|
|
Post by nikonbob on May 5, 2007 12:03:51 GMT -5
I had some luck yesterday at a local thrift store and picked up a Minolta Hi Matic F for $3.00. When I got it home the the VF cleaned up nicely and the shutter works when batteries were added. I hope to put a roll through it today. If the lens is as good as the one on my Minolta Hi Matic E it should give good results. If you are a control freak this is not the camera for you. The only thing you can do manually is focus and maybe a bit of exposure comp by playing with the Asa settings. It should be interesting to see the result. As you can see it is very compact. Bob  |
|
|
|
Post by herron on May 7, 2007 15:27:34 GMT -5
Not having one of these, I wonder how much you can "cheat" the ASA setting to fool the camera for some of those backlit situations (which are tough with many cameras)? Is the ASA range very large on this? It certainly looks like a neat buy for only $3.00!  |
|
|
|
Post by nikonbob on May 7, 2007 18:24:41 GMT -5
I was planning on trying to use changing the ASA settings as a form of exposure comp for those backlit situations, but have not yet. It looks like the ASA runs 25 to 400 and a bit so you actually have quite a bit of range there.
Bob
|
|
|
|
Post by nikonbob on May 8, 2007 11:44:53 GMT -5
It is no good changing the ASA as comp because the camera changes the f stop to compensate for the ASA change. I should have thought of that before.
Bob
|
|
|
|
Post by herron on May 8, 2007 11:50:11 GMT -5
You're right!Bummer! 
|
|
|
|
Post by craigh on May 8, 2007 22:23:15 GMT -5
I have an Olympus 35EC. It's very similar with no shutter speed or aperture adjustments but with zone focusing. The manual says to adjust the asa speed for any adjustments.
Craig
|
|
|
|
Post by Rachel on May 9, 2007 8:27:27 GMT -5
It is no good changing the ASA as comp because the camera changes the f stop to compensate for the ASA change. I should have thought of that before.Bob But isn't that what you are trying to do? |
|
mickeyobe
Lifetime Member
Resident President
Posts: 7,280
|
Post by mickeyobe on May 9, 2007 11:00:20 GMT -5
Why not use flash for backlit subjects. Just be sure to meter from the subject, not the background.
The tiny Minolta electroflash 20 is a perfect match for this little camera.
There are numerous very small flash units available, often in the junk boxes of a camera store.
Mickey
|
|
|
|
Post by herron on May 9, 2007 14:13:54 GMT -5
It is no good changing the ASA as comp because the camera changes the f stop to compensate for the ASA change. I should have thought of that before.Bob But isn't that what you are trying to do? Yes, but the fundamental problem remains...without any manual control, as the aperture changes, so does the shutter speed...so underexposed areas in the shadow of the backlight are still underexposed!  |
|
|
|
Post by nikonbob on May 9, 2007 18:23:42 GMT -5
Yea, that is the problem. The camera keeps the same exposure even if you change the ASA by juggling the F stops and speeds. If you had control of either the F stops or the speeds you might be in business.
Bob
|
|
PeterW
Lifetime Member
Member has Passed
Posts: 3,804
|
Post by PeterW on May 9, 2007 18:48:28 GMT -5
Ron, you said: I think you're absolutely correct, Ron. The only way I've found to 'fool' auto settings is when you use an external flash gun with a sensing 'eye' and which also has an ASA and/or aperture setting. I've used my big Metz hammerhead for this and got a nice small flash that lit up the shadows without burning out the highlights. It's great for shots against the light, what used to be called 'synchro-sunshine' in the old pre-automatic books. Without adjustable sensing on the flash you could, instead, use a fairly dense plastic 'diffuser lens' over the flash, but these also tend to make the flash rather 'wide angle'. I've also used the same technique with the Metz and a Canon A1 or F1 when taking pictures in bright sunshine around mid-day of cars and trucks at rallies and meetings. I exposed for the body of the vehicle, and used a long flash extension cable to aim the flash under it at ground level to avoid having it 'sitting on a black cushion'. With a small flash output (hardly noticeable in bright sunshine) I still got a darker area under the vehicle, so it looked 'natural', but with plenty of shadow detail. A tripod comes in very handy for this sort of thing as it gives you a hand free to hold and aim the flash. Now you know why a lot of pros lug a tripod and flash around these sort of meetings, or even when taking shots around ancient buildings - it's not because they can't hold a camera steady. I got some peculiar looks from other photogs at times, but variations on that little spot of automatic equipment foolery sold quite a lot of pictures to auto magazines and calendar publishers against floods from amateur photogs with AE cameras trying to follow one of the 'make cash from your camera' type of correspondence courses. Then they wondered why their pictures didn't sell (Can't understand why not; they were nice and sharp!!  ) I suppose the same sort of dodge could help with pictures of a railway loco, but I haven't tried it. Mind you, today's digital SLRs seem to be able to get good shadow detail without old-fashioned dodges like this, but our old-fashioned film cameras often can't. PeterW |
|
mickeyobe
Lifetime Member
Resident President
Posts: 7,280
|
Post by mickeyobe on May 9, 2007 18:56:17 GMT -5
A little more about the Minolta Hi-Matic F. This shows it with the Minolta flashomatic 20 flash gun.  This is also a Hi-Matic F but with a difference. It has a self timer. McKeown's does not list it and I have, so far, not been able to find any mention of it. So, it remains somewhat of a mystery.  The brass screw in the film advance lever was somebody's idea of a repair. I am about to replace it from a "parts" camera. Mickey |
|
|
|
Post by paulatukcamera on May 10, 2007 5:53:53 GMT -5
Just checked mine - identical to your top one.
Had a thought - my five year old grandson has got a non working one I gave him - is it one of these rare perforation varities with timer worth $000s! Must upend his toy box!
Paul
|
|
mickeyobe
Lifetime Member
Resident President
Posts: 7,280
|
Post by mickeyobe on May 10, 2007 10:11:12 GMT -5
Paul,
" - is it one of these rare perforation varities with timer worth $000s!"
Not possible. If I own one it's probably worth less than normal.
Mickey
|
|
|
|
Post by camerastoomany on Jun 5, 2007 3:10:49 GMT -5
I believe the Hi-matic F was the cheaper version of the E (it has a slower lens), which has a self timer. Perhaps after an initial production run, Minolta decided it still wasn't cheap enough so dropped the self timer. Anything seems possible in the world of camera production. I have a Hi-matic FP which is just the black version of the F. ........... Geoff
|
|
)