Strike While the Iron's Hot

Post-Script: Of course, we don't yet know if the camera is totally functional until I finish that roll of film and get it processed. But inspecting the camera before purchase indicated that the shutter and metering appeared to be nominal. Today, I took a field trip to downtown with my brother, where we placed a visit to The Man's Hat Shop (he being in the market for a hat, not I), during which time I carried the little Minox in its carrying case in my jacket pocket, and was enthused about how small and light it is to carry. And dang, was it cold today, post a snow storm and with blowing wind.

In operation, the lens is operated scale-focus only, meaning you have to estimate at what distance you wish to be in sharpest focus and set the lens accordingly. Then, as you frame the scene, a needle on the right side of the viewfinder indicates the shutter speed based on the lens aperture you've set. Myself, operating these scale-focus cameras is no big deal, I've been doing so for years. Plus, this one has good depth-of-field markings on the lens, so in bright light it's easy to just set an intermediate aperture, preset the focus to the hyper-focal setting and click away.

The meter doesn't activate until you advance the film, which is a nice feature that helps to preserve the battery life, since you can compose your scene in the viewfinder before hand. The shutter button itself is a bit sensitive, and makes a little snick that's barely audible even to the photographer. Once the clam-shell lens cover is closed up the camera is very small.

Here's the link to Camera & Darkroom. Be sure to stop by when you're in town, because now they're our only remaining camera store. Typecast via Smith-Corona Silent.