Minox

Minox GmbH
Industrycameras, binoculars and other optical equipment
Founded1945
FounderWalter Zapp
HeadquartersWetzlar, Germany
Key people
Wolfgang Venzl
Number of employees
approx. 30
Websitewww.minox.com
Upper: The Minox logo used by VEF (1938).
Lower: The Minox logo used by Minox GmbH (1949).

Minox (pronounced /ˈmnɒks/ MEE-noks) is a manufacturer of cameras, known especially for its subminiature camera.

The first product to carry the Minox name was a subminiature camera, conceived in 1922, and finally produced in 1936, by Baltic German Walter Zapp.[1] The Latvian factory VEF (Valsts elektrotehniskā fabrika) manufactured the camera from 1937 to 1943.[2] After World War II, the camera was redesigned and production resumed in Germany in 1948.[2] Zapp originally envisioned the Minox to be a camera for everyone requiring only little photographic knowledge. Yet in part due to its high manufacturing costs, the Minox became more well known as a must-have luxury item.[citation needed] From the start the Minox also gained wide notoriety as a spy camera.[3]

Minox branched out into 35 mm film format and 110 film format cameras in 1974 and 1976, respectively. Minox continues to operate today, producing or branding optical and photographic equipment.

  1. ^ "Rangefinder". 59 (12). December 2010: 98. {{cite journal}}: Cite journal requires |journal= (help)
  2. ^ a b "MINOX – The Development of Visible Innovation". Minox. Archived from the original on 23 September 2014. Retrieved 17 May 2014.
  3. ^ "Minox Riga Camera". International Spy Museum. Retrieved 2023-03-24.