Film cameras Minox

CLX, 8x11mm film, 160g, silver MINOX celebrates the 60th anniversary of the first production with the new
MINOX CLX Special Edition

A sixtieth birthday is frequently used as an occasion to recapitulate and make new plans for the future. The MINOX is no exception! This is the 60th anniversary of the first production of one of the most revolutionary cameras in photographic history and it has inspired MINOX GmbH to bring out the MINOX CLX, the latest in the 8x11mm camera series.

Walter Zapp's legendary idea to design and make the MINOX originated way back in 1922. The camera "was to be so small that it would disappear in a closed hand". Although very much inspired by this idea, Walter Zapp was hindered again and again by various financial squeezes, and it took 13 years before he was able to file a patent application for the "Ur" MINOX in 1935.

The new MINOX was manufactured by VEF (Valst Elektrotechniska Fabrika), a large factory producing electrical products in Riga. Following several improvements, the MINOX then went into series production in 1938. This is the date on which the new camera was first presented to the world public. The outbreak of the second world war abruptly ended the successful marketing of the "Riga MINOX". The production figures at this time were already in excess of 17 000 cameras. Exactly 10 years later, in 1948, the first MINOX "Made in Germany" left the factory in Heuchelheim, near Giessen.

Motivated by these facts from the camera's history, MINOX GmbH, of Wetzlar, Germany, is now presenting the MINOX CLX. This masterpiece in precision mechanics with highest optical performance satisfies the requirement set by MINOX for "photography at its highest level".

This new superb piece from the MINOX 8x11mm camera series is technically speaking the continuation of the LX generation. One of the camera's eye-catching features is its chrome-plated and highly polished body, this also being one of the sources of the product's name (C= Chrome). The processing of the brass body itself is also of particular interest. It is based on a meticulously performed handwork for pitting the surface, which results in the unique and unmistakable surface structure.

Here each of the pits, which together form the surface structure, is produced in an individual machining process. In addition to its top-quality appearance, this structure permits excellent handling of the camera, making it altogether a truly flattering item to hold.

Another eye-catching feature is the engraving on the back of the CLX, which, alongside the oldest and the youngest MINOX 8x11mm camera, displays the jubilee year as well as the signature of Walter Zapp. MINOX connoisseurs will note straight away that the two cameras in question are the MINOX A and the MINOX LX.