What is Minox?

-- Leandro de Carvalho (leandrocarvalho@jatainet.com.br), November 01, 1999

Answers

MINOX is a trade mark of camera and the name of the company which makes MINOX cameras, just as Nikon, Canon etc. MINOX came from "min" in "miniature", refering to the format of the camera being very small.

"Minox" is also incorrectly used as a short form for the Upjohn drug 'minoxidil', probably in violation of trade mark, imo.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), November 01, 1999.

Ermanox

In 1924, Heinrich Ernemann Co introduced a small glass plate portable camera called the Ermanox. It was the first candid camera on the market before Leica. Ermanox camera was equiped with a fast F2 Ernostar lens designed by Ludwig Bertele.

"King of candestine photography", Erich Salomon was well known for candid photography of famous scientists(Albert Einstein) and politicians, using a Ermanox hidden in his attache case. News papers in Berlin and Munich began publishing news photographs, followed by newspapers in New York, London

In 1926 Heinrich Ernemann merged with Zeiss Ikon, and Ermanox camera became Zeiss Ikon Ermanox. In subsequent years, Ludwig Bertele continued his work on Ernostar lens, and derived his famous Sonnar lens for the Contax camera.(Sonnar lives on in Contax T2 and Rollei 35 Classic)

Ermanox sounded like "A Manox".

"A Manox"

"A Manox"

A Minox !-- A miniature candid camera

The Ermanox had a shutter speed range of 1/20-1/1000.

The earliest Leica had a speed range of 1/25-- /1/500.

Riga Minox had shutter top speed of 1/1000; and it had 1/20 intead of Leica style 1/25, seems following the lead of Ermanox.

Minox inherited not only a part of the legendary Ermanox name, but also the tradition of candestine photography.

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), November 20, 1999.