Minox 35GL

naren

naren

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I have an opportunity to buy a used Minox for a great price but wanted to get some advice on checking it out... giving it a onceover to make sure everything is ok and it's worth buying... Can anyone help? Thanks.
 
I had one for a weeek, it's quite funny but I wouldn't spend more than 15€ on it, I prefer a camera with aperture AND speeds controls. Anyway the viewfinder is quite good :)
 
The main problem with Minox 35 are the shutter blades that get stuck/dirty and/or electrics go bad.
The only easy way to test it is to take the camera back and shoot agaisnt the light a lot of times. With sticky shutter blades the shutter will make a normal sound, so you dont understand that it isnt really firing. the only safe way is to shoot with no back to see through the lens. Try this at different speeds (point it to more or less light), and really shoot it a lot of times. I have seen Minoxes that just miss some shots.

If is good, just take it :) It's a nice compact camera!
 
SergioGuerra said:
. With sticky shutter blades the shutter will make a normal sound, so you dont understand that it isnt really firing.
Click to expand...
The 'click' sound that the Minox makes, is the release of the advance lock. The shutter is electronic and compared to that inaudible. That's why you can't make out whether it works by listening to it. As Sergio suggests, take off the back and look through the lens while shooting.
 
It's a remarkable camera. I have a 35GT that's never let me down. Scale focusing isn't really a big deal. I'm always surprised by the quality of the output.

Peets-with-Minox.jpg
 
Minox 35 EL compatible flashes

Minox 35 EL compatible flashes

I recently acquired a near mint Minox 35 EL. The only problem is it didn't come with a flash. The seller told me that the Minox can be quite picky when it comes to flashes. Is this true? What flashes would you guys suggest I get?
 
Bam Cocjin said:
I recently acquired a near mint Minox 35 EL. The only problem is it didn't come with a flash. The seller told me that the Minox can be quite picky when it comes to flashes. Is this true? What flashes would you guys suggest I get?
Click to expand...

I've not found the 35 GTE and MB models to be picky. I used them with several Konica (HX-14, HX-18) and Metz/Nikon flashes.

I can only think of two potential problems:

First, the sync voltage. All flashes I used, use a low voltage sync. The Minox is electronics all over, and I can imagine that a flash that puts 250V on the center sync contact poses a hazard to the Minox's insides.

The other is that you need a flash that can be triggered with a known GN or aperture/ISO setting from only the center contact. That is, a TTL only flash isn't much use.

Nice to know feature: there's a microswitch in the shoe that makes the Minox (depending on model) go to 1/60 or 1/125 shutterspeed. But if you carve away a small section of the shoe on the flash so that the microswitch doesn't get pressed, the Minox will sync happily at all speeds.. Sacrificing an old flash this way makes for a great outdoors fill flash.
 
Thanks for the info guys... sooner, I'm curious what kind of things were fixed in the CLA? The GL would come at a very cheap price, but I've no money for CLA.
 
These cameras often develop problems with the magnetos firing the shutter, so when they fail the shutter won't fire. Low battery can compound the problem, or so I'm told. After shooting a roll with half the pictures black, I decided the $60 cla was well worth it. DAG is very reasonable, so I would probably plan to pick up a cheap camera only guessing it works and then plan for the cla if indeed the cam shows up needing help.
 
Thanks, I've seen reference to DAG before... can someone provide a link please? Also done anyone have much experience shooting flash with the GL or at least some knowledge of the flash system? I am wondering how well it operates and how it operates... is there OTF metering and automatic flash output? I wonder how much you can stop down with that little built in flash, at say 10 to 15 feet. I've also seen a Minox for sale here not too long ago with an external Minox flash. I emailed the guy about purchasing just his flash but never heard back. I guess that made his camera more saleable. Anyway, I guess it is either an auto thriystor system or it operates TTL. Either one will work better for my than my Vivitar 16ML (though this has proven to be quite useful to me despite being kind of primitive). Thanks folks.
 
naren said:
Also done anyone have much experience shooting flash with the GL or at least some knowledge of the flash system? I am wondering how well it operates and how it operates...
Click to expand...
The Minox 35GL only has a center contact. That means no TTL.

If a flash is mounted, the GL uses a fixed shutter speed (1/125). The aperture on the Minox controls the flash exposure.

If you've got a manual flash, then set the aperture to A = GuideNumber/distance. For instance, with a flash that has a GN of 16 @ 100ISO, and a subject at a distance of 4 meters, set the aperture to 16/4= f4. If you're using faster film, close down accordingly.. e.g. use f8 for 400 ISO film for the same flash and distance. Most completely manual flashes have this table on them somewhere..

If you've got an auto-thyristor flash, set the aperture on the Minox to the aperture that's set on the flash. This is often indicated for various film ISO's, so choose indication that matches the ISO of the film in the camera.

Now as far as the Minox flashes go, working ones are somewhat scarce. That's mainly due to their age and infrequent use. The less the flash is used, the faster it ages (in particular the electrolitic capacitor inside it). But even if you find a working one, they're not all that fun to use. That's mainly because of their form that closely follows the shape of the Minox top-deck and that obscures the button(s) next to the shoe.. Another demerit is that they're extremely slow to charge, which is especially unfortunate as the earliest auto thyristor models shunt the remainder charge away after the auto thyrister has kicked in..

Hope this helps..
 
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