Customer Reviews

Minox Digital Spy Camera 5.0 Megapixel, 128 MB Flash Memory and SD Card Up to 16GB, 1.5" TFT LCD Display

5 star:		(0)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(4)

 

 

Mine worked right out of the box - and made very nice pictures. Obviously, these cannot be viewed in really big formats, but they look great up to approx. 1600x1200. However, making a good picture is a rather demanding task, as wobbles and wrong lighting show very quickly. So you either have a very steady hand or you develop a knack for finding surfaces to stabilize your DSC :)

The battery does use up quickly (30-50 pics), but also recharges in 20 minutes. In addition, you may want to buy a converter for recharging with the USB cable at any power outlet.

The flash seems too strong at short distances, but I rarely use it, as pics are great even in low light, if the camera is held stable enough.

In total, this is a nice little gem which demands some knowledge of photography for good results.

I have been using Minox cameras and equipment for many years, but this new camera is not up to the standards of previous Minox products.

The images are very poor quality. The camera claims 5 mega pixels, but only delivers approximately 3. The unit i received was defective right from the factory. the built in flash didn't activate even in total darkness. the clip on flash unit didn't operate at all and the screen mounted in the flash unit was totally inoperable. you could not review pics except on your computer.

the camera didn't come with a real charger or charger cable and must be connected to your computer to charge the battery. the battery also holds a very small charge and discharges quickly.

i plan to return my camera and do NOT recommend this unit to anyone, particularly if you expect the same quality of camera as a Minox 8 1/2 x11 camera. v this item is little more than an overpriced toy!

Despite the reviews that I had read, I just could not help myself from ordering one of these. The size seemed just perfect, and the device itself seemed sleek and sexy. I delayed my order only to confirm that the battery was replaceable (Minox quoted an approximate $20 + nominal labor charge at any camera dealer). Thankfully, I did have the foresight to order it from B&H, which thankfully had a good return policy. The camera I received was, in fact, as sleek as I imagined, and had a great weight to it. Unfortunately, it never would charge (10+ hours), and like the previous reviewer, the flash attachment did not work at all. This wasn't just minimal charge - it would simply not work unless it was connected to the computer.

It was exactly what I wanted when it was connected to the computer: acceptable photo quality, nice lights and interface, very espionage-like. Unhappily, I had planned on using it without being tethered to my computer (crazy me!) so it went back to B&H the next day. So very disappointing too. I really like everything about this camera, except for the unfortunate quality of not working.

I did consider a replacement, but after reading how many other people had received defective units (here and on camera forums) and how I received two devices that would not take a charge made me think the quality control was at an abysmal level, and that anything I might receive would only break in a matter of months.

I would advise people to consider this is if it was at the low low cost of "free", though I might consider one in a few years on EBay if I know it lasted for the owner (but probably not for more than $50).

This little camera is well built, very sturdy and compact. However the only problem is that it's highly possible that you have no way to use it without a computer or external power supply.... The battery won't charge at all. Buyer be aware! I think there might me some effective products out there, many people just got unlucky and received defective ones....But adorama is a great seller. They do a full refund for you if you met an issue like me.

If it only worked as advertised. Right out of the box several functions did NOT work. Picture quality poor. More of a toy camera except for the price. Save your money

Calling this object a "Spy Camera" feels a bit misleading to me. The Minox DSC looks very nice, it is indeed very small, it fits very nicely into an actually beautiful little leather pouch, but a "Spy Camera" this is not.
The little Minox DSC is a Zoran COACH (Camera On A CHip) device that generates rather poor interpolated JPEG images that are often much worse than files coming out of even not very expensive cell phones. The EXIF data of all the images contains a preprogrammed note: "My beautiful picture".
(Clearly the developers of the software had a sense of humor.)

All Images claim to have been taken on January 1st 2009 at 00:00. And something about this camera is so incredibly slow, that most of these pictures end up looking as if they came straight out of a funhouse mirror cabinet attraction. I have encountered some unbelievable distortions. Amazing, awesome stuff. It feels as if one were operating a clinically insane device.

Oh, and yes, it is "stealthy" because it takes pictures quietly (so the photographer can not be sure if a picture was actually taken or not). Yet what the booklets and descriptions omit are the several lights that blink in various colors during the picture taking process; often right in the place where the photographer would not pay attention to them, or where her or his eye is not supposed to look anyway.

So it is very tempting to give this thing zero stars in many categories.

Now, as a toy camera, and as an "experimental" toy camera, maybe even for creative expression beyond the bounds of photography, this thing is fabulous. The colors are rather unpredictable, the photograph itself is pretty unpredictable, even if it was actually taken or not, or when is not completely predictable.
And the images that come out of the little device would take a long time to simulate in even some sophisticated photo editing software:
People appear to be distorted, featuring stretched limbs, they walk through wildly twisted environments, there is a flatness or a saturation of color in this alternative world; everything seems rather unnatural.
The quality of expired film comes to mind.
Abused polaroids.
Lomography feels like Swiss Watch Making compared to DSC MINOX photography.
For those who embrace the unpredictable all very wonderful features indeed.

I have tested the camera by shooting hundreds of images in all light conditions. And I know I will carry this little devil in a leather pouch with me for a long while and probably everywhere. I also made sure to expand its memory to the maximum 16GB, using a micro SD memory card.
This way I do not have to worry to max-out the meager internal storage after just a few dozen shots.

And I guess I will also need to carry around the separate "flash/monitor" unit. It allows to have a peek into the otherwise monitorless MINOX DSC. Files can also be deleted here. Some settings adjusted. (Some). It comes with its own little leather pouch, and a separate cable for charging.

A new version of the MINOX DSC appears to be on the market now. It has a chip that apparently no longer only pretends to have a resolution of 5.1MP but actually has it. (The original DSC interprets from a 3.2MP hardware resolution. And there are no RAW files).
The new DSC also allows to focus the lens. The focus an be adjusted manually. And only manually.
The new generation costs about twice as much as the first generation DSC. Though it looks almost exactly like the first. (It is silver in places where the old one is a rubberized black.)
I tried to record some shots with the new "silver" DSC onto my micro SD card in a photography store.
Unfortunately all of these images were overwritten by the "first generation" Minox DSC once I swapped back the card. The DSC apparently ignores what is on the card? It just writes these strange looking JPEG files in a sequence that is following its internal logic.
Or should I consider the little camera discrete? Spy like?

And the file naming counter is reset every time the card is formatted. So if I am not careful, I could soon end up with hundreds of files that are a "My beautiful picture", have the number 007 and were taken on January 1st, 2009.

Perhaps the date should at least have been set to some day in 1938.
And perhaps the little note attached to all Files should have been changed to "my classified experiment."
(How amazing would it be though if the date were actually the date of the exposure, there were no predetermined "note" that needs to be deleted every time.
And how wonderful would it be if the files coming out of the camera were not tagged with Zoran COACH, but perhaps the name that is still beautiful on the outside of this little camera: MINOX.