(OT) My first Minox arrived... now how to use it?

[daniel~]

It's a Minox 35AL. Basic but still shares the amazingly small size and
ingenious design with other models. It looks and feels great! The
thing is, I've never used a Minox before. Trying to figure out
how, I got three questions:

1. Do I have to operate Twice the transport lever to advance a frame?

2. I put four LR44 as a substitute power source for the discontinued
PX27, now do I need to compensate with ISO setting?

3. There are 3 settings (sunny, cloudy, overcast), I tried and the
opening did change accordingly. Does it mean the 35AL is aperture-
pritority AE?


Hope someone answer the questions here so I can start shooting it ASAP~
Thanks!

 

[pvdhaar]

1. Yes, double stroke.

2. Can't answer, I had a 35GTE which was already intended for non-mercury cells.

3. Yes, aperture priority, and what's most peculiar, the shutter speed is determined during the exposure. It's kept open until enough light has hit the sensor. This means it adapts to changing light levels during long exposure.

 

[lubitel]

2. I have a 35 GT. minox made an adapter that fits perfectly in and uses modern batteries. costs about 20$.

a great camera. I am still surprised (positively) by the pictures I get from it. enjoy it.

 

[daniel~]

Thanks for the timely replies. 🙂

Double stroke--this would really take some getting used to. Aperture-priority sounds cool but I'll shoot maybe half a roll first to see how the pics turn out. Cheers.

 

[JoeFriday]

congrats.. those Minox's are really fun little things.. I had a 35PL that decided to quit working on me after just a couple rolls of film ran through it.. but the few pictures that I got out of it were very nice.. one of the photos in my gallery is from a Minox, even

as I recall, it's aperture priority, and if it's like my PL, it's scale focus only.. which makes it idea for hip shots.. not that anyone even notices if you put it up to your eye.. I stood in front of office coworkers with mine and took photos of them from 4 feet away and they had no idea I even had a camera

 

[DougK]

Just looked up the AL on Google, as I'd never heard of that model before. Sounds like a fun little snapshooter, enjoy it and use it well!

I have a 35GL and it is a fun little camera, picked up the Minox battery adapter for it and definitely worth the purchase. I think I read on the Minox website that the cameras are fine at the slightly higher voltage from non-mercury cells, at least I remember reading that to be true for my model.

I noticed with my GL that 36 exposure rolls seem to get disconcertingly tight towards the end; it almost feels like you're going to break the advance mechanism trying to wind on the film. I load only 24 exposure rolls in it to be on the safe side.

 

[wilt]

as I recall, it's aperture priority, and if it's like my PL, it's scale focus only.. which makes it idea for hip shots.. not that anyone even notices if you put it up to your eye.. I stood in front of office coworkers with mine and took photos of them from 4 feet away and they had no idea I even had a camera

One of the virtues of Minox. Stealth technology. And it is so small that you carry it with you all the time. Plus: good optics.

Negative things as well (plastic, not metal; guesstimate focus; uneven spacing between frames, not very fun when scanning; not produced anymore), but every camera is a compromise, no?

 

[daniel~]

It works~

It works~

Update: I've tested it and it works! 😛

Unlike other Minox, The 35AL is fixed-focus, a real "point & shoot" that denies even the need to focus! But then I was surprised it offers aperture-priority control. Again seems special to me. However, double stroke shutter is inconvenient... got me several times.

Anyway, judging from the prints from lab, I'm glad to say it's got reasonably good optics (great for a focus-free f/4 lens). Very smooth bokeh. Hardly resistant to flare, though...

Some pictures have been uploaded here:
http://www.silvermoon.idv.tw/x-mx01.html