Selection from Minox brochure

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-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 14, 1999

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What's in a name? As manufacturers of precision-engineered optical systems,

we, at Minox, decided that our name should encapsulate our philosophy

completely - and that in a word, is miniaturization. in fact in the

mini-field we're rather a maxi-name. producing the smallest 8x11 camera,

the smallest 35mm viewfinder camera and the smallest telescope

to be found anywhere in the world.

But to be honest, the name of our game isn't lust miniaturization.

With a Minox system you get high-definition optics combined

with straightforward, no-nonsense handling and extreme reliability.

Perhaps our best-known product is Prince Philip's 8x11 Minox,

which has already seen more than twenty years of loyal service.

And that's nothing unusual for a Minox. Our concept is to tuck as

much technology as necessary into a body that's as small as

possible - which means that you end up with a system that's

extremely sturdy and robust. But don't get the idea that we're misers.

We' re just very thrifty about how much electronic

gadgetry to install in our equipment. Nor are we discounting

the virtues of autofocus - or auto-anything else, for that matter.

We' re simply asking how virtuous your camera needs to be.

Because one thing is clear. The really good photo ultimately

depends on your talents, not on those of an automated machine

wherever you happen to be shooting. And that basically, is why

we believe that nobody needs more camera than a Minox.


----- 1995 Minox brochure

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 14, 1999.


I still need other cameras in particular SLRs. But I do find myself using more and more Minoxs. In many cases, Minox is the only camera I bring along. For example, I would be rather odd to carry a bulky SLR on the shoulder while taking a walk, going shopping or golfing etc.

In one instance, as father of the bride, although we hired professionals to to the photos and videos, by I still like to take some pictures myself, I could only put a smallest EC in my tux.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 15, 1999.


I read somewhere that famous photographer Henri Cartier Bresson uses Leica with a standard 50mm lens most of the times. I am not HCB, I like to use all kinds of cameras, but somehow I find that Minox with its one lens does help me to take better pictures. Instead of changing lens or zooming, I walk closer or further, and compose more carefully. Walking around the subject also help me to look at the subject from different perspectives and angles.

-- Fred Mason (Fredm@starnet.com), July 15, 1999.

MINOX EC BROCHURE



 By now almost everybody knows the Minox people as experts in 
producing tiny cameras.
 But you will hardly believe your eyes when you see the ultra-minute 
1.8 x 3 x 8 cm 
(0.7 x 1.2 x 3.15 inch) Minox EC. 
 Once you pick up this matte black little object you gratefully 
realize that it is a camera. 
 A Minox, to be precise. In fact, one that disappears inside your 
closed fist, or in your 
 trouser pocket, handbag or shirt pocket - or wherever else you want 
to make a disappear.
 It's feather-light at 45 g, though we must admit that with a battery 
and a film the Minox EC
 turns the scale at 58 g or a tiny shade over 2 ounces a slightly 
bigger feather.
 On the one hand the Minox EC is a smart little item that you will 
enjoy carrying for the 
fun of it.
  On the other, it is still more fun to pull the Minox EC from any 
pocket for picture taking.
 For it is an up-to-date 8 x II mm Minox format camera with 4-element 
lens and electronic
  exposure automation - a good camera for good pictures.

  The moment you pull the camera open - with Minox's famous push-pull 
transport - you notice 
the supreme Minox precision. Everything fits together like a glove. 
Once the minox EC 
is open you can observe as features.


 Let's start with the lens. Every element is individually ground and 
polished by Minox. 
You appreciate how important that is by the time you look at your 
first pinsharp Minox 
EC prints. For easiest-ever picture taking with the Minox EC, our 
engineers gave the EC 
lens a fixed-focus setting and fixed aperture. You set neither 
distance nor lens stops. 
Yet - thanks to the short 15 mm focal length and f/5.6 aperture - 
everything is sharp from
 1 m or 3'/2 A to infinity.
 Nor do you set shutter speeds. The Minox designers built electronic 
exposure automation 
into the EC. This sets the correct exposure according to subject 
brightness and him speed
 from 1/500 second to (with 25 ASA) 8 seconds.
 By now you should have a fairly good idea of how to shoot with a 
Minox EC: Pull the camera 
open, look through the brightline finder and press the button.
 Only when exposure times get longer than 1/30 second, a small red 
light in the finder 
warns of camera shake. Indoors you better use a flash. There is a 
special Minox electronic
 "8 x II flash", or the FE 4 flash cube adapter. They match the size 
of the tiny Minox EC.
 Loading the Minox EC, like all 8 x 11 mm Minox ultraminiatures, is 
child's play.
 For Minox 8 x11 mm films come in dual cartridges. You have a choice 
of 25 ASA to 400 ASA 
black-andwhite film and colour print him for 36 or 15 exposures - and 
also colour slide film
for 36 exposures.
 Needless to say, the push-pun movement of the Minox advances the 
film. When open -
 as on the big double-spread picture inside this leaflet the Minox EC 
is ready to 
shoot Pushed closed (as on the front page), its matte black shell 
hides everything:
 the lens, finder, frame counter, release button, exposure 
automation/flash/ battery 
test switch, the film speed scale and its setting shaft - all inside 
the shell, 
like a tortoise.

Technical data
Type: Minox EC ultraminiature camera.
Film transport: Push-pull rapid transport - only operates after 
releasing the shutter.
Film pressure plate: Pressure lifts during him transport and film 
changing.
Shutter: Electronically controlled leaf shutter, 1/5~ to 8 seconds (at 
25 ASA~
Meter cell: CdS cell.
Film speeds: Stepless adjustment from 25 to 400 ASA (15 to 27 DIN
Light signal :Red LED for slow-speed warning (longer than 1/30 second) 
and battery check. 
Lens: 15 mm Minox 4-element fixed-focus f/5.6 lens, depth of field 
from 1 m (31/2 ft)
 to infinity. 
Lens hood: Built in.
Finder: Brightline finder.
Frame counter: Counts back from 36 to 0 or 15 to 0, adjustable by 
milled button.
Flash: Special connection for Minox 8 x 11 flash, or FE 4 flash cube 
adapter.
Size: 1.8 x 3 x 8 cm (0.7 x 1.2 x 3~5 inches) Weight: 56 g with 
battery, without film.


Manufactured by
Minox GmbH, Postfach 6020, D-6300 Giessen 1 West Germany.


OCR SCANNED

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 19, 1999.


Why Minox uses 'ultraminiature' instead of the more common 'subminiature' in the above document ?

-- peter Resnick (pr3873a@frontedge.com), July 20, 1999.


peter, the term "ultraminiature" fits the characteristics of Minox 8x11 caemra better, as Minox indeed makes the world's smallest camera at present. There was smaller camera, such as Steky, but they were long extinct. On the other hand, "subminature" covers too wide a field from 126, 110, half frame, tessina, 16mm, etc, and great number of other extinct species,. A "subminiaturist" is most likely a 16mm guy, not a Minoxer.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), July 21, 1999.

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