Recent content by tjwspm

The 1936 VEF Minox Riga is a fascinating camera—the smallest of its time. Its crucial component is its lens: the Minostigmat. For the past two years, I’ve been studying this specific lens. I began by conducting practical experiments and measurements using test photos. Over the last five...

Burkhard Fenner’s article here on my website about his restoration of a VEF Minox Riga last year has generated a great deal of interest. Now, here is another article by him about a very mysterious artifact related to this camera. As we’ve come to expect from him, he not only conducted a...

No, it wasn’t Walter Zapp. He is known as the inventor of the Minox, but he had nothing to do with the development of the Minox lens. And without this brilliant optical design, the Minox would have been a flop from the start. A year and a half ago, I conducted a comparison test between this...

Actually, you have to ask yourself another question first: Why should I repair my historical camera at all? Well, I'm not primarily a collector, I also want to use my old cameras. That's the only way I can understand the essence of a camera. So I have to at least repair them, but it would be...

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That's a very interesting point. I'll look into it. The exponent of 1.2 seems to take into account the fact that, in practice, the system resolution is slightly better than one would expect based on the simple formula. This is interesting because it would result in lower values for the purely...

It wouldn't leave me alone. My comparison of the Minox A, Mamiya Super 16, and Edixa 16 also focused on the lenses. Unfortunately, I had to work with estimated values for the resolution because no published values were available (except for my own for the Minox A). Now I've taken the...

In the meantime, I have continued comparing the three subminiature cameras. Some of the results surprised me. Here you can find my thoughts on the Minox challengers Mamiya super 16 and Edixa 16. Now it's time to look at the lenses and exposure systems...

Minox may be legendary, but it's not the be-all and end-all when it comes to subminiature cameras. I took a closer look at two alternatives that are certainly not to be outdone: What happens when three of the 20th century’s most brilliant engineering minds tackle the same challenge? I have...

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Actually, I just wanted to give a tip about the Minox frame counter. It's about a mistake I always made when reading the frame number without realizing it. But once I started thinking about it, more and more questions came up. First, here's the initial question. What number does this frame...

The ultimate test of whether a camera repair has been successful is to expose a roll of film. Only then can you assess whether shutter, escapement, lens adjustment, and film transport are working correctly. We have therefore taken test photos and posted them online. Take a look at the pictures...

The VEF Minox Riga is a true icon of subminiature photography. It is not just a camera; it is a testament to the technology of the 1930s. But as with any old masterpiece, time and use can take their toll. When a legendary piece of machinery reaches a certain age, the question is not whether to...

Thank you very much for all the tips! I will follow up and see what I can find.

Thanks for explaining that! Now I finally understand where those reviews come from that say you should overexpose rather than underexpose film. So it's all down to marketing. Of course, film manufacturers wanted to advertise their films as fast as possible. Do you know the source of the...