On the front of the Minox 35ML, there are two small ports by the viewfinder. One is the self-timer LED. What is the other one for?

-- Bobby Mahaffey (mahajen@prodigy.net), April 10, 2000

Answers

Funny, I asked more or less the exact same question. Both the ML and MB have this extra "port", and it seems to be the only two cameras that have it. I have a plan to take my MB apart again, find out what exactly it is, then follow the wires to see what it does. I will let you know when I do. My guess is that it has something to do with the flash, and it might help to have a look at the flash used for the ML/MB. Sadly there are very little information available about these two cameras.

-- Anders Nygaard (any@europe.com), April 11, 2000.

I found the solution. Is has nothing to do with the flash. The ML and MB both have LED's instead of a needle in the viewfinder. This extra photocell is used to control the glare (is that the right phrase?) of these LED's. Just like an electronic alarmclock that lowers the glare of the numbers at night. It can easily be verified, point the camera at something while pressing the shutter lightly, then cover and oncover the photocell and watch the glare of the LED change. When Minox design, they think about everything!

-- Anders Nygaard (any@europe.com), April 14, 2000.

Thanks Anders. I tried what you suggested, and sure enough, the brightness of the LED changed as I covered and uncovered the cell. Did you take your camera apart to learn this, or did learn it thru experimenting?

-- Bobby Mahaffey (mahajen@prodigy.net), April 14, 2000.

I took the camera apart, found out what kind of cell it was, and tried to figure out what it did. I did not succeed, but it was clear that it had nothing to do with the flash. I then contacted a Minox specialist, that in turn contacted a Minox repair specialist. I do think that it is strange how little information there is available about older Minox 35's.

-- Anders Nygaard (any@europe.com), April 23, 2000.

Minox 35ML designer Prof Richard Fischer of HfG Offenbach

-- martin tai (martin.tai@capcanada.com), June 23, 2001.