Minox is an established brand in a niche all its own.  Well maybe not all its own, there are others out there in the space it occupies, but these are mainly low quality copy cats and not really competing with the Minox.  The niche is very small, and Minox invented it:  the spy camera.

Though the Cold War is all but history, Minox continues to make mini cameras which for all intents and purposes, really are spy cameras.  Minox designed cameras to be small and easy to hide and carry.  These cameras were also designed to shoot pictures unobtrusively, in the best possible resolution.

The company started in the late 1930′s and has weathered the transition from film to digital cameras quite nicely.  The latest products maintain the mindset of the mini-camera.

The new Minox camera is named the Agent M DSC (for Digital SpyCam). The Digital SpyCam is a 5MP camera in a very small form factor of of just 86 x 29 x 20 mm.  With a bright 1.5 inch viewfinder, you can take spontaneous, fast shots, even in low light condition. And when in doubt, the integrated flash switches on automatically.  Pictures are stored in mini-SD card (capable of storing up to 16MB of files) aside from the 128MB built-in memory.  It’s also capable of shooting 320×240 video in AVI-format.  Without the flash unit, the camera weighs 90 grams.  Aperture is f/3.0 and the focal length is 8.5mm, equivalent to 42mm on a 35mm camera.  It may not have optical zoom, but it does have 4x digital zoom.  Minimum focusing distance is at 0.5 meter.  The pictures can be downloaded by a USB 2.0 connection to a PC running Windows or Mac.

Another new product is the Agent M Digital Sunglasses Camera.  Looks like an expensive pair of sunglasses (with replaceable lenses too), it has a micro video camera integrated in one earpiece which can be controlled remotely and inconspicuously.  The other earpiece has an MP3 player.  Though I think it would be a bit suspicious wearing one of these indoors and away from the sun.

There’s also the Agent M Digital Belt Camera which masquerades as a belt buckle and enables videos being taken without being noticed.  The camera records in 3GP format with the controls within easy reach on the underside of the buckle.

Something more  common is the Agent M Digital Pen Camera.  This is a real working ball-point pen with a micro video camera which records in AVI format.  It also has a microphone integrated in the pen clip.  Videos are downloaded via a built-in USB port.

And there’s the special Agent M Spy Sunglasses 180°.  So called because it allows the wearer to see behind his back.  The secret is in the mirror-coating on the inside outer edges of the lenses, acting like rearview mirrors.  And like any other pair of decent sunglasses it also has UV protection.

These products may look like novelty items or toys, but Minox has been manufacturing well-designed durable miniature cameras for the past 70 years.  Going digital, these are not your grandfather’s tools.  Some companies make instant classics, and Minox is one of those.