When a Minox winks, it takes a picture. But when I bought the first Minox A with defective shutter blades, I had to know more…
This Minox A was a flawless beauty, but you could tell from the outside that something was wrong with it. Through the glass window in front of the lens I could see that the shutter blades were destroyed. The camera could not be cocked and certainly not triggered. It was a disgrace.
On the other hand, I had bought it cheaply and so I had the courage to repair it. It became a very long road. But I wanted to know and so I created a documentation of how the mechanical shutter of an 8×11 Minox actually works.
I took notes and lots of pictures. And as is often the case in life, if you delve deeply enough into a topic, it becomes more and more fascinating. So here it is for anyone who also wants to know:
Please note that this is not an actual repair procedure. Rather, it is intended to describe how the shutter works. It is also aimed at those of you who do not want to repair but are interested in Minox technology. However, repair instructions for shutter blades will follow.