Old Good Light: Minox 35 GL

Minox is well known for their subminiature cameras, like the Minox B, the "spy camera" which used an 8mm film with an 8.5 x 11 mm frame.

But they also made some 35mm cameras, some of them very compact. I'll make some brief comments about the Minox 35 GL. This family has something like 24 models, made from 1974 until 2004. The 35GL was made from 1979 until 1981.

Minox 35GL

It's extremely compact for a 35mm film camera. The main feature is the folding lens, a very competent 35mm F2.8 Color Minotar (4-element, Tessar like). This lens can deliver stunning image quality if properly used and focused. The best resolution is between F5.6 and F8, expect some corner softness wide open.

The focus is done manually by a scale. There is no rangefinder or any other focus aid system and this is very critical for close range, large aperture photos.

Minox 35GL Minotar

It works only on aperture priority mode. You set the aperture and the camera will calculate the proper shutter speed.

The aperture range is from f2.8 to f16 and the shutter speeds vary from 1/500s up to 15 seconds, depending on the film sensibility. The iris is made from two diamond-shaped blades, so don't expect a wonderful, silky bokeh.

The light meter is very precise and perfectly adequate for positive film. There is a backlight compensation switch at the camera top. The compensation value is +1 stop (2X). At the top, there's also a battery test button.

The viewfinder is simple. It's an Albada type and has a needle showing roughly the shutter speed with marks on 1/30, 1/125 and 1/500, all the values in between those ones are impossible to be evaluated properly.

Minox 35GL with retracted lens

Although the image quality and metering are excellent, this is a fragile camera in all ways.

The camera back is made of thin plastic and prone to cracks. The wiring is not the best and shutter related problems are frequent. To be honest, it's not the most reliable camera, it's horrendous. There are so many weak and bad contact points between the lens assembly and the light meter that makes this camera a nightmare.

Minox 35 back

Minox 35 bottom showing ISO setting dial

The original battery was the PX27 (mercury, 5.6 volts) but it's possible to use modern alkaline ones without problem. I use four LR44 and it works well but you NEED to wrap the four cells together with tape, otherwise, they WILL short circuit with the metal battery compartment.

It's natural to compare it with the Olympus XA range. The Minox 35 is close to their image quality but the Olys are better.

The XA has a usable rangefinder and a better viewfinder. The XA2 is zone-focus and has no shutter speed indication on the viewfinder neither aperture control, just full automatic exposure, but it's much more rapid and ready to use, compared to the Minox.

The Minox 35 is often compared to the Rollei 35 (Tessar). The Minox 35 usability is better due to the fact it has an extremely good built-in light meter and aperture priority exposure mode.

The Rollei 35 has a dreadful light meter at the camera top and manual exposure. Another important thing is the fact the Rollei is an all-mechanical device and the Minox an electronic one.

It's like the Rollei having the best mechanical reliability and a bad light meter and the Minox an excellent light meter but horrendous reliability. They are on opposite sides.

Both Olympus 35RC and Rollei 35 are FAR more reliable than any Minox 35.

The good:

Compact
Nice looking
Good optics
Good light meter
Very well-projected electronic circuit but unreliable due to bad electrical contacts.

The bad:

Scale focus
Uses PX27 battery, can be modified to take one 4LR44 alkaline battery

The ugly:

Unreliable shutter
Horrendous electric connections
Bad materials, flimsy case.

Final note:

Avoid, unless you pay less than $20 for it and like to play lottery. If working, it's a very nice camera.

You can download the manual from Butkus

Below, some photos of what I was talking about. This camera had no evidence of a past battery leak, but have in mind that a leaked electrolyte can migrate by capillarity trough the wiring and then reach a completely different place and continue to corrode from there. Corrosion is an electrochemical process and can do very strange things.