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Minox Minox LX → ← Minox B
Subminiature espionage camera · 1969-1978
Minox-C is a
subminiature camera
for 8 x 11 mm film, developed by Minox in Germany as
the successor to the Minox B. For many years, Minox
subminiature cameras were amoung the worlds most famous spy gatgeds,
right until the end of the Cold War
in the early 1990s.
The Minox-C was in production from 1969 to 1978, after which it was succeeded
by the smaller Minox-LX.
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At first sight, the Minox C is similar in design to the
Minox B. There are, however, a few significant differences.
The selenium-type light meter of the Minox B has been replaced by an
Cadminum Sulfide one (CdS) which is present at the front right of the
camera (the small square).
Furthermore, the camera has an electronic shutter, rather than a mechanical
one. For both these features, the camera requires a battery,
which is installed in a compartment to the right of the light sensor.
As a result, the camera is
significantly larger than the Minox B.
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When closed, the camera measures 120 x 27 x 15 mm, which is over 2 cm
longer than the Minox B! This makes the Minox C the largest
subminiature camera ever produced by Minox.
It does, however, also have advantages over the Minox B.
For example, when opening and closing the camera, the film will
only be advanced when a picture was actually taken,
whereas the Minox B advances every time the camera is closed.
The Minox C lens has a fixed aperture of f/3.5 and can focus from 20 cm
to inifinity.
Between 1969 and 1978 a total of 173,594 units were made.
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The leftmost dial is used for film speed selection in DIN units (between
6 DIN and 27 DIN).
Using the centre dial, the shutter speed can be set manually between 1/15th
and 1/1000th second.
The Minox C has an electronic shutter that is coupled with the electronic
exposure meter at the left. Setting the shutter dial to A (automatic)
allows the light meter to control the exposure time.
In order to avoid motion blur caused by slow shutter speeds, the camera is
equipped with a speed check facility. When using automatic exposure (A),
a slide-switch on the speed dial (speed check) can be activated to test the
exposure time. When a shutter speed lower than 1/30th second would be used,
a LED (slow speed indicator) will light up.
The rightmost dial is the distance setting (focusing). As the Minox C is a
true spy cam, it has a macro-lens and allows objects to be focused as close
as 20 cm.
Like with the Minox B, viewfinder and lens are a few centimeters apart.
In order to avoid parallax errors when photographing documents at short
distance, the angle of the viewfinder lens is changed when the focusing dial is
rotated.
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Opening the camera in order to replace the film cartridge is simple.
First extend the camera in the usual manner, as if you want to take pictures.
Then turn the camera around
so that the bottom is up (1).
Next, extend the camera a somewhat further until a
recessed rig becomes visible
(2).
Use the nail of your thumb to
press down the recessed rig
(3).
This should unlock the camera.
Whilst pressing down the rig, slide away the body of the camera to
reveal the film cartridge
(4).
If a film is present, turn the camera upside down until the
film cartridge falls out
(5).
Take a new film
(6) from its
protective container
(7) and
place it in the camera
(8).
Then close the camera. Note that the first image is
lost as it is already exposed. Release the shutter and close/open the camera
to advance to the next position. Then release the shutter again.
The camera is now ready for taking pictures. In the images below, the camera is
loaded with a 36 exposure colour film.
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A good example of the use of the Minox C in espionage, is the Walker Spy Ring,
lead by US Navy chief warrant officer John Anthony Walker
from 1967 to 1985. Walker had offered to spy for the
Soviet Union (USSR)
when he experienced financial problems after a series of business faillures.
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During the 17 years that he and his spy ring worked for the Russians,
he supplied them with the keys of several cipher systems, including
the KL-7,
the KL-47
and the KW-7,
in return for which he received thousands of dollars.
It is believed that this has enabled the Russians to decrypt at
least one million secret documents.
The Russians also gave Walker a Minox C camera to copy secret documents
and cipher material. In fact, Walker used this camera so much that it
eventually wore out [1]. After his arrest in 1985 he showed
the FBI how he used the Minox C and its
measuring chain to photograph
documents.
➤ More information
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© Crypto Museum. Created: Thursday 01 April 2010. Last changed: Tuesday, 16 November 2021 - 08:02 CET.
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