Editing Minox (section)

===Subminiature camera history===
[[File:Minox Riga with Minostigmat 3,5 F=15 lens.jpg|thumb|Minox Riga with Minostigmat 1:3,5 F=15mm lens]]
[[Image:RigaMinoxMarkings.png|right|thumb|Original Minox showing Riga, Latvia markings]]
The original Minox subminiature camera was invented by [[Walter Zapp]] in 1936.<ref name=rangefinder /> Zapp, a [[Baltic German]], was born in 1905 in [[Riga]], then part of the [[Russian Empire]]. The family moved to Reval (now called [[Tallinn]], [[Estonia]]) where he first took a job as an engraver before finding a position with a photographer. He became friends with Nikolai 'Nixi' Nylander and Richard Jürgens, and it was through discussions with these friends that the idea of a camera that could always be carried came to him. Nixi Nylander also coined the name "Minox" and drew up the Minox mouse logo. Jürgens funded the original project but was not able to get support in Estonia for production. Jürgens contacted an English representative of the [[VEF]] (Valsts Elektrotehniskā Fabrika) electrotechnical manufacturing business in Riga (by then independent [[Latvia]]) who then arranged a meeting where Zapp demonstrated the Minox prototype (''Ur''Minox), with a set of enlargements made from Ur-Minox negatives. Production began in Riga at VEF, running from 1937 until 1943.<ref>Morris Moses & John Wade: Spycamera, THE MINOX Story, 2nd ed, {{ISBN|1-874707-28-6}}.</ref> In the same time, VEF had received patent protection on Zapp's inventions in at least 18 countries worldwide.<ref name=patents>{{cite web|url=http://peteris.skorovs.lv/historical-patents/minox-patents/|title=Minox Patents|work=Historical patents|author=Pēteris Skorovs|accessdate=24 February 2014|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140111142218/http://peteris.skorovs.lv/historical-patents/minox-patents/|archive-date=11 January 2014|url-status=dead|df=dmy-all}}</ref>

Shortly after its introduction, the Minox was widely advertised in The European and American markets. It did not surmount the popularity of 35&nbsp;mm cameras (which were then referred to as "Miniature Cameras"), but did achieve a niche market. It also attracted the attention of intelligence agencies in America, Britain and Germany, due to its small size and macro focusing ability.

Ironically during World War II production of the Minox was put in jeopardy several times as Latvia fell victim to [[Soviet occupation of Latvia in 1940#Soviet invasion|invasion by the Soviet Union]], then Germany, and then by the Soviets again. Cameras were produced under both Russian and German occupation nevertheless, and the camera became both a luxury gift item for Nazi leaders as well as a tool for their spies. In the meantime, Zapp and his associates protected their interest in the product by searching for alternative production facilities in Germany.

[[Image:minoxA.jpg|right|thumb|Late Production Minox B camera with later style "honeycomb" selenium light meter]]
[[File:Minox BL w bulb flash.JPG|thumb|Minox BL with bulb flash and box]]
[[Image:Minox IIIs with film.jpg|right|thumb|Minox IIIs camera with a cartridge of film]]
After World War II, production of the Minox II began in 1948 at a new company, Minox GmbH, in [[Giessen]]/[[Heuchelheim]] near [[Wetzlar]], [[West Germany]]. The new camera very much resembled the original, but was made with a plastic chassis covered by an aluminum shell. This greatly reduced its weight and, to an extent, cost. The camera continued to appeal to a luxury "gadget" market which broadened during the 1950s and early 1960s. It also continued to see use as an espionage camera by both sides during the [[Cold War]]. During this time, the Minox company continued to develop the camera, working with Gossen{{Citation needed|date=November 2012}} to develop a companion miniature exposure meter, as well as improved models such as the Minox B, which incorporated an even smaller Gossen-designed meter into the camera itself. The Minox B became the most popular and widely produced model of the line. Further developments included autoexposure, and the company developed an extensive line of accessories. These included flash guns, viewfinder attachments, tripod mounts, and copying stands, all increasing the camera utility in a variety of applications. One accessory even allowed the camera to use a pair of binoculars as a telephoto lens (see illustration). Limited editions of the camera were also produced in a variety of luxury finishes, such as gold plating. Standard cameras were also available in an optional black anodized finish.

The Riga Minox camera, along with the luxury finish postwar cameras, are now collector's items. All-mechanical models A and B remain in use by hobbyists. In 1969 the model C became the first camera of its kind to incorporate electronic exposure control. With the introduction of the LX came significant redesign of the camera's basic controls. It was followed by the last production model, the TLX. There was also a fully electronic entry-level model, the EC, which had a very different internal design and a fixed-focus lens. The production rate for these cameras was considerably slower than in former years, however, as high production costs and increasing competition from Japan sharply reduced sales and revenues. 

Beginning in 1981, MINOX experienced increasing difficulties. A quarter of the original 750 employees had to be made redundant. A settlement request was filed with the District Court in Giessen on November 21, 1988. Under the direction of the receivership administration, the workforce was reduced to just under 300, and the business was extensively reorganized.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.minox.com/en/outdoor/About-Minox/Milestones/ | title=Milestones }}</ref>

The MINOX TLX Camera was available until September 2014. Minox is now part of the Blazer Group GmBH, with its facilities in Isny im Allgäu in the south of Germany, with a service facility remaining in Wetzlar. Production of 8x11 film ended in 2015.

The company now produces high-quality sports optics and night-vision devices, its only camera models being trail cameras.<ref>{{cite web | url=https://www.minox.com/en/outdoor/Products/Trail-Camera/ | title=Trail Camera }}</ref> 

====Spy camera====
The Minox subminiature camera attracted the attention of intelligence agencies in America, Britain and Germany, and most of the Eastern Bloc (East Germany, Romania) due to its small size and macro focusing ability. There is at least one document in the public record of 25 Minox cameras purchased by the US [[Office of Strategic Services]] intelligence organisation in 1942.<ref>
Moses & Wade, Ibid., p.69.
{{Full citation needed|date=September 2018}}
</ref>

The close-focusing lens and small size of the camera made it perfect for covert uses such as surveillance or document copying. The Minox was used by both [[Axis Powers|Axis]] and Allied intelligence agents during [[World War II]]. Later versions were used well into the 1980s. The Soviet spy [[John Anthony Walker|John A. Walker Jr.]], whose actions against the [[US Navy]] [[cryptography]] programs represent some of the most compromising intelligence actions against the United States during the [[Cold War]] era, used a Minox C to photograph documents and ciphers.

An {{convert|18|in|mm|adj=on}} measuring chain was provided with most Minox subminiature cameras, which enabled easy copying of letter-sized documents. The espionage use of the Minox has been portrayed in Hollywood movies and TV shows, and some 1980s Minox advertising has played up the "spy camera" story.

====Other special uses====
A Minox B, operated by remote trigger and protected in a special housing, was used to inspect the interior of the United States Army's [[SL-1]] experimental nuclear reactor after it experienced an internal steam explosion in 1961.  This camera and housing were shown in the film report released following the accident investigation.