Why waste your time?

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Why waste your time with tiny negs. If you want a toy, fine, if you want real images, get a real camera. Minox is a toy. Buy a fine Japanese camera like a Nikon or a Canon. Even APS is better!

-- Aki (1117@inet.net), December 31, 1998

Answers

I lived and worked in Italy for 2 years. I couldn't always carry a full-frame camera. The Minox B took some pictures that we really enjoy, 25 years later.

Some were not just snapshots. It seems the best subjects/compositions occur when you least expect it -- and that's Minox time.

-- Jeff Polaski (polaski@acm.org), March 22, 1999.

Ten years ago I camped in a beatifull place in southern Brazil. The most impressive feature there is a canyon 700 meters deep, there is a very difficult track downwards wich I took with three friends. I had a 35 mm Contaflex, a Zeiss Nettar 6x6, a Canon super8 movie and... ha ha! a Minox B! The only one I could take in the neckbreaking track. Martin's answer is right, it makes the difference between having good pictures and no picture at all.

-- Wolfgang Fischer (wolfischer@hotmail.com), March 30, 1999.
I visited the Minox Factory in Germany last year. They were very proud people making an outstanding camera. Try telling them a minox it a toy!

-- Jim Marley (rotorguy@showme.net), July 03, 1999.
Have you ever tried to carry a Nikon with Macro, 50 mm and 300 mm lens with a flash, a binocular, bw Filters and a tripod on a backpack trip for 3 weeks? With a total weight about 20kg for the backpack you won't carry another 10kg for your Photo equipment if you are able to do this with 1,2kg!

I've left my 35mm System at home after I've startet using a Minox B

And if you have friends who don't want to be pictured because of their 'Photo Face' you can do it without being noticed. They will be very suprised when you present them a portrait without the 'Photo Face'

-- Christoph Buchloh (buchlohc@isd-gmbh.com), January 27, 2000.

When I back-backed in India I took a Minox LX, an EX (for colour prints) and a Rollie 16 (to use up the old film). Also with me as a 1.5kg Hi8 camcorder.

When I went to China and climbed the great wall I carried a Minox C chrome and black (one for slides, one for prints) and a 3Kg Sony V5000 in a case that weight in at 6Kg with lenses.

My wife does not like the grain or the expenses of prints from the Minox, but she has been stuck with it as she forgets her 'large' camera (a Konica APS that is infact smaller than the Rollie 16) all too often and the Minox (now an LX) is always with me.

Most of my 35mm films from an SLR are perfect. Most of my Minox pictures are very poor. Most of my 35mm picture are posed, taken in the fullness of time. The Minox pictures are taken on the spot, on the run, from a moving car, bus or train, when the event happens and the moment is captured. A poor picture or no picture! If I take the same care in Minox filming as the subject demands then the sun rise in the desert of north west India or sunset across the Thames the Minox is there and able.

Even my 600gram spy-camcorder does not get carried around with me like the Minox.

The only thing more useful than carrying a Minox is a Switz Army knife!

-- Gerald McMullon (gerald@mcmullon.com), October 16, 2000.

Until about a year ago I owned a 35mm SLR with lenses, flash, gadget bag etc. BUT I WASN'T USING IT ! Couldn't be bothered with the hassle of carrying it around, If the photo was there to take, the camera wasn't ! And if I had the camera, somehow the photo opportunities didn't arise ! I now have a Minox B, and I am taking photo's again, they may or may not be good ones, but at least I'm taking them. A minox in the pocket is no problem at all, anytime. I have now sold my SLR kit and I'm enjoying taking photographs again !

-- Peter Hemstock (petenbrenda@aol.com), June 01, 2001.
The real 8x11 Minox a Toy!? Why not, so you can do snaps with a hidden camera, that you have not to hide! People does not recognize it as a camera. And after the snapshot, you can develop the film and enlarge the tiny negativ to a b/w picture of 16" x 20". I have done it and I am happy with it. I own also bigger cameras, also from Japan, but my Minox B is my permanent companion. It is very reliable, it needs no battery and you are never without a camera. Fortunately Walter Zapp has invented the 8x11 Minox in the 193x-years.

-- Robert O Brunner (robertobrunner@freesurf.ch), June 10, 2001.
I use an EC and have a C also. The answer for me is that the EO goes with me everywhere. It produces photos which fascinate me because you have to learn to use the whole negative. I'll say that again, "you have to learn to use the whole negative". For me that is the key. I have other cameras but nothing makes me think as hard about the subject as the Minox. Anyone who says they are toys is missing the point. They record images and those images are what is important. And often, they would not exist without the Minox. For me the Minox also is an aide memoir since I also enjoy drawing and watercolor painting. Compared with a large format camera even 35mm is a miniature camera, so what. Each to his/her own.

-- Graham Hk (graham_h@hotmail.com), July 05, 2001.
I use an EC and have a C also. The answer for me is that the EO goes with me everywhere. It produces photos which fascinate me because you have to learn to use the whole negative. I'll say that again, "you have to learn to use the whole negative". For me that is the key. I have other cameras but nothing makes me think as hard about the subject as the Minox. Anyone who says they are toys is missing the point. They record images and those images are what is important. And often, they would not exist without the Minox. For me the Minox also is an aide memoir since I also enjoy drawing and watercolor painting. Compared with a large format camera even 35mm is a miniature camera, so what. Each to his/her own.

-- Graham Hk (graham_h@hotmail.com), July 07, 2001.
I have an EC. I have had a C and a III but prefer the automatic nature of the EC. I have never considered these cameras toys. They are cameras and quite impressive to be sure. I also have a collection of Minolta 16s but ignore them now as I cannot get the film anymore. A real shame. My favorite Minox story is this: I was living in Hawaii in 1991 and went to the ProBowl. The night before the game I went to one of the better restauraunts and guess who was there? Chuck Knoll, George Sifert and 2 other NFL coaches and their wives eating dinner. And guess what? I had my EC with me and took a few snaps with no one knowing a thing. Could not have done that with my Minolta 35 mm. Steve

-- Steve Elliott (scelliott@home.com), July 12, 2001.
Waste your time, I own dozens of cameras, big negatives to really big negatives. Any guess on which one I have in my pocket right now?

I don't think anyone is going to argue that a 8x11 inch contact print is going to resolve more detail than a hyper enlarged 8x11mm negative. On the other hand due to it's size, audio volume, and simplicity, the minox gets subjects that just wouldn't be an option with the bigger camera.

"To thine own self be true"

-- RossKowalski (educoop@edu-coop.org), January 16, 2002.

It seems that our frien here have no idea whatsoever about the joy and satisfaction which comes with a good job done!I'm fairly experienced in large and medium format and I started with Minox a few months ago.The challenge was huge,everything was new and everytime I released,I felt like I'm sitting some rather very difficult exams.The developing,that joy or sorrow of seeing how good or bad your first negative came out...Minox is not a joke or a toy;it's part of your feelings of success or failure in general.Anyone can take a photo with a APS or digital camera;the real thing though is the furrowed brow taking a picture with your little Minox and feel the pounding heart when you pump the therm in tank,imagining how will be the negative,re-living all the shots you've taken,wondering where and what went wrong.This all,for me at least,is Minox !!!

-- julian tanase (tanase2@aol.com), February 08, 2002.
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