Shooting a Miniature Camera with Expired Film.
Makes sense to test a funky little vintage camera with expired film, so you don’t shoot new, fresh film only to waste it on crappy results if the camera doesn’t work, right?
So when I got my hands on a pocket-sized Minox 35 GT 35mm rangefinder camera of unknown condition or maintenance, I reached for the least-interesting roll of expired film in my stash. Turned out to be a roll of Shaw’s — yes, the grocery-home goods retail chain in Massachusetts & Rhode Island — 200 ASA 24 exposure color 35mm film. Let’s see how this mini-35 works!
THE CAMERA
I wasn’t sure what to expect from a series of Minox cameras referred to as “the smallest full-frame 35mm cameras” ever made. The 35 GT has a fixed 35mm f2.8 medium-wide angle lens (a typical lens for street photography), a viewfinder for framing, which also displays the aperture-priority light meter readings and offers match-needle film speed exposure adjustment.
It uses “scale focusing” or “zone focusing” which requires the photographer to guesstimate distance to the subject and set the lens to that distance manually. If I’m completely honest, zone focusing is the bane of my existence, especially when the lens is only marked with distance in meters (yes, I’m a luddite). Luckily, the Minox 35 GT also has markings in feet, so I might be OK…
Searching a bit, I found several posts and reviews which thoroughly covered the technical details and history of this camera. Here are a few of the good ones I found about the Minox 35 GT:
Reviews (besides the Wiki-article) mostly focused on the “pocket-sized,” “compact,” and “miniature” aspects of the tiny Minox 35 GT, expressing pleasure, surprise, and disappointment with the results. It was great to read them all, but I like to post my own experiences with and results from shooting a camera. So I did the usual stuff: figured out the batteries (4 LR44’s stacked) for the light meter and steeled myself for shooting with zone focusing again.
ANDY WARHOL
Did you know one of Andy’s favorite cameras (he had several) was the Minox 35 EL with a flash mounted on it? The GT is two models newer than the EL, but is fundamentally the same camera, with a couple of new features. Mr. Warhol bought the 35 EL and used it with Minox, Rollei, and other flashes mounted, mostly — as my research has shown — for shooting paparazzi-style nightlife photos of fabulous people. As he famously said, “My idea of a good picture is one that’s in focus and of a famous person.” He used his Minox 35 camera with flash to capture MANY “good pictures” over the years.
THE FILM
As mentioned above, my usual approach to testing an old camera of unknown condition for the first time, is to use crappy, expired film, just to see if it works. In this case, I loaded a roll of Shaw’s house-brand ASA 200 color film, more concerned with whether the camera would work at all, than in taking good (or great) photos. As you can see in the test photos below, my results with this film were contrasty, and shifted to the orange-red end of the spectrum.
CONTACT SHEET
I was quite happy to get the full 24 exposures — no more, no less — out of my Shaw’s 35mm roll in the Minox 35 GT camera! I shot the roll around the house, at estate sales, and driving around Connecticut. First two shots were crappy; a ceiling light, and a double-chinned, fat-faced selfie. Here are my results from the roll:
TEST PHOTOS / HORIZONTAL
TEST PHOTOS / VERTICAL
LESSONS LEARNED
- Well, the camera worked! 🙂
- The light meter worked too.
- I did better with zone-focusing this time than I did testing my mother’s camera in 2011.
- I could imagine the camera doing well with fresh film, since it worked OK on old, expired film.
- This was a GREAT camera for travel, with the whole, “drop it in your pocket” size and design.
- It might be fun to shoot candid, fabulous, nightlife photos Andy Warhol-style with this camera!
- But, overall, I found myself yearning for a bigger 35mm camera with more flexibility and options…
TEXOLUX 
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