The Minox camera - history

Best known is the Riga Minox 'spy' camera designed by Walter Zapp in 1937 and made in Latvia's capital by Valsts Electro Techniska Fabrika. It uses a Minostigmat f/3.5, 15mm lens and has a guillotine type shutter speeded from 1/2 second to 1/1000 sec.

Photographs measuring 8X11mm were made on 9.5mm cine film supplied in special cassettes. The body of the camera was made of stainless steel. Several Latvian examples appeared for sale on the collector market during the 1980s when prices began an inexorable climb toward the £1,000 mark. Even rarer are the handful of models produced during the Russian occupation of Latvia in 1940.

After World War II, production moved to Wetzlar in Germany and the old Ernst Leitz factory where the Minox II and III and gold plated versions came on line in the 1950s. Stainless steel was abandoned in favour of aluminium for some models, but the basic flattened harmonica shape remained with improvements such as retractable built-in filters and metering being added.

The workmanship on Minox film cameras is some of the best that can be found anywhere which is one reason these easily pocketable gems command good prices on specialist dealer shelves. Designed primarily for document recording, the sub miniature Minox, like its compact 35mm sibling with Color-Minotar lens, has a legendary optical reputation. Today, Minox markets a range of digital compact cameras.