Created by a Latvian, and featured by George Lazenby, This little spy camera has been the most widely used for a really long time now. Although the movie has clearly misinterpreted the camera (For example, our handsome spy holding it Upside down! Or the viewfinder with green filter), the gadget is by all means just as sleek in the real. The motive behind its inception was to develop a camera that was small (couldn’t well be a spycam if it boasted its size now could it?) and could take high quality, unprompted shots smoothly.
The cam has its merits outside of being the most widely used in its field. The outside shell is made of ultra light aluminum. It was first manufactured in 1955 and continued till 1969. It had the edge over other cameras due to its compact size which allowed it to stay out of sight and take pictures without the need to steady it with both hands.
The Minox has also starred in the movie “On her Majesty’s secret service” in 1969. George Lazenby used this sleek little thing to capture biological warfare agents. The model in the film is the latest as the production line saw the last of the like as soon as the movie came out.
With its 15 years of production, the Minox series is seen producing countless versions and designs. You can also look up the Gold Minox that is the proof of the creator not forgetting the bling factor when it came to his cameras.
The Mnox III’s were the pioneer mass produced cameras, which came with features like flash sync and accessorized with a PC connector. The Minox B was also high achievers with record productions in late 50s. Believe it or not, grand total of 25,000 were being manufactured each year!
Minox A
The Minox III shifted to the more neutral Minox B’s density from the original blaring orange. The time came to bring in color and black and gold Minox hit the market. The black Minox, cheekily called the private eye, came only with an imperial scale and never made it to Europe though.
While it is rumored than 88,994 Minox(s) have hit the market, everyone is not lucky enough to get their hands on one. The more easily available ones are from the III-s series and can be bought for good value. The German models, known as Minox – An are a good deal too.
Among the notable features are its hyper focal point, Color filters such as orange and green, and the inconspicuous housing rivets. While US market gets the “Private eye” in black, there’s a gold version available too. Some of them come with various engravings such as III, and in boxes that match their content in style and grace. It could just make an excellent gift for those who like a little walk down the memory lane and collectors of gadgets past their prime age of relevance.
It isn’t often that you come across souvenirs from the past such as these, so I suggest an instant leap at the little thing which shows up ever so often at auctions. You know where to look!
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