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Minox Minox B → ← Minox Riga
Subminiature espionage camera · 1948-1969
The Minox-A is a small high-quality
subminiature camera that is small
enough to be hidden the palm of a hand.
It was built by Minox in Germany between 1948 and 1969.
It has the same size as the earlier Minox Riga and is
therefore the smallest subminiature camera ever made by Minox.
The camera is also known by its numerical denominator: II or III
(I was the original Minox Riga).
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The body of the camera is made of aluminium rather than stainless steel.
It measures only 82 x 27 x 15 mm – when closed –
allowing it to be consealed in the palm of a hand very easily.
The image on the right shows a typical Minox A III.
Before shooting pictures, the camera has to be opened by pulling
it outwards from both ends. When ready, it has to be pushed-in again,
after which it advances to the next frame, even when no picture was taken.
This undesired feature, or anomaly, was also present in the
successor – the Minox B –
but was fixed in the later Minox C.
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The Minox A-II was produced from 1948 to 1950, and
was succeeded by the A-III that was in production from 1951 to 1954.
In 1954, the A-III was followed by a special variant for the US market,
the A-IIIS, which had a flash-synchronisation connector.
It was in production until 1969.
Unlike later models, the Minox A doesn't have a built-in light meter,
making it rather difficult to estimate the correct shutter speed.
To obtain good quality pictures, the user needed
an external exposure meter,
or a lot of experience.
The presence of an exposure meter in later models did come at a price
though; the Minox B was 15 mm longer and the Minox C nearly 4 cm!
Check the rightmost images below to compare the A, B and C models.
The camera shown here is a model III. It has serial number 55055 and was built in 1953.
Please note that, at the right hand side, it doesn't have the flash connector that is
present on the later IIIS model,
the Minox B
and the Minox C.
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The Minox A has a mechanical shutter which ranges from 1/2
to 1/1000 sec. It also allows the shutter to be kept open manually (B).
The high-precision COMPLAN lens allows focussing from 20 cm (8 inches)
to infinity. When turning the focusing dial, the viewfinder moves in tandem
to correct for parallax errors.
Above the viewfinder is the so-called filter bar, that allows a red
or a green filter to be moved in front of the lens.
These filters are generally used to increase contrast.
When photographing documents, the measuring chain comes in handy.
It is 60 cm long and has small markers (bullets) at 20, 24, 30 and 40 cm,
just like the markings on the focusing dial.
When using the full length of the chain (i.e. 60 cm) the distance
is ideal for photographing A4+ size documents.
Each time a picture is taken, the frame counter increases, up to the maximum
of 50 exposures.
Closing the camera, also protects the lens by moving a plate in front of it.
Please note that each time the camera is closed,
the film is advanced to the next position,
regardless whether a picture was taken or not.
This was solved in the Minox C and later models.
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Opening the camera in order to replace the film cartridge is simple.
First extend the camera in the usual manner, as if you want to take pictures.
Then turn the camera around
so that the bottom is up (1).
Next, extend the camera a somewhat further until a
recessed rig becomes visible
(2).
Use the nail of your thumb to
press down the recessed rig
(3).
This should unlock the camera.
Whilst pressing down the rig, slide away the body of the camera to
reveal the film cartridge
(4).
If a film is present, turn the camera upside down until the
film cartridge falls out
(5).
Take a new film
(6) from its
protective container
(7) and
place it in the camera
(8).
Then close the camera. Note that the first image is
lost as it is already exposed. Release the shutter and close/open the camera
to advance to the next position. Then release the shutter again.
The camera is now ready for taking pictures. In the images below, the camera is
loaded with a 36 exposure colour film.
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Wednesday 07 April 2010. Last changed: Tuesday, 16 November 2021 - 08:01 CET.
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