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As remarkable as the Minox camera is, the Minox enlarger is an equally impressive feat of engineering. Practically any standard photo enlarger can be used to make prints from Minox negatives, but the Minox enlarger has many features that are lacking in even the most expensive equipment on the market. Some of these features include: a heavy duty cast base, sturdy chrome plated column, small footprint, 15mm f/3.5 lens (just like the one in the camera) for razor-sharp images, removable lens board/negative carrier/condenser unit (on later models), hi/low power lamp intensity switch, flip out diffuser, and copy stand capabilities. And best of all,   it's especially designed for the 8 X 11 mm Minox format,  and can easily make enlargements to almost  11 X 14 inches.

The history of the Minox enlarger starts with the original Minox camera made in Riga, Latvia in the late '30's and early '40's.. The Riga enlarger was designed as part of a system that included camera, developing tank, and many other accessories. The Riga enlarger was a small unit made almost entirely out of bakelite (like the Minox developing tank), and due to its small size, was only capable of making enlargements up to about 5 X 7 inches. Finding a Riga enlarger without any cracks in the bakelite housing would be a rare find indeed. It is a highly prized collectors item.  The Minox model I was a big improvement, built like a tank with a massive chrome column. It was produced from the late '40's until around 1952, when the Minox model II arrived. The model II proved to be an excellent design, with it's slanted column, brighter image, and smaller size. It is probably the most popular Minox enlarger in use today. Around 1971, the Minox model III was introduced, and was constantly refined until production of Minox enlargers finally ceased around 1988.

I was recently very fortunate to find a late Minox model II enlarger in almost perfect condition. No, I didn't find it on Ebay, but in a classified ad at the Minox Processing Labs site. I also got a Minox developing tank, a Minox tripod with adapter, case, and clip-on right angle mirror from the same seller. There are plenty of used Minox enlargers out there, but be careful, some of them can have parts missing. With a little patience, you can find a good one for a fair price.. When looking for a Minox enlarger, I wanted to see some close up pictures of the unit to help me better understand how it worked and what to look for. Other than a few pictures here and there, I couldn't find much on the web. So I decided that when my enlarger arrived, I would take pictures of it inside and out and put them on this page. The picture at the top of this page is NOT my enlarger, but appears identical in almost every respect. All the rest of the pictures below ARE of my enlarger. I simply couldn't get a full shot of mine in my tiny darkroom without a very wide angle lens. Click on the thumbnails below to get a full size view.

 
 
 

This is a close-up of my Model II. Some may consider this one a Model III, but since it has the curved negative carrier along with the Complan lens, technically it's a late Model II. Earlier Model II's don't have the removable lensboard/negative carrier/condenser unit. Some also lack the flip-up diffuser. The Model III uses the newer Minox lens with a flat negative gate. The only differences between a Model III and the Model II pictured here is the lens/negative carrier, the lack of the "fingers" sticking up at each side of the film guides, and the newer Minox logo. In addition, some of the newer Model III's lack the connection point on the back for the copy arm attachment.   This Model II  was bought by the original owner around 1969.

This is the "neck" of the enlarger. Behind the lens board is the locking lever that clamps the negative in place. Behind that is a black rectangular button  that is pressed down to release the lens board assembly, allowing it to be slid out toward the operator. Directly below that is the chrome release lever that allows the head to slide up or down the column. The chrome button at the rear engages into detents in the column corresponding to standard enlargement sizes.

Here the lamp house has been removed by pressing a small catch at the rear of the housing. You can clearly see the special 6V6A lamp with the offset filament which faces down toward the baseboard. Behind the lamp is the reflector, which is spring loaded. The socket depth is adjustable by using the knurled ring on the outside of the housing. If the socket is removed, the chrome ring surrounding the hole covers 3 adjustment screws to further align the lamp.

With the lamp house removed, we can see the collimator disc that lies just beneath it. The disc rests on the rim of the lower assembly. The  early model II is different in that it has 3 slots in the outside of the disc that locks it onto 3 screws. The reason for this is that the early model II has a tilting head for access to the condensers. Since this type of  head does not tilt, there is no reason to lock the disc into place.

The collimator disc is a plano-convex lens that is frosted on one side. The holes surrounding it are for ventilation. Some enlargers don't have the collimator disc. It's unclear as to whether this was added later, or some of them were simply lost over the years. As far as my enlarger is concerned,  the disc increases the brightness of the image dramatically.

A view inside the head showing the flip-down diffuser in the upright position. It is  held in place by a spring catch. Some of the early model II's didn't have the diffuser. This would be easy to check by looking on the left side of the neck for the diffuser lever, if there is no lever, there is no diffuser. The diffuser softens the light before it gets to the condensers, which tends to slightly reduce contrast, greatly increase exposure time, and hide scratches and dust that may be on the negative

This is a close-up of the lower head with the lens board assembly removed. As seen in this picture, the serial number is etched into the head. The serial number can also be found on the id plate under the base, on the top front of the column guide rail, and on the lower front edge of the rubberized baseboard. The lens board itself has a separate 4-digit serial number. The round black knob is the diffuser control, and below that is the negative pressure lever. Unlike the early model II, the lever is on both sides, making it simpler for left or right handed users.

Here is the lens board/negative holder/condenser assembly removed from the head. It makes cleaning the lens and condensers much easier than on the early model II. Also, gaining access to the negative masks is much simpler. By rotating the masks 90 degrees, enlargements can be made from 16mm movie film. Minox also sold masks for regular 8 and Super 8 movie film.

This is lens board assembly upside down, with the lens cap removed. The lens uses a helical focusing mechanism, and has no aperture! Just like the Minox camera, the lens is designed to be used at its optimum aperture of  f/3.5 at all times.

The condenser assembly is held to the lens board by a bayonet mount. A slight turn counter-clockwise releases it, revealing the negative masks below. These are the masks that can be turned 90 degrees for enlarging frames from 16mm movie film. My model II uses a curved field lens, so the masks are spherical. Later, the Model III used the flat field Minox lens, so those masks are also flat.

At the base of the enlarger, we find the high/low lamp intensity switch, and the power plug. This version came with the standard equipment plug used by most computers. Other Minox enlargers used various types of plugs and line cords since they were sold all over the world.

Here is the special spanner wrench used to tighten the column retaining ring underneath the baseplate. This, like the lens cap,  is an often lost item. The tool is made from aluminum 8mm thick, with 2 steel pins 45mm apart. The length of the handle is 79mm.

This is the identification plate mounted  underneath the enlarger base, showing it to be a type 2203.