THE CASE FOR MINOX

There was a Minox case from the earliest days. Today Riga cases are very scarce and, when available, sell for more than many Minox cameras. With the advent of the II, III, IIIs (or A as it was known in Europe) cases became available with the now famous Minox Chain. But the compact case without chain never lost its appeal either and the belt case continued to be available up through the C camera. Variations of those basic styles were made in colors besides black and brown. I have seen green, red, and natural pigskin cases for the regular Minox line. Gorgeous special cases were also made for the gold and silver presentation models.

	Two similar snap-top cases for the Riga camera. There was a zipper case as well. These images were provided by James Jones, and I have no other information about them.
	Standard case for the II, III, IIIs (Model A). These brown pebble cowhide cases were the first to have a grommet for the chain. Although made of high quality materials, the passing decades have caused many of them to become brittle. The closure loop and the hinge are particularly vulnerable. Sometimes seen in black (standard with black cameras), green, red, and tan pigskin. Gold models had alligator hide cases which were never offered seperately (see one below).
	Alligator hide case for the gold IIIs (Model A). Click on the image at left to see the gold IIIs camera, meter, and matching cases. These were never offered seperately from the gold camera. Note that even the chain fob is alligator hide. Image by Mr. James Jones.
	Always sold as an accessory, the belt cases for the III and B cameras were never common. Their popularity with owners has caused many of those to be worn to fragments so they are very rare today. Black smooth leather and brown pebble leather are all I have seen.
	Tan pigskin case for the Minox Meter. These cases are fairly rare and can command rather high prices. There was a matching version for the Minox IIIs cameras as well.
	Standard case for the B camera. Occasionally seen in black smooth leather, even with polished aluminum cameras. Also made in green and red. As with the IIIs, the gold B came with an aligator-hide case. This case suffers from the same problems of age as the IIIs, with the closure loop and hinge frequently broken.
	I stand corrected. Here is a picture of the B case not only in red, but in blue! I have never seen a blue one, nor even heard of one prior to seeing this picture. This was supplied by James Jones, who has sent me some other very interesting jpegs, which I will organize and post soon.
	Belt case for the B. Notice the change from a leather belt loop to elastic in this example. Very early B belt cases were made with a leather loop, just like the IIIs. All B belt cases with elastic seem to be black. A correspondent informs me that he has a version he purchased new mwny years ago with a grommet for the chain. Many more of these were made than for the IIIs, but the continuing popularity of the B, and usefulness of this case causes it to command a high premium when they are offered, occasionally $100 or more for a nice example.
	Everready case for the Minox C. A new camera, a new case design. The C case has a "fold back" flap that allows the camera to be used while in the case. This design continues unchanged except for size through the LX to todays TLX model (see below for LX case). Larger image shows case open and closed. Provided by Mr. James Jones.
	Belt case for the Minox C. Still no grommet for the chain. Design is a scaled up version of the late B belt case. Black is the only color I have seen.
	LX everready case. Identical to the C everready case except for size. This one is a somewhat uncommon burgandy color rather than the usual black. I cannot imagine why such a beautiful shade was not chosen for the standard color. As far as I know, no other cases were offered for the LX and later cameras.

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