Out of the closet

It's about time I started to bring out my first SLR camera - Minolta Dynax 505si (bought it for SGD800 5 years ago in Singapore). After fiddling with my Canon G2 camera for so long, I am really curious of what this old film camera can do and how pictures will look like. I'm not an expert but at least now I am more familiar with terms like shutter, aperture, spot meter, slow sync, etc. My photos from this camera used to be lack of color and brightness. I'm guessing it's due to white balance and lack of flash power. In fact, I can safely say that most film camera produce photos of wrong white balance ie. too yellow, green or blue. Could it be due to bad photo development or bad film or bad camera or just bad user? I just don't know.

MINOLTA 505si CAMERA SPECIFICATIONS European Name : Minolta Dynax 505si super American name : Minolta Maxxum HTsi Plus Image Size : 35mm Focus Type : autofocus w/ manual option Metering : spot matrix Extra Meter Comments : 14 segment matrix and spot (2.7%) metering Field of View : 0.9 Shutter Speeds : 1/4000 to 30s, B Lens Description : Total of 38 Maxxum AF lenses, ranging from 16mm f/2.8 fisheye to 600mm f/4 telephoto. Three macro lenses. Bracketing : yes Film Advance : auto (2.0 fps) Depth-of-Field Preview : No Built-In Flash : yes Multiple Exposure : yes Mirror Lockup : no Interchangeable Back : no Batteries : Two 3V CR2 lithium batteries Weight : 360 g. (13.6 oz.)

But first, I think I need to buy a more powerful flash for it. My current one is the Minolta 2000xi, which lacks the distance and power. (The Program Flash 2000xi is a compact unit featuring simple operation. It features a 35mm angle of coverage and has a maximum guide number of 20 in metres at ISO 100. A wideangle adapter also provides flash coverage from 35mm down to 28mm.)

Specifications Exposure Control: Direct through-the-lens (TTL) autoflash metering in all flash exposure modes. Guide Number (in metres): 20; 16 with wideangle adapter. Power Source: Four AA-size 1.5 V alkaline-manganese batteries. Recycling Time: 0.5-4 s. Dimensions: 67 x 61.5 x 92.5 mm Weight (w/o batteries): 140 g

After using my Canon420EX flash on my G2, I'm very confident a better flash makes a lot of difference in terms of exposure and lighting. So, here I go again.... shopping!

Possible choices are in Minolta website and my favorites are as follows (probably cost another bomb). Compatibility is the priority here :-

1. Program Flash 5600HS(D) This newly-developed high powered flash enhances your indoor and night photographs. It offers a maximum guide number of 56 in metres (at 85mm and ISO 100). And it aligns to all speeds of the high-speed shutter. This, coupled with its compact design, increases its effectiveness and versatility as a System Accessory.
2. Program Flash 3600HS(D) New and improved features take the Program Flash 3600HS(D) to another level in lighting photography simplicity. This unit provides the maximum guide number of 36 in metres (at 85mm and ISO 100). It offers high-speed synchronization in all shutter speeds. And it is equipped with a built-in auxiliary light. It boasts improved flash-metering performance that reduces or eliminates the effects of background conditions, all from an ultra-compact body. I think this is the most likely candidate, considering the price.
3. Sto-fen #OM-PZ8 Omni-Bounce for Minolta 3600HS and Pentax AF-360FGZ - The Omni-Bounce creates a diffused bare bulb effect, giving even coverage across the entire frame, with lenses from 15mm to 200mm in the 35mm format (and equal in other formats as well). The Omni-Bounce is easy to use and goes onto and off the flash in seconds with custom fitting (except for UNI model) and no velcro. Designed for years of service without the bulk of some other diffusers, it is small enough to fit easily into a gadget bag or pocket.

Following is a detailed review of the camera (I wouldn't have done any better) from a minolta user:- Two years ago I wanted to buy a camera to accompany me on my travels. At the risk of sounding 'snobbish' I wanted something I could use to take photographs rather than just holiday snaps. What I wanted was an SLR. But what to choose? With prices ranging from £100 - £1000 (and more!) I had to think long and hard. I didn't want to spend more than £300 as an absolute maximum but I wanted something that would introduce me to photography gently. Something that would allow me to take holiday snaps as well as exercise a bit more creativity. The Minolta 505si fitted the bill admirably, and still does although there are now perhaps better cameras available. The first thing you notice about the camera is that, for an SLR, it is small. And light! Even with a standard lens attached, it's probably one of the lightest SLRs you are going to find. This means that carrying it around with you is no problem, be it slung around your neck or clutched in your hand ready to shoot. Speaking of lenses, you generally have to choose at purchase time whether you want a 35 - 80mm or 28 - 80mm lens. I opted for the 28-80mm lens and would advise anyone considering this camera to do the same. Both are zoom lenses but, as you would expect from the numbering of the two, the 28-80mm lens covers a wider range. What this means in practice is that when the lens is 'zoomed out' to it's minimum setting, a photograph from the 28-80mm lens will, for example, show more of the horizon than the 35-80mm lens. You pay slightly more for the 28-80mm lens option, but it does give you a bit more flexibility when taking pictures. The lens mounting will take any standard Minolta Autofocus lenses so you can add/change lenses in the future. The camera has a built in flash which, while not particularly powerful, is useful provided you are not too far away from the subject. It also has a number of program modes which aid the beginner in taking phot ographs. In normal operation, the flash will pop up and fire when the camera thinks a scene is too dark. This can be over-ridden however and the flash can be set to either off, on, auto or "red-eye reduction". In red-eye reduction mode, the flash actually fires twice... once before the photo is taken and once whuile the photo is being taken. I have found that this has a tendency to produce photos in which most people have their eyes closed. While this undoubtedly reduces red-eye, it doesn't lead to an attractive picture. In terms of opreation, the camera offers a complete set of features from fully automatic point-and-shoot type modes right down to fully manual where every setting must be selected by hand. In between these two extremes there are Seven program modes including Macro, Portrait, Landscape, Action and Night-Time. Each of these modes changes the behaviour of the camera slightly to favour the subject of the photo. In Landscape mode for example, the emphasis is placed on ensuring that as much of the scene is in focus as possible whilst in Action mode the emphasis is on as fast a shutter speed as possible to try and freeze the action. Using these modes helped to introduce me to the theory behind photography as I would set a mode and see what shutter speed and aperture the camera selected for a particualr scene in a particular mode. As I became more familiar with the effects the aperture and shutter speed had on the output, I started to use the other program modes on the camera; Aperture Priority and Shutter Priority. These two modes allow you to manually change either the aperture or shutter speed with the camera automatically adjusting the other value (for example in the case of aperture priority mode, you set the aperture and the camera changes the shutter speed) to ensure that the photograph is not over or under exposed. All of these settings are controlled via a simple selection of clearly labelled buttons and d ials on the top of the camera body. There is an LCD display that tells you all the stuff you need to know (how many pictures you have taken on the current roll, Flash on/off/auto, Aperture & Shutter speed for the current scene (with the shutter release button half pressed) and a low battery warning are the main ones. Things are made even easier by the autofocus mechanism in the lens. By simply pressing the shutter-release button half way, the camera is activated. It determines how light the scene is and (depending on your program mode) sets the aperture/shutter speed accordingly. It also starts focussing the lens, which using the 28-80mm lens that I got with the camera, can take anywhere between 0.5 and 2 seconds. The autofocus also has a number of modes, Single Shot, Automatic or Continuous. Single shot focusses the lens on what it thinks is the target and eaves it at that; Continuous focus is intended for tracking moving objects and will see the camera continually 'tweaking' the focus as you move the camera; Automatic tries to determine which of the two other modes is most applicable to your current situation. Autofocus can, like pretty much everything else on the camera, be turned off but unless you really need to I would advise against it. There is nothing in the way of focussing aids through the view finder so using manual focus is a bit of a hit-and-miss affair, especially considering how freely the focusing ring moves! There is also a built-in 10 second self-timer that can be activated and you can also set the camera to motordrive mode (at 2 frames per second) or set it to take multiple exposures on a single frame of film. Of these the timer is by far the most often used. Finally, there are 9 customisable features covering things like whether the film is rewound automatically, whether you can take a picture before the autofocus has finished etc. To be honest, I didn't really find myself using any of them that mu ch at all. All in all, it's a fine introduction to SLRs. You can pick it up straight away and start taking photos, leaving it set to fully automatic but as you get more confident/adventurous you can start to exercise more control over your picture taking. It has interchangeable lenses so you can add to your collection to give you more flexibility and it has an accessory attachment for a more powerful flash. It's small (for an SLR) light and relatively sturdy and makes good use of the batteries as well. In the last 2 years I've taken hundred of photos with it (probably only a handful and halfway decent but that's not the cameras fault!!!) and not had any problems. Any gripes? The camera I bought didn't come with a remote release facility, although Minolta later saw fit to add one. The lack of focussing aids can be a bit of a let down at times. Advantages Small Light Easy to use Disadvantages Lack of Remote Release Manual Focussing not easy