Tips on living with your Minox

As much fun as the Minox is, it still requires a little different treatment than other cameras do. These tips should help you get the most from the Minox, any Minox. If you have some other ideas to add, let me know so I can share them with others.

1. Cases

That Minox B you found is in beautiful condition. The meter is working right; the shutter speeds are dead on, and there isn't a nick on the chrome. Unfortunately, the case that comes with the camera is ratty, falling apart, and the loop under which you tuck the cover tab must have fallen off long ago. Cases were meant as protection for the camera, as an expendable cover which could be replaced. But the factory quit making cases for the A-series, the B, the C, and the BL at least a decade ago. And most used ones for the A and B are in little better shape than the one you're stuck with. What to do?

The answer depends on the model of camera. In 1997 one could find a pretty good supply of used cases for the C, and the C case will hold any Minox from the A to the BL. The distance from the chain fitting to the lens has remained a constant. The difficulty, of course, is that using a C case makes a IIIS just as long as a C. Most users of the III and IIIS have bought those cameras precisely because they are so small.

But a case for a Minox doesn't have to be a Minox case. It can be any carrying case that holds the camera protectively and fairly snugly, and once you realize that fact, you'll find that there are dozens of useful new cases for Minoxes on the market, even if there aren't many Minox cases..

A Minox is just about the size of a pocket knife, a "Swiss Army" style knife to be precise. Because Army knives are so popular, dozens of companies make generic cases to fit, and Victorinox, maker of "The Original Swiss Army Knife" ™, has some particularly useful models. Their leather belt case comes in three sizes; the large size fits the B as if the knife maker had had that in mind, and the medium fits the A. They also supply cordura nylon belt cases which will take any camera up to a C, but those are promotional items and not always available.

A company called Log Cabin Designs makes ballistic nylon belt cases for "European Army Knives". The large leather case for the Leatherman line of multi-tool gadgets fits as well, although it would look better without the gold lettering. Any number of suppliers sell fabric knife cases in various sizes and shapes. Look for one which closes with an industrial strength Velcro™ or other hook and loop fastener, but make sure that opening the case is easy enough so that you don't have to pull so sharply that the camera is likely to tumble out.

If you want a way to put the chain through the case, any leather worker or sewing expert can cut a hole the right size through the case and either reinforce a cloth case with a buttonhole stitch or fit a grommet. If you go the grommet route, choose one just a little bigger than on a regular Minox case so that the chain plug will pass through easily. But I just curl up the chain inside the case and don't worry, but that is probably because I prefer to use my cameras "naked".

L.L. Bean markets a soft padded eye glasses case with a belt hook and a spot of Velcro to hold it closed. The material has fabric inside and out, but has a cushioned foam center. It feels like wet suit material. Two Minoxes or a single camera, film, and a flash fit nicely in this case. It comes in lots of different colors.

In short, stores that specialize in camping equipment are likely to have a selection of cases, one of which will fit both a Minox and your own needs. The examples I've given are intended to get you started thinking about cases for the Minox when Minox cases aren't available, not endorsements of the products.

2. The camera that grows legs

The Minox is a tiny, beautiful, camera. It sometimes seems to grow legs and walk away from you. So small is it that it sometimes hides in the darndest places, and when kept in a Minox case, it is so dark in color that it is hard to see in the recesses of a camera bag or suitcase. I just got back from a vacation bemoaning the disappearance of an LX on the last day. After calling the hotel (which hadn't seen the camera) I began to look up the phone number of my insurance company. Then I emptied out my suitcase and, surprise, there was the camera.

It's such a small camera that you may well put it down on the table at a restaurant and forget to put it in pocket or purse. Don't ever put the camera down after taking a picture; put it back where it belongs in pocket, purse, or belt case.

The Minox is so attractive that other people may have a hard time keeping their paws off of it. A Minox C was in my gadget bag when it went through security at Charles de Gaulle Airport in Paris. It wasn't there when I went to use it on the plane 10 minutes later. I can't say where the camera went, but I do hope the new "owner" is having fun with it. Another camera walked out of a hotel room when I went out with my family. There's no point in identifying which hotel, because it could happen anywhere. Don't leave that camera out and about.

3. Where in the car should I put my camera?

Sometimes even a Minox has to stay behind. You may not want to take it to the beach or out on a sailboat. There are buildings and places where any camera is not merely unwelcome but illegal and having one, especially a "spy" camera, could get you into trouble. The question of where in the car to stow a camera is one I've thought about for a long time. The usual advice is "not in the trunk or glove compartment; it's too hot." I wouldn't stick camera and film into the trunk while I was driving in an (air conditioned) car. It's cooler in the passenger compartment with you.

But when you leave a car during the daytime, particularly in summer, the sun streams in the window and the greenhouse effect turns the cab into an oven with temperatures easily rising 20 degrees or more above the outside mark. The glove compartment is surrounded on at least 3 sides by the cabin, so that's not a good place to leave it either.

The only place in your locked car which is cool and dark is the trunk! Believe it or not on any light-colored car, the trunk is the coolest spot during a summer day. Use it. But be careful not to put the camera right over the place where the exhaust system passes under the car. A muffler or catalytic converter retains heat for a long time and is many hundreds of degrees too hot for film or cameras.

On a really hot day the best place to keep film is inside a small picnic cooler, about the size to take a six-pack of beverages, with some ice in the cooler. Of course the camera has to be carefully sealed in a water proof zip-locked plastic bag. If you do carry a cooler and have to leave the camera behind, put camera inside cooler inside the trunk.

Rear-wheel drive cars with automatic transmissions sometimes have another "hot spot" inside the cabin: over the transmission hump. Unfortunately, a lot of cars mount trays for carrying small items right there. Some are insulated, but often there's only a millimeter of metal or plastic between tray and tranny. If it gets hot enough to melt a chocolate bar, and mine does, it's too hot for film.

4. Breaking the ice

The Minox is a great ice breaker. Pull one out at a party and you won’t be at a loss for a topic of conversation, and you’ll probably attract a crowd asking about the tiny camera. The EC is particularly useful that way. My wife thinks it’s even a good way to meet members of the opposite sex; she says you don’t have to say you’re scouting for a model agency.

The EC and its electronic flash slip perfectly into a jacket pocket or into a purse, and fit beautifully in the camera’s ‘Combi Case.’

5. What film do I have in my camera?

It’s easy enough to forget which film you’ve loaded into a Minox, and the camera is too small and sleek for one of those little reminder dials. The exposure index setting knob isn’t foolproof either, since there are, for example, lots of films with EI 100 or 400. Fortunately, it’s easy enough to write on the camera unless you have a black private eye model. Turn your chrome Minox over so you’re looking at the matte finished back plate, the plate which covers the film chamber.

Use a soft lead pencil and simply write a message on the smooth plate. For example "Minocolor Pro 100, 36 exp. Loaded 1/1/98. Expires 4/7/99" There’s actually room for quite a lot! When the roll is finished, take out an art gum eraser or one of the new white plastic ones, and simply rub off whatever you wrote. Hard erasers for ink may scratch the camera; pink rubber ones don’t remove the lead completely.

Never, never! use a ballpoint pen to write on the Minox. And absolutely don’t use felt tips or roller balls either. Getting them off the matte finish is hard work and may require using a solvent which could damage your camera.

6. The camera’s dirty

All cameras get dirty; they pick up the thin film of grease from your fingers, and maybe a little schmutz from the ink on your newspaper or some ketchup from lunch. Leather and plastic coated cameras just don’t show the dirt; neither do black ones. The lovely aluminum of a Minox shows every mark, and sometimes finger marks can make a flawless camera look positively grubby.

It’s not a problem. Get a white plastic eraser, the kind that is often sold in a pencil-like plastic tube so that new clean material can be fed to replace what’s been used. The thin rods get into corners and crevices a bit better than do square erasers. If the tip of the eraser stick is dirty, cut it off to expose a completely clean surface. Use it to remove finger prints, dirt, and grease. If you need to get into a tight spot on the control deck, cut the tip of the eraser to fit.

If you’re looking at a used Minox that’s greasy but otherwise in good shape, remember. You can clean the fingerprints off in 10 minutes.

When cleaning the LX, TLX and AX cameras be careful. Many of the markings on the camera body and on the control dials have been screened on and can be removed if they are burnished with a hard tool or if an eraser is used too enthusiastically. Don’t ever use any solvents or soaps, and certainly not any abrasive cleansers on any Minox. If it needs more than a white eraser followed up by rubbing with a soft cloth, it probably needs professional cleaning. Oh, ok. A tiny bit of moisture, say from a drop of lens cleaning solution, on a clean handkerchief can be helpful. Used with care it won’t damage things. I have used one drop of acetone on a cotton swab too, but I’m not proud of it and do not recommend it. It will destroy any plastic parts it reaches, and there are plastics inside a Minox -- for example the viewfinder prism. My swab is almost, but not quite, dry if I have to take such a step.

The lens window can best be cleaned with one of the new microfiber cleaning cloths. They are very soft, too soft to scratch, and the structure of the material wicks greasy spots off the glass. Blow on the window to moisten it first, of course.

That viewfinder has a glass front but acrylic plastic behind it. Don’t bring any kind of liquid anywhere near it, not window cleaner nor even a drop of lens cleaner. The fog from your breath and a microfiber cloth to wipe it off should be enough. If anything degrades the acrylic prism of the viewfinder, the whole system needs complete replacement. The first sign of a problem is often when the bright frame begins to get a bit dim.

7. Help! What film is in my camera?

OK, you forgot to write the film type on the cover plate, and you forgot whether it was Minocolor Pro 100 or Minopan 100 black and white film in the camera. This is not a great problem. Advance the film one frame. Now open the camera in deep shadow and carefully slide the cover plate open just far enough to see the first film chamber (the take up side) of the film cassette emerge from under the cover. The film type is printed on the take up side of every factory loaded Minox film. Take care not to slide the cover plate so far open that light can reach the film gate. Now close the camera and advance one frame to move the (possibly) light-struck frame into the take up chamber.