Biennial international imaging fair Photokina 2008 was held
in Cologne this year. This is the age of digital imaging dominating photographic
world, but in the midst of it there is an eye-catching rare camera. It
is the MINOX DSC Spy Camera, a miniature camera released by Minox, a subsidiary
of Leitz. It seemed to have been out of the spotlight quietly waiting for
an opportunity, then suddenly reappeared having transforming itself into
an 8x11mm format digital camera.
MINOX-DSC, transformed into a digital camera
Minox cameras were born in Riga of Latvia, one of the three
Baltic states, in pre-war days. Following strange events during the war,
it came to be produced in West Germany in the post-war era. It is not difficult
to imagine that this extra-small precision camera, a little longer than
a cigarette lighter, was frequently and effectively used by spies behind
the scenes during the war, but during the cold war, it was still actively
used. Even after the peaceful time arrived, it was used for industrial
espionage. This camera was probably made for espionage, but it maintains
its popularity because it is made with precision, looks cute, and images
surprisingly well.
This camera is loved by many people in the astronomy community
as well and I know Mr. Tatsujiro Matsumoto and the late Mr. Hidekazu Kikuoka
in western Japan and Minoru Takahashi in Eastern Japan are such people.
The Minox Club with its headquarters in eastern Japan has more than 100
members including me. You will probably know of Minor Planet "Minox".
It was an unforgettable occasion that I photographed the world's largest
telescope Subaru with this world's smallest camera. My Minox follows me
around on my trips. It is a part of my life history.
The Subaru Telescope photographed by a Minox camera
My first encounter with this miniature camera took place
a long time ago. I think I was in my fifth year at elementary school. One
of my classmates had a Japanese miniature camera "Midget" taking
photos of his friends with it very often. It was covered with red-colored
leather and came with a small wallet-like case, looking like a small version
of a Leica. I was dying to get hold of this cute-looking camera. But it
was on the eve of the breakout of the world war. Any commercial goods for
leisure had disappeared completely from store windows.
Soon the world war began. Goods became increasingly scarce
and our daily life became difficult. One day a friend living about 300
meters away from my home sent me a message with flag signals. In those
days telephones were rare in ordinary households. There was no internet,
of course. After getting back home from school, we used to get up to the
rooftop and exchanged messages using two white flags skilfully. This way
we "talked" about homework and other things, asked questions,
and exchanged any messages we liked. Because of the war-time situation,
flag signaling at junior high school was a compulsory subject at school
and all the students were very good at it.
Here we wander away briefly from the main story. Right before
the end of the war, a girl student sent off a young pilot who took off
in his special attack force fighter (on a suicide mission) from Chiran
Airbase in Kagoshima. She had been adoring him very much and wanted to
send him her last words. However, her voice did not reach him sitting in
the plane because of the enormous roaring of the fighter's engine preparing
for a takeoff. With her quick thinking she sent him her last message using
flag signals. The pilot, reassured of her unwavering love, bravely headed
for the battle fields in the south. It is a beautiful and yet sad story,
but flag signals made unexpected contributions at a time like this.
Now I will going back where we digressed. One day my friend
sent me signals unrelated to homework but for something else, a rather
unusual message. His two white flags sent me simple secret codes which
read "Found a Gucci at a black market". Gucchi may sound like
the name of a TV personality, but actually there was a camera called Gucci
and it was sharing a popularity with "Midget" in the miniature
camera market. Cameras being sold in a nearby black market were completely
beyond children's allowances. But eventually I succeeded in coaxing my
generous mother to buy me a Gucci I had been dreaming of.
I remember that when I got interested in the stars for the
first time, I was able to buy a simple telescope kit, thanks to my mother's
graciousness. This, needless to say, became a trigger for my future serious
observing and discoveries. Even now I am grateful to her and never forget
her unending support.
I was able to buy the miniature camera after going to great
pains, but I never imagined an unexpected serious incident was going to
happen to me under a brutal wartime situation.
