Spy Film for Minox Cameras Now Available!

Loupe-It · Feb 3, 2015

Just received this email, and although I do not shoot this format, I know that many others did and may wish to again! I have no affiliation to Blue Moon Camera and Machine or receive any monetary gain from the announcement and/ or subsequent sales.

Blue Moon Camera's Spy Film for Minox cameras is now available! The film has been spliced and loaded at our facilities in Portland, Oregon and eagerly awaits your orders. Those on this mailing list are the first to be notified. Orders will be filled in the order they are received.

The film is currently available in 36 exposures in the following emulsions:
Kodak Portra 400-color
Kodak Ektar 100-color
Ilford Delta 400- black and white
Ilford Delta 100- black and white

Each cassette is $20.00.

If you have an additional questions, please read our Minox FAQ, found here.

We look forward to getting your Minox cameras back into action. Hope to hear from you soon.

Orders can be placed by calling our shop at (503) 978-0333. Thank you.

Blue Moon Camera and Machine

perkeleellinen · Feb 3, 2015

In the UK Ms Hobbies is importing Sharan 8x11 film from Japan in new cassettes. It's probably Acros and 400H. This film is also on ebay direct from Japan.

DWThomas · Feb 3, 2015

I thought I registered for an email but haven't seen one yet. I have to admit at those prices, it's not likely I'll be buying dozens at a time! But since the only roll currently in my possession has a 1970-something date, I guess I owe to my Minox B to try a fresh roll.

Looks as though the Blue Moon site doesn't do online orders?

(Yeh, I want everything!)

sjeffg · Feb 3, 2015

They haven't updated the site for online orders yet, but are happy to take your order over the phone.

Ektagraphic · Feb 3, 2015

Thanks for the update

DWThomas · Feb 16, 2015

Aha! A few days back I got an email from Blue Moon that indicated availability and also said one can order via their website, so >>presto!<< I have two rolls of the Delta 100 on the way. This afternoon the USPS tracking number tells me the package is in Philly, so the rolls could at my post office tomorrow. I fear the price will make it an infrequent occasion, but we'll see what we can do -- maybe the results will be so wonderful with a new modern emulsion that I'll go Minox crazy ...

Unfortunately I may not get to the PO until Wednesday given the current weather forecast. :confused: Although methinks the Minox B would be extremely difficult to operate with heavy gloves on, so the exact delivery date shouldn't be critical.

benjiboy · Feb 16, 2015

Thanks for the update , but I quit spying years ago .

MartinP · Feb 17, 2015

The various Minox company websites (different one for each world area I think) are Dead Link Removed colour and black-and-white film with an availability date of 'Spring 2015', although this was previously January and February so it could be one of those "time until availability tends to a constant" things.

I made a slitter but haven't made the track for it yet, and probably the spacing will need changing also. From some time ago, I have a B and an EC which haven't been used for ages. When the slitter and the modified dev-reel are running nicely I'll put a few pictures in one of the Minox threads here. Unfortunately this might take some time . . . all my silly ideas are slowing each other down, but it's all fun.

DWThomas · Feb 19, 2015

Yay! It actually reached my PO box Tuesday, but the weather was not conducive to travel. So it's real! (Well true, I have not opened the container or shot a roll yet.) Actually, the shipment was quite prompt.

I currently have a bunch of scheduled stuff in the way, but one of these days we'll try it!

And then I also have to figure out where the camera is "safely put away" --- this time! That's the trouble with those little bitty cameras!

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Feb 19, 2015

I saw many Minox B cameras with excellent shape , ergonomy , and Leitz engineer designed lens and too many precision parts all costs me 55 dollars, cheaper than air.

Well it comes to order 20 dollar film , comes with 12 dollar shipment , goes back to processing 12 dollar ,and print and shipping back to me cost another 40 dollars.

One roll of photographs costs more than the camera , 80 dollars or so.

Its like buying an mercedes and travelling to cafe and come back home costs more than the mercedes !!!!!!

I would cut 35mm bw film , process it and scan.

railwayman3 · Feb 19, 2015

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
I saw many Minox B cameras with excellent shape , ergonomy , and Leitz engineer designed lens and too many precision parts all costs me 55 dollars, cheaper than air.

Well it comes to order 20 dollar film , comes with 12 dollar shipment , goes back to processing 12 dollar ,and print and shipping back to me cost another 40 dollars.

One roll of photographs costs more than the camera , 80 dollars or so.

Its like buying an mercedes and travelling to cafe and come back home costs more than the mercedes !!!!!!

I would cut 35mm bw film , process it and scan.

I built up a small collection of Minox's and accessories about 15 years ago, attracted by the precision and particularly the ability to carry a camera and outfit all the time.

But, TBH, I've never had the time (and, perhaps, skill) to make successful use of the tiny format, while my smartphone now allows me to always have some means of taking ephemeral family or record shots, which, for those purposes, print up to 5x7 with better results than the Minox.

And, as you say, the cost of film and specialist processing has become prohibitive; I might check out the negative scanning adaptor promised on MS Hobbies site, and try cutting down negative film from 35mm (I have one of the specialist Acmel thingies to do this). But I still can't seeing it being a cheap option.

AgX · Feb 19, 2015

railwayman3 said:
And, as you say, the cost of film and specialist processing has become prohibitive; I might check out the negative scanning adaptor promised on MS Hobbies site, and try cutting down negative film from 35mm (I have one of the specialist Acmel thingies to do this). But I still can't seeing it being a cheap option.

Once you got a slitter and modified your reels (or made another type of film carrier for processing), I do not see a prohibitive cost issue, to the contrary.

railwayman3 · Feb 19, 2015

AgX said:
Once you got a slitter and modified your reels (or made another type of film carrier for processing), I do not see a prohibitive cost issue, to the contrary.

Well, yes, you're correct really. Maybe my excuse for laziness! I was just thinking that the proposed scanning adaptor from MSHobbies would probably be expensive if it's a specialist made-to-measure device. But I'll wait and see.

Xmas · Feb 19, 2015

Lomo do (or did until Aug14 and had in their brick shops) a scanner adapter for 110 film.
I know the Minox is smaller.

You can staple a Minox film to a scrap 35mm film rather than alter a spiral, donno of it will stay in place...

bsdunek · Feb 19, 2015

I received my Delta 100 and Ektar film about a week ago. Will be traveling this weekend, so will be using it. I develop & print my B&W (or I wouldn't be on this forum!) so that is little additional expense. I will send out color.
This, with my old cassettes will give me enough so I can reload. I'm thinking of buying pre-slit film, which is available from a couple of suppliers, as I'm not excited about slitting my own. Still should keep the cost down.
As for color, I won't use much, but when I do, guess I'll pay the price. I'm just glad it's available again.

DWThomas · Feb 19, 2015

I suppose we have to be philosophical about this stuff. I admit $20 for a roll made me stop and think, but in reality, that's 36 exposures, so the cost per picture isn't that outrageous. Then again, if we assess the cost as dollars per square centimeter (how's that for a metric) the stuff is like buying gold leaf! For me, 1st class mail from Oregon to the Philadelphia suburbs was $3.83, so that's hardly a deal breaker; it could argue for buying more rolls per order!

In my case, I bought B&W and from back in the 1960s when I first indulged in this foolishness, I have a daylight load Minox tank, no less, so I will be processing my own at minimal cost. I even did some Anscochrome slides "back in the day." I have to admit the latter have not fared well over the intervening 50 years.

In theory this is also a chance to acquire more cassettes for home reloading too.

My main uncertainty about the Minox is the tiny format does not really meet many of my perceived needs. I commented in my "blog" about it being like a cellphone camera before there were cellphones. But truth be told, the current crop of cellphones (I finally got suckered in to owning a phone smarter than I am recently) do surprisingly well. Although they still are not my goto for serious work.

At any rate, I do want to give the ol' Minox B a whirl with some of the new stuff and see what it does. I did locate the camera this AM, it was in a bigger box than I was seeking, as I forgot it's packed in with a Minolta 16 slide projector and some other Minox Miscellany, as well as boxes of slides.

Wheeeee!
:munch:

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Feb 19, 2015

Dave, enjoy !! My new Foma R 100 Double 8 movie film came from Norway last week. I have a Bolex C8 camera and better lens than the minox , an Yvar. I can take 2000 or 4000 everyone says something , single frames and process at movie studio , still less than minox film costs. If you can print or scan minox , you can also 8mm film.

railwayman3 · Feb 19, 2015

Mustafa Umut Sarac said:
Dave, enjoy !! My new Foma R 100 Double 8 movie film came from Norway last week. I have a Bolex C8 camera and better lens than the minox , an Yvar. I can take 2000 or 4000 everyone says something , single frames and process at movie studio , still less than minox film costs. If you can print or scan minox , you can also 8mm film.

Yes, but what's the quality of still frames on 8mm film ? And who needs to have to take 4000 pictures before you can finish your film (sounds like digital shooting....take a few hundred pics, then select the one good one?).....my Dad remembered his wedding in 1945 when film was rationed....the professional photographer took 12 pics on the one film allowed, every one a good one.

Mustafa Umut Sarac · Feb 19, 2015

I am extremelly slow . I bought same roll before but I think its became fogged or aged in the camera. If you take 300 frames totally , it would cost still lot cheaper. 4000 pictures costs 13 dollars and camera is very heavy , vertical construction , it would very hard to hold and compose . I bought it when I was thinking to buy a minox. They are all same era good engineering and classical design plus lens design for the people who knows what they are doing , not for % 60 customers of Ilford who are in photography less than 5 years.

perkeleellinen · Feb 22, 2015

I'm playing around with a Minox B, to start with I went down the dev/scan route offered by MS Hobbies but I've got a dev tank now which is great. Now that I can do my own processing I can spend more on film: I make nice 6x4 prints from Sharan 100 (Acros). It's a fiddle I suppose but fun also, the tiny negs look really tiny in a 6x7 universal carrier.

Theo Sulphate · Apr 19, 2015

Just bought some "Spy Film" (Delta and Ektar) - but is the Minopan and Minocolor film from Minox itself available yet?

Jeff Bradford · Apr 19, 2015

I guess I gotta get the A-IIIs fixed now...

Spy Film for Minox Cameras Now Available!

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