Minox for beginners

Take on the ultimate challenge and photograph in the smallest analog film format!

Why?

• Are you bored of taking tons of photos with your cell phone or digital camera that you usually never look at again?
  
• Do you want to take photos you’re proud of instead?
  
• Do you want to push the boundaries of your photography?
  
• Do you like unusual challenges?
  
• Do you want to experience real success?
  

Then this article is for you!

The challenge

Shooting with a Minox requires sporting ambition, because there is probably no more difficult way to take photos. And none cooler. As with any analog camera you can’t view the result immediately So you are forced to think much more about your picture before you take it. As a result, your photos improve and you have a closer relationship with the result.

Setting up the process from film selection to the final digitized image may require many decisions and creative ideas. If you like that, you’ll have a lot of fun with a Minox.

What kind of photos can you expect from a Minox? Check out the gallery of my Minox photos here.

One often hears the objection to the 8×11 mm negative format that it is not suitable for serious or fine art photography. It is claimed that no enlargements larger than postcard size are possible because the images would otherwise be too grainy. This is of course nonsense! One of the most famous photos by one of the most famous photographers of all time has a graininess and blurriness that is easily surpassed by a Minox. See yourself: “Behind the Gare Saint-Lazare” by Henri Cartier-Bresson.

Reduce to the maximum

“Perfection is achieved, not when there is nothing more to add, but when there is nothing left to take away.” ― Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, Airman’s Odyssey

This camera is really tiny. There is no smaller analog camera that takes better pictures than a Minox. And that’s all the camera you need.

I have a much closer relationship with a camera when I know how it works on the inside. A Minox is a fully mechanical camera, with no electrical components. So you virtually can see how it works. But be careful, even if it’s only mechanical, it’s a wonderfully sophisticated mechanism that you will not immediately understand. Well, you don’t have to understand the inner workings of a Minox to take good pictures with it. But I enjoy this knowledge and that’s why you’ll find a lot of articles on this subject on this website.

But one thing at a time. First of all, let’s have a look at a brief guide on how to achieve initial success with this camera quickly.

Quick start guide

1. Buy a Minox B (40 – 80 $) or a Minox EC (10 – 40 $).
2. Buy Minox film from Blue Moon (36 exp., $22).
3. Take photos.
4. Send the film for development (6 $).
5. Digitize the developed film by photographing it with your digital camera or smartphone (do not scan it).
6. Edit the film digitally. I use GIMP for this.

From the second film onwards you can optimise steps 2 to 6. Read the following sections.

The camera

Which Minox model?

Minox B

I would buy a Minox B. They are the cheapest because they were produced in the largest quantities and are the most widely available. They differ from the Minox A (or Minox III as they are called outside Germany) in that they have an integrated light meter. You don’t necessarily need one these days, so it’s no big deal if you buy a Minox B whose light meter is defective. Otherwise there are no differences to the Minox A.

Costs: $40 (defective light meter and/or scratches on the housing) – $80 (fully functional) and more

Minox EC

The Minox EC is particularly suitable for beginners in 8×11 photography. The cameras are inexpensive to buy and are fully automatic. It is also the smallest and lightest of all Minox cameras.

What particularly amazed me at first was the quality of the photos you can take with it. It is in no way inferior to the classic Minox. Take another look at the second photo on this page or at my Minox gallery. The lens is supposedly the same lens as the Minox LX, only stopped down to f/5.6, which probably makes it even sharper than the LX.

One disadvantage is the inability to take close-ups. There is no distance setting. According to Minox, the focus range of the fixed focus lens is from 1 m to infinity. The second disadvantage is the low lens speed of 5.6 instead of 3.5. With 100 ASA film, however, this is not a major limitation in my opinion.

Oh yes, you need a battery. As the original batteries contained mercury, they are no longer on the market. You need an adapter and 4 button cells, details see here. At the same time, the battery compartment is the most frequent source of faults in this camera. A battery has often been stored there for years and has corroded the contact springs. This can easily be recognized by the green deposits in the compartment.

Cost: Camera 10 $ to 40 $, Batteries and adapter: 12 $

How to get a Minox

If you are not lucky enough to receive a Minox as a gift, you can buy one from a local dealer or online.

At a local dealer you have the great advantage of being advised. You can also take the camera in your hand and check it immediately. However, the prices are usually higher than on the Internet – for good reasons. In addition, the selection of Minox models is usually very limited.

On the Internet, of course, there is a large range of offers. In my experience, however, I would attach two conditions to this. Firstly, an unlimited right of return for a limited period of time. In this case, the purchase risk is no higher than with a local dealer. Or I would have the full functionality of the camera guaranteed by email before I buy it. In this case, you always have the right to return the camera if it does not work. I have had to make use of this several times. Secondly, a delivery location in your own country so that there are no customs duties, import formalities or import times as well as the same applicable statutory regulations for the return.

Checking a Minox when buying

The most common and easiest problem to check is problems with the shutter. When buying online, make sure that all shutter speeds are reasonable. Otherwise, I wouldn’t buy it. Once you have the camera in your hand, you can follow these instructions.

You can find all the checks I recommend here. They only take a few minutes. You can even do most of them in the store.

The film

Make or buy?

I would advise taking the first shots with a purchased film. There are many things to consider when taking your first shots with a Minox – as with any other analog camera. It’s good to know that if the results are unexpected, it can’t be the fault of the film. Minox films can be purchased, e.g. in the USA from Blue Moon or in Germany from Fotoimpex.

Color film or black and white film?

With the ready-made Minox films on offer, I would recommend a 100 ASA color negative film. There is also 400 ASA color negative film and 100 ASA black and white film. I have more flexibility with color because I can always turn it into a black and white image later during digital post-processing and also have the option of differentiating by color when converting to grayscale.

If you want to make your own Minox films later, you have the whole range of 35mm films to choose from. Then, for example, high-resolution 20 ASA black and white films make sense, e.g. the ADOX CMS 20, or the CineStill 50d in color.

How many megapixels?

How many megapixels does a Minox actually have? Well, we are dealing with an open system here, consisting of lens and film. Both components together determine the resolution. With the Minox we have a fixed lens, so the answer depends only on the film used. If we realistically assume that the Minox lens – one of the best analog lenses of its time – is not the limiting factor, we have to deal exclusively with the film.

Analog films can only resolve a certain number of line pairs per millimeter. This number is specified by the film manufacturer. So if a resolution of 100 line pairs is specified for a color film, it can resolve 2 * 100 lines per millimeter. With a negative size of 8 x 11 mm, the number of dots would be
8 mm * 200 lines/mm * 11 mm * 200 lines/mm = 3,520,000 dots

To compare with the megapixel specifications of conventional digital cameras, you need to know that a digital sensor requires 3 pixels (RGB) to display one dot. We must therefore multiply our calculated value by 3 to arrive at camera megapixels.
So
3 * 3,520,000 dots = 10,560,000 pixels = 10.6 MPixels

A Kodak Ektar 100 is specified by the manufacturer with 100 line pairs. If we equip our Minox with it, we achieve approx. 10 MPixel.
According to the manufacturer, the resolution of the ADOX CMS 20 is 800 lp/mm with a contrast ratio of 1000 : 1. As far as I know, a Minox Complan lens can resolve a maximum of 400 line pairs, so it becomes a bottleneck with this film. So the ADOX CMS 20 would give us 42 MPixel in the Minox.

Why are we talking about megapixels here in this context? Well, first of all to get a rough comparison with digital cameras. Secondly, these considerations are important for digitizing the negatives later on. If we want to exploit the full potential of the Minox, we should therefore digitize with at least 10 MPixel or 10,000 dpi. This explains why scanners are not optimal for Minox negatives.

Make the film yourself

Preliminary considerations

Once you have gained your first experience with Minox photography and have found it fun, you may want to produce the Minox films yourself. You can do this for several reasons:

• It’s fun because it’s a challenge to load very narrow 9 mm and half a meter long strips of film into tiny plastic cans in complete darkness.
• You can use any film that is available in 35mm format and that is an ultimate choice.
• You can save money if you consider that you can make four Minox films with 36 exposures each from a single 35 mm film.

However, some preparation is required to make Minox films yourself. The basic procedure is to cut up a 35 mm film and insert it into a Minox film cartridge.

The cartridge

Original Minox film cartridges are available on the Internet, but are usually expensive. They are considered collector’s items, not used material, and are sold for 15 $ to 30 $ each. You have to wait for good opportunities. But we still have at least one cartridge from the first film we bought (so make sure you get the empty cartridge back after developing).

Slit a film and put it in the cartridge

As it is difficult for a beginner to visualize this process in concrete terms, I have written detailed instructions with lots of pictures.

You can also find a detailed text instruction at subclub.org. With Goathill they offer custom-made slitters that cut roll film down to Minox size not only from 135 film, but also from 70mm, 65mm, 120 and even 16mm film. You can also get slitters that cut strips in Minox width and 16 mm side by side, for example. All further information can be found here.

Taking pictures

It’s actually quite simple:

• Set the exposure time
• Set the distance
• Open the camera
• Look through the viewfinder and compose the image
• Press the shutter release button

Well, if it were that easy, where would the challenge be? Yes, you can make it that easy and you should do the same at the beginning. But if you want to take the really exceptional pictures I promised you, then you should take a closer look at the following tips.

In any case, you should also consult the original camera operating instructions. Everything that is written there is assumed here and will not be described again. You can find the manuals online here.

Determine the exposure time

If you shoot with a Minox B, you have a built-in light meter. The Minox EC even has fully automatic exposure control and you don’t have to worry about anything. Just look at the respective operating instructions.

Exposing the inserted film correctly with the Minox is easier than many people think. Of course, it depends on the film you use, but in contrast to the often underestimated shutter release (see below), it is easy to determine the correct exposure time. You can find everything you need to know here.

Determine the distance setting

None of the Minox cameras have a rangefinder. So you have to determine the distance yourself before you can set it on the camera. I have written down everything you need to consider – and a lot more – here.

How to trigger the shutter of a Minox

With the correct distance setting, we have already eliminated one reason for blurred images. The second equally important cause is camera shake when the shutter is released. In principle, this applies to all camera types, even digital cameras. With Minox cameras, however, blurred negatives have worse effects due to the small negative format. A Minox negative with an edge length of 11 mm must be enlarged about three times more than a 35 mm negative with an edge length of 36 mm to obtain an image of the same size.

Since low-shake shutter release requires a lot of knowledge and practice, I have written a master class on shutter release specifically for Minox cameras.

Remove the film cartridge from the camera

The film cassettes are not easy to remove from the camera. I have tried with fingernails, screwdrivers, pocket knives and tweezers, nothing has worked well. But there is a simple trick. Take a 50 mm piece of Minox film from a scrap piece. Cut the piece in half lengthwise.

Insert one end from behind under the bridge of the cartridge. Then pull up the cassette with the two ends of the strip:

Life is only easier here if you have a Minox LX. The LX has a spring that lifts the cassette when the film chamber is opened.

Film processing

For the first time, I would use the development service offered by the film dealer. You have to send the film in. Cost (Fotoimpex in Germany): $6 + shipping Duration: 10 days. USA: Blue Moon.

I found a photo lab nearby that develops the Minox films for me using the C41 process (but not black and white). Cost: $3 per film, 1 hour wait.

It’s worth doing some research in the area and speaking to the few labs that still make C41 themselves. I take the exposed film out of the cartridge myself and give it to my lab in a tin can. They then somehow thread it into their standard machine. That’s definitely possible if they want. So speak to people in person.

You can also develop black and white films yourself. The best way to do this is with the Minox daylight developing tank. You can get it used on the net for between 80 $ and 100 $. It is specially designed for developing Minox films in daylight. A good manual has been written by Julian Tanase.

Digitizing negatives

First we need a holder for the film. I made this from strong cardboard and a Minox slide frame. I happened to have the slide frame, but it was enough to cut a 10 x 13 mm cut-out in the cardboard. To make it more comfortable, I glued in two cardboard strips as longitudinal guides and glued narrow felt strips to the top and bottom of the left and right edges to wipe the dust off the film.

You can easily build a negative holder yourself. Instead of a tripod, I built a stable camera mount from two wooden boards and a macro focusing rail. A tripod would also work, of course.

I photograph the Minox negatives illuminated from below under an ADOX 10x loupe with my Panasonic TZ41, which produces JPGs of 4340 x 3160 pixels (= 13.7 MPixel). This results in a scan resolution of 4340 / 11 * 25.4 = 10021 ppi.

In the beginning, I used my smartphone for lighting, as you can see in the picture below. I now use a Rollei Lumis LED continuous light which is much brighter.

For color film it is advisable to make a manual white balance on a piece of unexposed (orange) film before taking the photograph.

To minimize distortion caused by the zoom lens, I work with a zoom factor of about 2x that corresponds to a focal length of 48 mm for my camera. This is the entire structure in action:

As soon as the film is loaded and the white balance is set, things move quickly. I then digitize a negative in about 15 seconds. All pictures in my Minox gallery have been digitized in this way.

I achieve an even higher quality with a Sony alpha 6000 in combination with the Sony 30 mm macro lens. Then I can do without the magnifying glass:

Post-processing the digitized photos

The photographed negatives must now be post-processed. I do this with GIMP (version 2.10). Two steps are necessary in any case

1. Invert the colors of the negative. GIMP/Colors/Invert
2. White balance, black balance. GIMP/Colors/Levels…

Optinal Steps:

• Crop the image. GIMP: Rectangular selection/Image/Crop Image
• Convert to black and white. GIMP: Colors/Desaturate/Mono Mixer

Storing Minox negatives

Once you have digitized the negatives, you don’t really need them anymore. In this respect, this chapter is actually superfluous. However, there are reasons to keep the negatives. On the one hand, they are the actual product of analog photography, i.e. something that you can really touch, unlike digital photos. On the other hand, you may want to digitize individual negatives again using a different, new process. They should then be stored carefully.

I make my own negative sleeves to fit Minox 8×11 exactly. You can find the detailed description here.

Conclusion

I hope that my explanations here will help to motivate some of you to take pictures with Minox 8×11 cameras.

I have made a point of writing as concretely and practically as possible. Of course I am not perfect. So if anything is unclear to you, please use the comment function below and I will take care of it! The same applies if you miss a topic.

Take on the Minox challenge and have fun!