Updated 28 September 2006

Welcome to the new SWS Security Minox pages

Please read ‘What’s New’ at SWS Security for updates on the entire site.

Note to all who enter here:
I've met many great guys and gals through this webpage, fledgling and experienced Minox collectors alike. I have really enjoyed sharing stories, giving and receiving advice, helping a novice pick out his first precious Minox camera being purchased with hard-earned lawnmowing money to working with some of the wealthiest household names in America (yeah, of course I recognized your names but I figured you'd appreciate someone who didn't fawn all over you!). One of my more memorable sales was to a very pleasant lady in Alaska (Claudia) who was giving a Minox B to her boyfriend for Christmas. They wrote back after Christmas to share the good times they were having with the camera. I love getting mails like that; thanks.

I'll do my best to share what little expertise I have learned with others, patiently and with respect. Feel free to ask any questions; nothing is too basic and no one is born knowing all about Minoxes. Plenty of people have and do work with me and my thick head on technical points of Minoxing.

If you're buying or selling, thanks for the confidence and I'll continue to try to give everyone a little more than they bargained for. If you just have a question or comment, email me anyway and you're just as welcome.

Persons seriously interested in Minoxing are encouraged to join the (free) Submini email list. See link on Minox Links
page. You'll learn a lot more from watching the experts on that list than you'll ever learn from me. Read the mail for a few days before posting for the first time, introduce yourself and you'll be as welcome as one of the regulars. And you'll see that you are not unique in your fascination with Minoxes; that list is full of extremely competent Minox techno weenies who understand!

Thanks, from Steve

If these cameras could talk, can you even begin to imagine the stories they would be able to tell?
Well, while we can not trace the history of all of them, there is little doubt some of them have been used in high level espionage. Intriguing, is it not, to look at the Minox in your hand and 'picture' in your mind a KGB, CIA, or Gestapo agent in the field, photographing documents, enemy operatives, and troop movements... Meanwhile, now and then we can obtain historical information on some of these cameras, as you can read elsewhere on this site.

COMMENTARY BY STEVE ON BUYING CAMERAS:

Here's some more of my suppository remarks many of you have  grown used to who watch my comments on the various Minox lists.

Yes, my Minox cameras are expensive.

Every one of them has been through a CLA, however  (Clean, Lubricate and Adjust). They are guaranteed to be in  perfect working order. If you have not had the pleasure of  sending a Minox camera for a CLA, be aware you will typically spend typically more than a hundred dollars and wait occasionally up to a year for the return of your camera.

Buy one from me and you avoid that additional expense and wait.

CLA prices have gone up DRASTICALLY recently, and turnaround time has too, as a result of Minox Processing Labs discontinuing  any service of Minox, leaving two men to service every bum Minox  in the U.S. and several countries. One accepts work from the general public. The other accepts work only through me.

Yeah, you can buy a camera cheaper from some unknown on ebay. Go ahead. If they will offer a generally high end camera whose  condition usually is better than stated (see my references),  match my guarantee, camera already has had a CLA, can offer  references like mine, will offer free infinite support for anything Minox related whether it involves a purchase or not,  give you a free instruction manual and a free new battery, will  be around to support you and your camera for an indefinite period, then go ahead and get the Ebay camera. I fail to understand why people are so anxious to shop where you  must pay the HIGHEST price to get something in questionable condition with no guarantee from someone who generally knows nothing about what they are selling.

On Ebay, practically every camera listed is "mint" or  "excellent". Once in a while, one actually is.

I especially get a kick out of someone selling a C or an LX or EC electronic camera "working perfectly, but I don't have a battery".

I get calls a minimum of a few times a week from people who have bought Minoxes elsewhere, frequently Ebay, they don't work, and  the seller reminds the buyer the terms of the sale were "AS IS". Or they are incomplete. Or corroded from a rotten mercury  battery someone left in. No instructions. Shutter doesn't work.  Etc.

If you are going to buy on Ebay, do your homework first and know what questions to ask. Put the seller on the spot and buy only  if you get responsive, satisfactory, complete answers. There is a famous saying familiar to anyone who has taken marketing courses in college:

" It's unwise to pay too much, but it's worse to pay too little. When you pay too much, you lose a little money ... that is all. When you pay too little, you sometimes lose everything, because  the thing you bought was incapable of doing the thing you bought it to do. " The common law of business balance prohibits paying a little and getting a lot ... it can't be done. If you deal with the lowest bidder, it is well to add something for the risk you run,  and if you do that you will have enough to pay for something  better. " John Ruskin 1819-1900



Remember the above when you decide a camera from ebay for $50 or $100 less than my price is a better deal. If you get screwed, which is *very* common with ebay Minoxes, I'll still help you  try to get straightened out, but please try to work things out  with the seller first before coming to me. I'm not here to try  to sell you something. My main business, which is manufacturing electronic intelligence systems for government, feeds my family and me quite well, and I do not rely on profits from Minox sales for any part of my business. I am here to share my love of Minox with others, both novices and professionals. I don't know  everything, and compared to the guys I hang with, I know  practically nothing. But I'll try to help.

Remember, I'm not after your money. I'm after you getting the  maximum satisfaction from your interest in Minox, to encourage  you, to advise you, to teach you and learn from you. Yes, I sell  Minox cameras and accessories, and I make sure everyone I deal with feels they got the best part of the deal. Again, read my references. I have at least 3x as many as are listed, but it gets to a point where no one will read them all. I sincerely thank everyone who took the time to write me after their purchase and to share their excitement with me. Some of my regular Minox friends around the world I speak with weekly, and we started with a business transaction. I have collectors around the world who write regularly and we share our enthusiasm over some new acquisition.

I'm here to share with you my love for Minox, and help you get the most out of your Minox experience. Please remember this when  you are deciding who and where to buy.

There are plenty of honest Minox dealers out there, and I  encourage you to work with them also. Just try to find someone  who loves Minox cameras, not someone who treats them as any other commodity.

One last thing -- I actually own, have examined and approved every camera and accessory listed on this page. Unlike others who peddle Minox stuff on various websites, I am not merely  brokering something I do not have, or claiming to have items I do not just to puff out my inventory, or listing extremely rare pieces at outrageous prices absolutely no one will pay, just to  impress people with exotic rare expensive goodies I pretend to have. In these cases, caveat.

Again, my references speak for themselves. And, as a member of the Executive Committee of the Minox Historical Society, in a sense I am in a position of public  trust.

SELLING CAMERAS --

If you have a camera to sell, contact me. Elsewhere on these pages are details on having me inspect and appraise your Minox. Several people who formerly sold all their Minoxes on Ebay now send them to me, because I pay very fair prices for cameras in good  condition, frequently more than ebay will bring, and I pay instantly. I always need cameras and would appreciate being  considered first when you have something to sell.

Thanks ...
Steve