Minox 35 GT (Type 10751)

Photos by Sylvain Halgand text by Sylvain Halgand. From the collection of Sylvain Halgand. Last update 2024-01-06 par Sylvain Halgand.

Manufactured or assembled in Germany from 1981 to (After) 1989.
Index of rarity in France: Frequent (among non-specialized garage sales)
Inventory number: 33

See the complete technical specifications

Chronology of cameras Minox

The Minox 35 has left its mark on the history of photography, thanks to its photographic qualities, compactness, and silhouette. The latter is interesting as it has been preserved regardless of the model, over more than 25 years of existence. But to whom do we owe this?

Searching through patents filed by Minox leads to nothing concrete. However, patent No. 4,365,884 filed by Minox on May 21, 1981 (published in December 1982) provides a starting point for the research. This patent, with inventor Helmut Knapp, concerns a camera with a retractable lens. The illustrations show a profile resembling that of a Minox 35.

However, the filing date is very late compared to the release of the first Minox 35 (1974). To uncover more details, it is necessary to delve into the patent and discover that it references two Japanese patents. Both of these patents, dating from 1981, were filed by Ricoh as early as 1978 and 1979. The inventor is Fumihiro Miyagawa (No. 4,264,172 and No. 4,277,157).

Both patents precisely depict the structure of a camera with a flap and a retractable lens. In turn, they lead us to an earlier patent, No. 2,404,687, filed in February 1974 and published in August 1975 by Krull & Co GmbH Ernst, with Hans Werner Johannsen as the inventor. This patent is peculiar as it mentions Krull & Co GmbH Ernst as the applicant, except in one place where an amendment refers to Minox.

The explanation is that Krull & Co was an engineering firm that contracted with Minox for the development of a new camera, the future Minox 35. It pertains to a folding camera with a retractable lens connected to the flap. The drawings in this patent are less suggestive.

To summarize, in the absence of prior patents before the first Minox patent in 1974: Krull, working for Minox, conceives a camera concept with a flap and a retractable lens. Ricoh later improves the technical aspects of this concept. Minox subsequently refines other technical aspects.
The manufacturing and machining were entrusted to Balda, as Minox had no experience in plastic manufacturing. This also explains the resemblance between the Balda CE 35 and CA 35 cameras and the Minox 35.

Model		Lens	Exposure	Shutter	Iso	Battery	Misc.

35 EL	1974	Color-Minotar¹ 2.8/35 mm	Aperture Priority	1/30 to 1/500	25 to 800 ASA	PX 27	Speed in viewfinder
35 GL	1979						35 EL + Backlight compensation
35 GT	1981						35 GL + Timer Backlight compensation
35 PL	1982		Program	4 to 1/500	25 to 400 ASA	PX 27	35 GT, Automatic Exposure
35 PE	1982		Program	4 to 1/500	25 to 400 ASA	PX 27	35 PL + flash
35 MB	1985		Aperture Priority	1 to 1/500	25 to 1600 ISO	PX 28	35 GT + Different Design
35 ML	1985		Aperture Priority or Program	1 to 1/500	25 to 1600 ISO	PX 28	35 MB + Program
35 AL	1987	Color-Minar¹ 4/35 mm	Aperture Priority	1 to 1/300	100 to 400 ISO	PX 27	Fixfocus Existing in white
35 AF	1988	Minoxar 3.5/32 mm		1/30 to 1/500	10 to 800 ISO	LR44	Autofocus, no flap
35 GSE	1988	Color-Minotar 2.8/35 mm	Program	1/30 to 1/500	25 to 1600 ISO	CR 1/3 N
35 GT-E	1988	MC Minoxar 2.8/35 mm	Aperture Priority	1/30 to 1/500	25 to 1600 ISO	CR 1/3 N	35 GT + Filtre skylight filter
35 MDC	1992		Aperture Priority or Program	4 to 1/500	25 to 1600 ISO	PX 28	Made of aluminum, covering Titanum
35 GT-X	1995		Aperture Priority	1/8 to 1/500	25 to 320 ISO	CR 1/3 N	35 GT-E + DX
35 GT-E II	1998		Aperture Priority	1/30 to 1/500	25 to 1600 ISO	CR 1/3 N	35 GT-E + different design
35 GT-S	1998		Aperture Priority	1/30 to 1/500	25 to 3200 ISO	CR 1/3 N	Silver grey

¹4 lens

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The Minox 35 family is extensive, and the Minox 35 GT was born in the early 1980s, while its predecessor, the EL, originated in 1974.

Please note that this particular Minox model uses a battery that is no longer available for sale due to the presence of mercury. However, replacement solutions exist. The PX 27 can be substituted with the S27PX. This silver oxide battery delivers a voltage of 6 volts (instead of the original 5.6 volts), which may potentially require recalibration of the light meter. There are also various adapters for two or four smaller batteries. You can find them by searching online with "Minox 35 battery adapter."

Interesting links or bibliography :

Chasseur d'images de 1981

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