Minox EC, Comparing with B, Slit Film Apparatus, Developing and Cell Availability

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 12, 2013

In 6 months, Kodak Film prices nearly doubled in Istanbul. I just bought a Minox EC from UK and I am going to cut the cost of film. I have a big feel about Minox cameras and their shots are ultra quality.

Now I have questions ,

Is there a 35mm film slitting apparatus for these cameras ?
How many frames I can shot with them.
How many rolls of miniature film I can slit from one roll of 35mm film ?
Is there developing tanks special to that format ? What is their specific name ?
How about their cells ? Are they easy to find ?
Is camera is forgiving for slitted film ?
Do I need to find empty cartridges to fill it with film or is camera comes with special cartridges ?
How its lens compared with Minox B Lens ?
Who designed and produced the EC lens , is there a lens diagram and test ?

Thank you,
Umut

DWThomas · Jun 12, 2013

I don't know the EC, but Minox used to make a daylight load developing tank that was pretty handy. Using it, the cartridges get dunked in developer, so I suspect re-use might be compromised. Maybe if they were carefully rinsed and quickly dried it would work.

I doubt you could get more than two strips between the sprocket holes out of 35 mm film, but I guess you might get two or three lengths out of a 36 exp. It's been a long time since I used my Minox B, but I was never all that impressed with the results in terms of grain.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 12, 2013

Dave,

Thank you. What are these red cylinders ? Are sprocket holes necessary ?

Umut

DWThomas · Jun 12, 2013

The red cylinders are a telescoping cardboard container for the thermometer that goes into the middle of the spindle (seen laying between the red tubes and the tank). That stuff was well thought out, but I didn't find it all that satisfying in terms of picture quality.

You do not want sprocket holes, but the clear space between the holes on 35 mm film is probably only about 25 or 26 mm and a strip of Minox film is 9.2 mm wide, so when slitting you could only get two complete widths between the holes. The frames are about 8x11 mm, so end to end you could probably get two or three lengths, depending on the number of exposures you set them up for.

One of these days I should try my Minox just to see what it does with today's film technology.

I have a gallery page up from some stuff I did in the 1960s.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 12, 2013

Dave,

I liked the train shots color or bw very much. But images are grainy and sometimes blurred. After 50 years of experience , I think you must give it a try again. I like grain but some of them is too much at your gallery. I saw grainier images and zero grain images also. Time to surf the flickr.
I saw some APX Agfa with Pyro images at APUG gallery and sharpness , detail and shadow detail plus tonal grades and the elegant whites were breathtaking really. I will try to find the image. It was better than my Elmar, Summitar and Vario Elmar and same quality with Summicron.

Umut

summicron1 · Jun 12, 2013

obviously I don't know how these messages work, but here are your questions and answers and some unsolicited advice.

c. trentelman, former editor, Minox Historical Society.

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
In 6 months, Kodak Film prices nearly doubled in Istanbul. I just bought a Minox EC from UK and I am going to cut the cost of film. I have a big feel about Minox cameras and their shots are ultra quality.

Now I have questions ,

Is there a 35mm film slitting apparatus for these cameras ?

-- yes, but all home-made. There are two varieties -- one you pull the film through, one you lay the film out on flat and slit with a sliding block. Both work well.
How many frames I can shot with them.
-- Monix EC cameras were made to shoot 36 exposures you can get 4 rolls of minox out of one roll of 36-exp 35mm film.

Is there developing tanks special to that format ? What is their specific name ?

--minox made a developing tank, there are also nikkor reels that yu can use in a regular steel tank. It is also possible to take the film out of the cassette, tape the ends to a strip of 35mm film (emulsion side out) and develop it that way.

How about their cells ? Are they easy to find ? --
not sure what this question is asking. The EC is an automatic exposure camera. If the meter cell in it is dead, the camera is junk. Batteries are not hard to find if you buy an adaptor for modern batteries -- the original 6v silver cell is harder to find.

Is camera is forgiving for slitted film ?

They work fine with home-slit film.

Do I need to find empty cartridges to fill it with film or is camera comes with special cartridges ?

yes. Check eBay.

How its lens compared with Minox B Lens ?

Extremely sharp, better depth of field because it is smaller by a stop (5.6 rather than 3.5)

Who designed and produced the EC lens , is there a lens diagram and test ?

Minox makes the lens, dunno if there is a diagram or test around. It's a very sharp lens.

Having said all that -- my experiences with EC cameras were universally bad -- I had one that died and was impossible to repair despite several tries. I'm wary of them. The B is mechanical and with a faster lens, more usable. There are also lots of B models around so they're cheap.

Thank you,
Umut

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 12, 2013

Thank you Summicron, Mr.Trentelman.
Its excellent to use 4 rolls from one roll of film.

Umut

summicron1 · Jun 12, 2013

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
Thank you Summicron, Mr.Trentelman.
Its excellent to use 4 rolls from one roll of film.

Umut

yeah, it saves you money there for sure. You can buy a minox enlarger, but a regular 35mm one works fine.

You want to use fine grain film -- Agfa 25 was a favorite, Ilford Pan F should do very well -- although -- this was fun -- I actually got excellent results, not very grainy at all, pushing Ilford HP5+ to 1600 in a minox. Ilford is made to be pushed.

If you can't find any empty cassettes and decide you want to make a slitter -- flat bed slitters are easy to make and the plans are on the web -- let me know, I have a few spare cassettes laying around.

charlie

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Jun 12, 2013

Charlie,

pm sent.

Umut

summicron1 · Jun 13, 2013

if the price of film is your biggest concern, there is also the option of shooting half-frame, many fine cameras in this format were made by Olumpus and others -- the Pen F is a very fine system, still sold widely. Film processing in that format would be vastly simpler than minox, and no film slitting.

railwayman3 · Jun 13, 2013

summicron1 said:
if the price of film is your biggest concern, there is also the option of shooting half-frame, many fine cameras in this format were made by Olumpus and others -- the Pen F is a very fine system, still sold widely. Film processing in that format would be vastly simpler than minox, and no film slitting.

I got interested in Minox about 10 years ago, and built up a modest collection of cameras and equipment...I liked the ideas of the precision format (made like watches!) and carrying a tiny outfit at all times. But the tiny format demands utmost care and dedication to get quality results, and I reverted to 35mm for snapshotting and family pics (and, I confess, I carry a pocket digital camera and smartphone for "records").

Still use the Minox gear once-or-twice a year, but I certainly wouldn't recommend it as the way to go just to save film cost. I have one of the (very expensive at the time) Acmel slitters; this has to be used in the dark or a charging bag, and even then is not easy to avoid fingermarks when you load the Minox cassette.

As summicron says, a quality half-frame allows you to use regular cassettes, film and processing gear, and there is very little compromise on quality, particularly with fine-grain film and careful processing.

Minox EC, Comparing with B, Slit Film Apparatus, Developing and Cell Availability

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