![]() That’s a bit more than canister of 35mm film, and allows one to wear it on the neck without worrying too much about how it dangles around. I often wonder how did they manage to pack all that electronics, lens, film, and the battery in! More importantly, however, that it weights half as much at 45g vs 92 including the battery. The Minox EC is by far the smallest and lightest camera in the family and measures just 80mm long (compared to 97 for B, which is ~20% more). Who could have thought that I’d find the B bulky and delicate by comparison. Other advantages are, surprisingly, its size, weight, and robustness. If that’s still not quick enough, you can also just close the camera without loosing a frame (as it is on A and B). The biggest advantage of Minox EC over the older Minoxes is obviously the speed of operation (open and shoot, which allows to catch those fleeting moments). At least, I learned to appreciate that quite quickly once I started to use it after finally fishing it out of the box where it came in together with my Minox B (yes, my first Minox EC was a “lens cap” bought by chance with the B). Mind that the original Minox (A) was marketed as a simple camera where you don’t have to worry about the aperture and only have one variable to control (shutter speed), so the Minox EC is actually not an ugly duckling in the family. That comes with the usual limitations, of course (backlit subjects, closeups, slow/fast motion…), but it’s not always a bad thing, actually. The only control option you have besides the framing, is to change your mind and not to take a picture (for instance if a red led lights up to warn you of a slow shutter speed). The aperture and focus are fixed, and the shutter speed is automatic from 1/500s to 8s. Unfold the Minox EC (this advances the film), compose your picture using surprisingly bright viewfinder including bright lines for the 50mm equivalent 15/5.6 Minoxar lens, and shoot. The family portrait clearly shows that the Minox EC can actually be called the 35ths small brother: same design language in mind, same materials ( Makrolon, if you are interested), and even easier to operate. ![]() It’s actually quite similar to the infamous Minox 35 series, another world smallest camera (of its kind, and yes, I did compare side by side with Rollei 35 and XA). It’s still a Minox though, and despite being made of plastic, feels like a quality product. The Minox EC lacks that elegance, is plain and simple, not unlike the swarm of plastic-fantastic 35mm point and shoots from the same era. I was charmed then with my Minox B, a slick and jewerly-like bar of matte aluminum graced with knobs, chains, 007 movies charm, and virtually unchanged since my grandpa was loosing his teeth for the first time. The first time I saw the Minox EC I did not fall madly in love with this small piece of black plastic from the nineties.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Details
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |