minox-lens-style cameras

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pinkarmy

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(since someone said the scale focus section has low traffic earlier and suggested that it should be merged with something else...)

i bought my Minox GT almost 30 years ago when it was still a new-on-the-market product.
it is my first Rangefinder-style camera, it is so handsome, easy to use and
i have some good times with it even i am still weak at guessing focus (in meter especially)

 
Unfortunately I've had some bad luck with three failing Minox 35s. When they did work however, they were indeed great cameras. I'm currently using an XA2.. slightly slower lens, and only 3 distance settings instead of continuous, but same overall principle: small, silent, fast to operate.

As far as focus guesstimation goes in meters, there's a rule of thumb that I use when shooting 'from the hip'. I set the distance to 100 times focal length. So for a 35mm I set it to 3.5 meters. There's two reasons for that: a full body portrait fits in the frame, and DOF has turned from shallow to deep, covering distance guesstimation errors well.
 
I hear Ricoh FF-1 and 1s are more reliable, of course, if Ricoh is acceptable for Minox users. Only drawback I see - there is Minox model with Av mode while FF-1 is fully AE only, unfortunately. I have not checked neither of them as I'm put off by ferry-style lens cover which probably isn't as weird in real use as it looks.

I think this are scale focus cameras, not rangefinders? Even not RF-style as RF's have DOF scale. But I'm just a nerd :D
 
I wouldn't call it RF style, either, but of course the manual Minox 35 versions do have DOF scales.

I find guess-focus with a 35/2.8 lens really easy, actually. My problem tends to be that I simply forget to focus when I haven't used it in a while.
 
batterytypehah! said:
I wouldn't call it RF style, either, but of course the manual Minox 35 versions do have DOF scales.

I find guess-focus with a 35/2.8 lens really easy, actually. My problem tends to be that I simply forget to focus when I haven't used it in a while.
Click to expand...

That's why I've taped a DOF scale on the back of my XA2 right under the viewfinder; serves as a reminder to set focus.
 
batterytypehah! said:
I wouldn't call it RF style...
Click to expand...

well that was 30 years ago when i was young and innocent and there was no such thing called internet and 35mm SLR was in its golden era and a black Nikon F3-something is THE camera... the Minox was the closest thing to a true rangefinder camera:p...
 
Also in the stable of Minox-lens-style cameras there is the Balda CA 35 which has the same body contour as the Minox 35 ML. The Balda has an f2.8 38mm lens and exposure is completely program dependent. There is also a Voigtlander which appears to be the same camera with an f5.6 lens.
 
I love the mechanical aspects of cameras especially when you find some quirky little feature you've never seen before and you think "How clever". Looking at my Balda CA 35, I noticed a little window on the top plate near the shutter button. It is about 3mm long and half as wide. There is a little arrow inside. Guess what. When you need to wind the film it points toward the wind lever, and once you have wound the film and are ready to take a picture it points toward the shutter button. Clever! I don't know whether this is Balda's original idea or whether they copied someone else, but I've never seen it before. Cool!
 
Spavinaw said:
Also in the stable of Minox-lens-style cameras there is the Balda CA 35...
Click to expand...

i have a Revue 35XE which i believe is a Balda CA35 rebadged. (and is Balda CA35 a rebadged of something else?)
bought it just for the novelty reason (ie. my like for Minox),
haven't put a roll in it because it is a bit too "plastic" for me.
is the lens any good?

i confess i did not notice the "arrow" mark.
i played with mine after i read Spavinaw's post, it really is a clever design.
thanks for reminding me!
 
I wish these things worked better. Web images from the Minox cameras look great, but my one attempt at getting a working one failed, like it did for many others. Mine worked for about 10 minutes, then the aperture decided it wouldn't stop down past f8, AND the AE lock went south. Fortunately I was able to return it, but it convinced me that the Minox just isn't reliable, to put it mildly. Something a little web research could have confirmed, but I wanted to see myself.

On my other scale focus camera (Retina, utterly reliable) I trained myself to get better distance estimates by always carrying a small Ideal rangefinder. When I wanted to take a shot I'd guess the distance, then ck it w/ the rangefinder. At first I was always way off, but after a while I learned to nail it. The Ideal stays at home now.
 
pinkarmy--I did some research and found that your Revue 35XE is a rebadged Bald CS-35 not CA-35. I also found that some CA-35's have a smooth body, and some have a textured body like the later CS-35's do. Also the front door design is different with the later ones being like the CS-35.
 
Nice camera the Minox. Bought one for my daughters years ago. She loved but now uses her iPhone!

I used a Rollei35 as my main camera for some time. Great for family stuff+non-threatening for street candids. No one took it seriously.
 
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