br>

Minox C Minopan 25 1998 June</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18072942-lg.jpg" alt="" width="900" /><br>

Bell on Mykonos</p>

<p>The landmark of Mykonos is a row of windmills on a hill top<br>

<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18072945-md.jpg" alt="" width="679" height="470" /><br>

Before we head back to the ship, I rushed to a hill top, and took a picture of the famous Mykonos wind mills with my Minox C. have only one picture of it showing a row of four cylindrical windmills on a hill against the sky with a few scattered clouds. �</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18072989-md.jpg" alt="" width="514" height="679" /><br>

Hotel Manto at Mykonos, Minox C, 1998 June, Minopan 25</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18072995-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1083" height="1500" /><br>

Mykonos, Minox C Minopan 25 1998 June</p>

<p>Knossos</p>

<p>In 1935, Walter Zapp coined the name MINAX for his prototype camera. "MIN' from miniature, "AX" from Zeiss Ikon range finder camera Contax.<br>

Later, Walter Zapp's friend Nixi Nylander changed MINAX to MINOX. Minox rhymes with Minos-- the legendary king who reigned the city of Labyrinth in Neolithic period. My wife and I visited two Minoan sites, Palace of Knossos on Crete and the prehistoric commune of Akrotiri at island of Thera. Knossos is a booming tourist town, its main attraction is the Minoan Palace or Palace of Knossos.</p>

<p> Knossos Palace was excalvated and restored by Brithis archeologist Sir Arthur Evans <br>

at the turn of the century, he devoted great part of his life and fortune in the excalvation. At the entrance to the site, stands a a bronze bust of Arthur Evans; I took a picture with my Minox C.<br>

Arthur Evans creatively recontructed some buildings, wall paintings for this he was often criticized. But without his reconstruction, the site would not be such a tourist attraction. He published four volume "Palace of Minos ", the last volume in 1935. The same year Minox was named.</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073109-lg.jpg" alt="" width="978" height="1500" /><br>

Sir Arthur Evans statue at Palace of Knossos, Crete,Greece<br>

Minox C, Technical Pan, 1998 June</p>

<p>The Palace of Knossos has several thousand rooms, with crisscross paths. This palace was latter identified as the site of legendary Labyrinth. Minoan civilization was characterized by its artful architecture, advanced water supply system (clay pipes ) , pottery and wall frescos. The themes of paintings were about daily life, does not seems to be dictated by politics nor religious; art was pursued for its own beauty, the very first "art for art's sake" Large vases about three to four feet high and 2 feet diameter were used to store seeds, olive oil etc. The Minoan columns are quite unique, large at top and small at bottom, in exact opposite to later Greek columns. We were told that famous American architect Frank Lloyd Wright used Minoan columns in one of his design.<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073108-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="978" /><br>

Entrance to Palace of Knossos<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073105-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="975" /><br>

Relics of labyrith at Palace of Knossos<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073107-lg.jpg" alt="" width="977" height="1500" /><br>

Minox C, Labyrith relics at Palace of Knossos, 1998 June<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073106-lg.jpg" alt="" width="926" height="1500" /><br>

Minoan column at Palace of Knossos, Minox C 1998 June<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073103-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1096" height="1500" /></p>

<p>Minoan icon, the ox horn.<br>

Minox C, Palace of Knossos, 1998 June</p>

 

<p>PATMOS</p>

<p>Patmos is a Greek island in the Dodecanese.<br>

At Patmos, we decided not to join the excursion to Monastry of St John the Apocalypse, but to do it on foot ourselves. Expecting a long walk up hill, I left my heavy SLR and zoom lens locked up in the cabin, and took only a compact camera and Minox C, a bottle of water and Tilley hats.<br>

This famous Monastery can be seen afar-- a gray color fortress with quintuple bells standing aloft among a group of whitewashed Aegean style white cubic houses on hill top.</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073140-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="987" /></p>

<p>Patmos<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073137-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1073" /><br>

Monastry of St John, Patmos, Greece</p>

 

A winding road leads up to the Monastery, along the way there are many pretty Greek chapels.

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073138-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="924" /><br /> <img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073134-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1053" /><br /> <img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073135-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1053" /><br /> Courtyard of Monastry of St John Minox C 1998 June</p>

<p>It was a sunny day, hot and humid, after climbing about one fifth of the way, we were soaked with sweat; looking ahead, the Monastery did not seem getting any closer; so we decided to get a taxi instead. We bargained down to ten US$ for round trip to the Monastery for one hour stay, with a midway stop over at the Cave of St John. It is a much better deal than taking the excursion offered by the cruise ship, which cost US$37 per person.<br>

The courtyard of the Monastery is very pretty, there are four open arches perpendicular to another four arches; the intricate plays of gray brick arches and their shades casted by the sun on whitewash walls make interesting B&W studies.</p>

<p>We met a couple from UK, who had being vacationing in Patmos for a week. I asked them why of all the islands in Aegean they picked this one. "Because of the Monastery of St John"</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073156-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="950" /><br>

Monastry of Saint John <br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073157-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="974" /></p>

<p>Rhodes</p>

<p>Rhodes is the largest island of Docanese. Rodos is the capital of Rhodes Island Disembark from the ship, walked along the Old City wall for about 15 minutes led us to the gate. I took out Minox C and got a clean pictures of a circular shape brick turret flanked by trees, with city gate as a dark frame.<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073159-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1033" /><br>

Turret town of Rhodes,Minox C 1998 June<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073160-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1062" height="1500" /></p>

<p>Santorini</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073163-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1034" /><br>

View of Santorini from deck of cruise ship, Minox C, 1998 June</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073167-lg.jpg" alt="" width="996" height="1500" /><br>

A chapel on Santorini</p>

<p><img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073164-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="985" /><br>

A church in Santorini<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073162-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1063" height="1500" /><br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18071962-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1032" /></p>

<p>Athen in 1998 Minox C Minopan 25<br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073559-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1023" height="707" /><br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073556-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1056" height="720" /><br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073557-lg.jpg" alt="" width="707" height="1026" /><br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073555-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1046" height="684" /><br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073553-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="974" /><br>

<img src="http://d6d2h4gfvy8t8.cloudfront.net/18073552-lg.jpg" alt="" width="1500" height="1057" /></p>

 

<p>These are awesome! I enjoy the grain and feel, with the subject matter, it looks like it could have been taken during the 30's / 40's...I have one of these cameras but have not had time to use it....one day!</p>

<p>Amazing for an 8X11 negative. I'm shooting a IIIs acquired in April. So far the only film I developed was some slit down Ilford Pan F. It has taken me a while to build a film slitter, cut down and modify some Yankee plastic reels, and obtain and work out how to load Minox cartridges. I still have to run some 120 Clear File neg holders through a sewing machine to make neg holders for the Minox size film. One thing I have not tried is enlarging. I have a Mamiya 16 enlahead with a holder for 10X14mm negs and a built in 25mm lens that I intend to press into service for that task. I think I'll keep the enlargements small, 4X5.5 inches on 5X7 paper. That is still almost a 13X enlargement!</p>