Soviet Minox — Tochka-58 camera.
Soviet»Minox» — Tochka-58 camera
In the late 1950s, Soviet designers were able to improve the world-famous Latvian-German camera «Minox», which had long been considered the most optimal in this class of photographic equipment in terms of such parameters as dimensions, quality and reliability. In 1958, a unique prototype of «Minox» with a winding spring mechanism for transporting film and cocking the shutter was created, which received the rather strange name «Tochka-58».
Designed for covert photography of people and their actions at a distance of 1.5 — 3 meters, the «Tochka-58» camera was attached under the employee's clothing, on the upper part of the body using rubber straps. Photographing was done through a special transparent tie pin, through a hole that was punched through a tie made of thick material, making a beautiful tie suitable only for «dark deeds». Aiming the camera at the object of photography was done «blindly» and therefore good preliminary training was required to obtain the desired photographs.
The shutter was released from the trouser pocket using a remote control handle, which could also be used to change the shutter speed. Full winding of the Tochka-58 spring provided automatic shooting of 25-27 frames, after which the employee had to wind the spring again unnoticed. The Tochka-58 worked almost silently, which was a great achievement at the time.
In addition to the tie, other photo covers were also made for the Tochka-58, including everyday wearable items such as radios, document bags, and even eyeglass cases.
At first, standard plastic Minox cassettes with the proprietary AgfaPan100 film 135 microns thick or with Soviet 35 mm A-2 film 150 microns thick and 250 GOST sensitivity were used as photographic material for the Tochka-58. The domestic film could be cut into 9.5 mm wide strips using the cutter included with the Tochka-58 camera. The USSR also mastered the serial production of disassemblable metal cassettes of the Minox type made of a special light alloy. The cassettes could hold up to 36 frames of standard A-2 film, and with the advent of Soviet films on a thinner lavsan base, the number of frames could be doubled. Thinner films required very careful loading of the cassette, which was entrusted only to experienced technical staff. The negative size of 8.5 x 10 mm ensured high-quality photo prints, provided that the exposure was correct and the subjects were sufficiently illuminated.
Later, a modernized model «Tochka-58M» with a viewfinder appeared, which allowed this camera to be used for classic photography with visual aiming at the object. The viewfinder could also be successfully used for documentary photography of a sheet of paper with text, drawings or A4 photographs. The lens «Tochka-58M» already had a graduated scale for smooth adjustment of the focal length with marks of 0.35 — 0.5 — 1 meter and infinity. In addition, the film channel of the new camera was improved for smooth movement of the film, to eliminate its scratches and «jamming» of the cassette.
The emergency services began to actively use the new camera, the development and serial production of which in the late 1950s can confidently be called a significant achievement of Soviet designers and manufacturers. The camera «Tochka-58» in its technical parameters, reliability, ease of preparation and use could successfully compete with world models of special photographic equipment of the post-war years.