ken_trettin

The Dr Fischer bulbs for the Minox enlargers are available from the

Minox Processing Lab although they are not listed on their website or

in their printed pricelist. Give them a phone call (800-645-8172). In

Aug 1999 I paid $37.50 for one--much cheaper than $60 on eBay.

Lead lined film bags or small cans/boxes are readily available from

many photo dealers. Although they are intended to hold 35mm film, they

are big enough for an 8 x 11 Minox and quite a bit of film. When

traveling I normally carry my film in a clear zip lock plastic bag

which I remove from the pocket in my carryon luggage and have it

visually inspected. I carry my cameras in my pocket (a IIIs and a B).

Undo the safety chain from your belt loops before aproaching the check

point. I find about half of the itme I can walk through with the

cameras in my pocket--I have more trouble with belt buckles or

forgetting to take my keys out of my pocket. If the security person

wants to check the camera and look trough the viewfinder, do as I do,

take a picture of them rather than close it up and completely waste an

exposure.

I have had good results on cases for a IIIs and a B with a liberal

application of Red Wing Boot Oil. It is the consistency of thin grease.

Apply to the outside with the brush in the bottle, let set two days

then rub with a clean cloth. It also works very well on your leather

boots (or shoes) protecting them from water but not waterproofing which

seals them up.

 

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Ken Trettin

I, too, have a Minox tank designed for 50 exposure rolls without any

inserts. I have followed the advice to turn until one encounters

resistance then stop without any trouble. Someone else suggested that a

rubberband be wrapped around the snout of the tank so that it does not

accidently open during processing. I was using a rather long band which

I twisted and wrapped around the snout a second time when I realized

that the second time arount the rubberband could be wrapped around the

knob at the end of the tank's spiral reel. Since counter-clockwise

pressure on the knob will keep the film under tension, I adjust the

rubberband so that one side of the loop around the knob is tighter than

the other, thus keeping this counter-clockwise tension on the film. It

works fine, the top never comes loose and the film stays tight on the

reel even without any insert for the short rolls of film.

The bulb currently sold by MPL is a 6V3A in the yellow and green

Autolicht box. All measurements are the same as the 6V6A lamp described

by Martin Tai.

I just bought a replacement lamp for my Minox enlarger from the MPL as

a spare. I have not tried it yet. They are not listed on their printed

price list so you have to call and ask for it. The price last week was

$37.50 plus shipping. It is a Dr. G. Fischer "Autolicht" and

rubberstamped on the box is "6V 3 Amp / BA 15s." So it is a 3 amp blub

rather than a six. I do not know how this will affect brightness but

with the 6 amp bulb exposure times for anything smaller than a 5 x 7

print are rather fast on modern RC papers. All of the meausrements

match those that Martin Tai has given for the 6 V 6A bulb including the

offset and orientation of the filiment, which is smaller than in the 6

amp blub--maybe it will be even more of a point source light.

I recently bought some Minopan 25 from MPL to build up my supply of

cassettes. Help! How do I open these new ones without breaking them--

all my old ones are taped shut. No tape on the new ones.

The past few months the History Channel on cable TV has been running

various shows about spies and spy technology. Of course Minox cameras

are often shown. The comments include those about the public's

perception that the camera is used only by spies. One of the shows told

of a Russian general who spied for the CIA. He had been furnished with

a Minox B (here the camera does a close up of a B rotating on a light

table so it ca be seen from all sides) and provided the CIA with 51

rolls of highly classified documents. At 50 per roll that amounts to

2550 pages!! He was arrested, tried and executed; part of the evidence

used agains him was the fact that he possessed a Minox camera

Appaarently the Minox Processing Lab has suddenly decided to stop

selling used cassettes. Their pricelist dated April 1999 lists them at

$10 per 10; I telephoned today and wanted to order 20 and was told that

they no longer have them available. Is this an attempt at selling more

film? $8 per roll of B&W film is a bit high but is it becomming the

only way to get empty cassettes?

I was reading what Martin had written about the Minox tripods. I took a

look at mine which was purchased new in 1968 (I don't know how it could

be so long ago but it was). The leg has the two coin slots and the ball

head can move in all directions (there is a slot extending between the

two screw in legs allowing the head to be tiped more than 90 degrees).

When I removed the large leg I find that it matches the description of

the style two tripod. Is this a model 1 1/2?

I purchased my first minox IIIs used in 1968 and used it for about 3-4

years. I still have most of the cassettes which I now reload. Several

were brass (Agfa document film--50 ex, and a pair with Plus X--36 ex).

The brass ones had a flat supply side cover. Most of the plastic ones

had the miNox logo though a few had the MINOX logo. They all taped shut

and had a depression in the supply side cover. The ones with the miNox

logo have a dull finish with sharp edges. the MINOX ones look better

finished and have slightly rounded edges. The boxes were all the same

with the miNox logo twice on the cover and once on the bottom along

with "made in Germany" on the other end panel. I would guess that the

MINOX ones appeared on film with an expiration date of about 1971 or

72.

Martin,

I guess all of my cassettes are old ones; they all have to be taped. I

find it most convient to prepare tape in the following manner: I have a

roll of USPS label 106-A ; it's the tape that is a series of Priority

Mail labels to wrap around boxes (the local postmaster gave it to me).

It is quite thin and about 48 mm wide. I place a strip of it on a piece

of old self-adhesive label liner making sure to lay it down smoothly

and without much pressure. When spooling film I cut up several pieces

about 3-4 mm wide. The tape peels off the liner easily and is just the

right length to seal the sides of the film cassette or to attach the

end of the film to the take-up spool.

Check the Agfa website. They have downloadable tech info in acrobat

(pdf) format that can be printed out to look just like their tech

booklets. (Kodak has the same by the way). The booklet on B&W chemicals

states that Rodinal is one shot while Rodinal Special can be

replentished.

I never have used one of the high dilution developers (say Rodinal

1:100) with a film such as Technical Pan but I have used Technidol

Liquid with Tech Pan and have been quite pleased with the results

although I thought the negative was contrasty it did print well. How do

the two developers compare? A real disadvantage to the Technidol is its

shelf life once mixed--7 days. With one envelope being enough for 1

35mm roll of film that would work out to about 416 minox exposures (the

center half of two 35mm rolls which yield 4 rolls of 40 exposure and

two of 24 each). I would expect Rodinal at least to be much more

economical.

I have a pair of brass film casettes still loaded with Agepe FF Dokumentenfilm (expiration date Aug 1969) still in the aluminum two roll can. I recently developed another roll that had been partially exposed and know it fogs so using it is out. Should I throw out the film so I can reload the casettes with 50 ex loads (I have a IIIs--purchased in 1968 for $45 by the way--and a late B) or should I sell them on eBay and buy ten or twenty plastic ones from Minox Lab. As you can tell, I am not into collecting Minox, I like to use it.

Check the chain agains a ruler. The chain on my well used IIIs is

significantly longer than it should be while the chain on my recently-

purchased, little-used, late-number B's chain is right on.