Minox’s TLX, a classic 8x11mm-film concealed carry, is dead. The last batch will be sold for £399, half the usual sum, and then be sold no more.
There will doubtless be a strong enthusiast following to carry the torch–and keep a third-party supply chain alive–but is this not another herald of film’s greater doom?
Minox halves classic spy camera price [Amateur Photographer via Gadget Lab]
I always wanted one of these, or at least I used to when film was king. This is the latetest in the line of cameras that were featured in countless spy films (I believe that the movies usually used a “Riga” or “LX” model)
The curious thing is that they were not intended to be a spy camera, but were instead supposed to be a “gentlemen’s” camera, carried in a jacket near a pocketwatch. Still awesomely cool, though.
Never had one, but I found a rare how-to book on
minox at a thrift store. I got like 80 bucks for it on Ebay. that was back around 2000.
Is it a herald of film’s greater doom?
No.
These things are cute, but offer none of the advantages of film because the negative is so small. There’s no overlap between people who are interested in shooting film and the people interested in Minoxes.
My grandfather had one of these in the early sixties and I was totally fascinated with it. I don’t know what became of his, but I managed to buy one on ebay a few years ago of approximately the same vintage.
These things are mechanically fantastic. Its fun to just hold in your hand and just marvel at it. I don’t use mine very often, the photo quality is obviously limited by the very small negative size. But I did manage to shoot a roll of film (b&w) when I visited Easter Island. I’ll treasure those forever.
I’m surprised that it’s taken this long for them to cease production. I strongly recommend anyone who is interested in vintage cameras or fine mechanical devices, to get one. They are beautiful.