![1970 minolta camera 1970 minolta camera](https://miro.medium.com/max/1280/1*whtTGfQsZZfBpECwmlgIQg.jpeg)
In conclusion: I’m very fond of using the Minotina-P. After viewing that one has only to put one’s eye to the finder and compose the picture. There you can see indicators for distance and exposure settings. The window on top takes care of it all, though. It does not have a rangefinder, I forgot to say. The distance is also visible on the lens. Focusing is easy with click stops in the common positions, that are also indicated with symbols in the same window as exposure. For flash mode the shutter time is 1/30th of a second. You move the green marker by turning the EV marked ring on the lens. On the top of the camera there is a window where you align a green marker with the red one which indicates the exposure reading. The exposure system is based on EV-values and a selenium powered exposure meter. The lens is very short so the camera fits in a jeans pocket. It feels much more compact and less flimsy and has an exclusive feel even.
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The camera is distinctly smaller than the AL-F, but weighs as much. In conclusion my AL-F is a somewhat limited but still flexible compact with a great lens.Īnother flea market find was the Minolta Minoltina-P. Minolta had a specific idea about an ‘ideal’ focal range for consumer cameras. I don’t think it’s a coincidence that Minolta’s excursion into Leica’s M system (with the CL and CLA cameras) had them introduce the ‘odd’ focal range 40 mm lenses to the M-mount rangefinder cameras. Today I’ve changed my mind and prefer 50 to 75-ish mm lenses but in search of photographs with some context around the main subject the 35-40 mm range is very comfortable. The 38 mm lens is a focal length that I’m very used to due to my extensive use of single use cameras and my XA (35 mm focal). Mostly it was family snaps outdoors, and some landscapes.
![1970 minolta camera 1970 minolta camera](https://img0.etsystatic.com/104/0/7163458/il_570xN.967121286_25n9.jpg)
![1970 minolta camera 1970 minolta camera](http://austerityphoto.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2015/01/DSC_6573rv.jpg)
I used the AL-F as my main camera for close to a year and was never disappointed in the pictures I got. Then the camera will only expose at 1/30th of a second in default flash mode. In fact, when the light is low, if I want to expose at aperture 4 I can set the GN value at 56 (m). I won’t use it in direct sunlight but in other conditions with a 200 ASA colour film pictures don’t come out over exposed. As I got home I found out that it won’t work with a battery, so has a default aperture of f/2.7. It was my first rangefinder camera (after my Olympus XA). I found it in a flea market and since focusing and exposure were correct I bought it. Someone’s either closed a car door on it or did something drastic with a flash still in the socket. I’ve never had an issue focusing this camera, and the focus throw is very short which I appreciate a lot.Īs you can see the profile of my specimen isn’t straight. The lens is a Minolta Rokkor 1:2.7 38 mm. The camera chooses aperture depending on which shutter time you choose, unless for flash where the aperture is based on the GN value of choice. (The Canonet QL17 GIII is just about the same size.) It has shutter priority exposure as a default setting, and is powered by a common Weincell 1,35v battery. The largest (actually, only by a few millimeters) is the AL-F. That would spoil any intimate or curious situation. I could never muster it schlepping along an intimidating brick of a DSLR with tele-lens. Also the lenses have a good reputation for producing high quality exposures, which goes for all Minolta’s different camera series.Īs you can see from the choice of photos illustrating this post I take huge pleasure in documenting the life of my daughter and other family and friends. That environment produced these actually very diverse cameras in the span of just a few years. Then the fact that they are grounded in the hugely saturated and competitive market of fixed lens consumer cameras which dominated the 1960s, that boosted innovation and clever ideas (Green Button!). The design, I must admit, is a major starting point for my interest. But actually they are complex and sometimes luxurious pieces of engineering.Īs a mostly fixed lens compact user (not much SLR-ing, here) these cameras are right up my alley. If one only looked at the price tag of these models they could be just crap. I have a crush on these compact Minolta cameras manufactured in the 1960s.