Minox EC The world's smallest camera

The Minox EC is a subminiature photo camera introduced by Minox GmbH in Germany in 1981. Although it accepts the same 8 x 11 mm film cartridges as the previous models, it's design is completely different. With a low-cost body made of durableplastic, it is often regarded as the poor-man's spy camera. The Minox EC was succeeded by the Minox EXC in the mid-1990's.

The image on the right shows a typical Minox EC camera. The most obvious difference with earlier models is the fact that the enclosure is made of plastic rather than aluminium. Furthermore, the outer shell of the camera has to be removed completely when exchanging the film cassette.

The Minox Model EC was introduced in 1981. It is different from other Minox models in several respects: The body shell (which was made of a durable plastic material) detached completely from the body for film exchange; it had a fixed focus (3 feet to infinity) lens, with a fixed aperture of F/5.6; and it had a proprietary electronic flash.

The EC was updated to the Model ECX in the mid-1990’s when production of the original EC ended.

In 2002, a special edition of 100 classic EC camera sets was produced for the members of the Minox Historical Society and 101 in blue for the First German Minox Club.

Properties of the Minox ECX:

Four-element 15mm Minar fixfocus lens f/5.6
Depth of field: 1m to infinity
CDS exposure meter
Electronically controlled diaphragm shutter 1/500s to 8s
Film speed adjustable from ISO 12/12° to ISO 400/27°
Film loading contact (green LED in the viewfinder)
Flash contact for Minox ECX flash
Body made of glass-fibre reinforced plastic
Dimensions: 8x3x1.8 cm (3.1x1.2x0.7inch)
Weight: 56g (1.96oz)