MINOLTA

(21.Jun.2020) Today is Sunday and it’s a bit grey out there. Nice weather, incidentally, for taking a walk in the Copenhagen Botanical Gardens looking for pretty flowers to picture in subdued light.

In fact I’ve plans in this general direction if the weather stays dry. I’ve even made an appointment with an old photo-friend, an elderly gentleman that’s been living in Copenhagen for many years although being a native of NewZealand. He’s really an artist but likes to do street-photography and flowers.

As he’s never learned to speak danish effectively I have to practice my english on him. This is quite appropriate, as I happen to speak english very poorly. I fancy this is due, mostly, to lack of practice, I really never had a chance to practice my english to any appreciable degree. I speak (or spoke) german almost like a native (or rather like someone from Holland, they say), but certainly not english.

Only problem is, that my friend – like all photographers I know – is heavily left-brain dominated. Hence with a very poor situation-avareness, and actually quite difficult to converse for me.

But today I’ve brought a camera as a gift. As he has a very small pension and, sadly, a deteoriating eyesight I’ve finally managed to grasp that he needs an auto-focus camera. He mostly fetish mechanical cameras from the sixties, I believe, but he seemingly only rarely focus them accurately with this poor eyesight.

Incidentally I’ve chanced to find an old issue of the british magazine ‘Photography’ from the late sixties among my books, featuring a coloured photograph of a London Lord Mayor and that I hope to remember at some point to present to him, as he’s – ostensibly – a great-grandson of a London Lord Mayor. But he lives on a very modest pension and of course has to be frugal.

But as it happens I’ve had a Minolta Maxxum 5000 laying around for some time. Bought several years ago at fleamarket for all of 50 Kr (7,50 dollars), although being in a condition like new and with a lens.

The Minolta Maxxum’s in my view are greatly underrated analog cameras. They are of superp build quality and user convenience and it’s a bit strange that no one want them. Perhaps they just look a bit too much like the digitals?

For my own photography today I’ve brought a newly acquired analog classic from about 1980 (I believe), the Minolta SRT-100x. This is a late and slightly spartan version of the widely sold SRT line. They are generally solidly built and dependable, perhaps slightly unsophisticated work-horses for the committed amateur.

This one I bought yesterday at one of my favourite dealers for the princely sum of 100 Kr (15 dollars). The reason the dealer wanted to get rid of it cheaply probably is that the former owner had engraved his initials in it; these rather common cameras probably only are selleable in pristine condition.

The camera came with a standard 50mm f.1,7 lens, and everything is in nice working condition. One problem with the SRT-line is they are designed to use mercury power-cells (formerly named PX.13) rated at 1.35 volts. But this size of cells now are rated 1.50 volts and I believe the SRT-cameras are not fancy enought to compensate for the added voltage.

At any rate the light-meter on this sample is off by just about one stop; i.e. it underexposes one stop if not compensated when adjusting the ASA/ISO setting.

But I’m all set and will shortly by headed for the Botanical Gardens with the Minoltas.

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