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Minox is a former Latvian, now German, manufacturer of
miniature cameras.
They are most famous for their range of subminiature espionage cameras
such as the Minox-B that became extremely popular during
the Cold War. It was used by both sides of the Iron Curtain.
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Starting with a piece of wood of the desired size, inventor Walter Zapp
developed his first subminiaure camera in 1936. This resulted in the
so-called Minox Riga, that was introduced in 1937.
More about this in the history below.
Over the years, Minox produced a wide range of 8 x 11 mm subminiature
cameras that were ideally suited for the expionage trade. The Riga was
renamed to A I and was followed by the
A II and the
A III.
The Minox-B, introduced at the height of the Cold War,
became extremely popular with intelligence agencies world-wide.
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From 1974 onwards, Minox also developed a series of small 35 mm cameras.
As they were about the size of a pack of sigarettes, they too became
popular items in the espionage business.
The first model, the Minox 35 EL,
was so popular that the Russians copied it as the
Kiev 35 A.
Some of the Minox cameras are further described on this website.
Click any of the images below for more information.
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Minox cameras on this website
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Over the years, Minox developed a range of accessories for their
subminiature cameras. Some of these were developed for a specific
model, but others were suitable for more than one model, or even
the entire range. Click any of the images below for a full
description.
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All analog Minox subminiature cameras use tiny little 8 x 11 mm negatives.
Using high-grade black & white film in combination with the high-quality
COMPLAN or MINOX lens, offers sufficient resolution for document photography.
This is further supported by the presence of the
measuring chain,
the ability to focus as close as 20 cm and a wide range of accessories.
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In later years, colour film was added to the Minox product range, but it was
less useful for document duplication due to the larger grain and, hence,
the lower resolution.
Even today, offering Minox films for processing at the local photo store,
often raises eyebrows.
Minox films are still available today, directly from Minox
who also handles development of the films.
Furthermore, equipment and consumables are available to develop and print
your own Minox films (see the links at the bottom of this page).
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The first Minox subminiature camera was developed in 1937 in Riga (Latvia)
by Walter Zapp [1] (Latvian: Valters Caps, 4 September 1905
- 17 July 2003).
His aim was to design a camera that was small enough to fit
in the palm of a hand and yet was capable of taking high-quality spontaneous
photographs.
He started with a small piece of wood that was used as a reference.
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During the 1930s, Zapp managed to conceive a camera that met
these requirements and in 1938 the first Minox camera was produced.
Although the camera was intended for regular photography, it soon became
the world's most popular spy camera.
During WWII, it was so popular that it was difficult for the various
intelligence agencies to obtain enough Minox cameras for their tasks.
Ironically, they were first built in Latvia under Russian control,
then under German occupation and then under Russian control again.
After WWII, production was moved to Germany, where the first
Minox-B
cameras were built [2].
The image on the right shows the inventor, Walter Zapp, holding one of his
Minox cameras.
He designed his first camera when he was in his early 30s.
Zapp died in 2003 in Binningen (near Basel, Switzerland)
at the age of 98. A few years earlier he starred in
a televison documentary,
telling the story of his successes.
This video clip is available
on the Minox website.
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Analogue Minox subminiature cameras are still available today from Minox
and their selected dealer network. In 2005, two years after Zapp's death, Minox
even released a special edition of the Minox LX to celebrate the 100th birthday of the inventor.
Following the rest of the industry, Minox has now also developed a range of
digital miniature cameras, which are sold alongside the older analogue models.
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Below an overview of the various miniature cameras produced by Minox.
Click any model name for further information. Items shown
in red are not featured on this website.
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Minox DSC - not a spy camera?
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At present, Minox produces two nice digital cameras: the Minox DSC
and the Minox DSC Silver, both known as Digital Spy Cam.
Although the DSC has an excellent lens and a resolution of
3.2 MP (Megapixels), it should not be classed as a spy camera.
As the minium focus distance is 1 metre, it can not be used for document
photography. It is, however, perfectly usable for inconspicious photography.
The later DSC Silver however, is perfectly suitable for document
photography, as it can be focussed as close as 50 cm. Furthermore it
has a resolution of 5.1 MP and is only slightly bigger than the old
Minox-B. Further information is available from the
Minox website.
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- H. Keith Melton, Ultimate spy
ISBN: 0-7513-4791-4, 1996-2002.
- Wikipedia, Minox
Description of the various Minox models and their history.
- Wikipedia, Walter Zapp
The inventor of the Minox subminiature camera.
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Information on Minox website
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Any links shown in red are currently unavailable.
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© Copyright 2009-2013, Paul Reuvers & Marc Simons. Last changed: Sunday, 06 April 2014 - 17:34 CET
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