I have a friend who delights in giving me cameras to try. Unfortunately, they don’t always work. Then, if they do work, there are often other issues at play. This camera experience was no different. Just when I thought things were going to go smoothly, I had film issues. Once I had sorted that, another gremlin reared its head.

But first, let’s have a look at the camera:

A classic Minolta rangefinder from the late 1950s. It has a top speed of 1/2000th, which is very impressive for the era. They accomplished this by reducing the apertures available at the top speeds. You can see a red line running from f8 to f22, which corresponds to the red 1/2000th, and a blue line from f4 to f22 for 1/1000th. As the shutter doesn’t open fully, it can achieve these higher speeds. At the time, it was the fastest camera available. That link has some great example photos.

I am glad I used this example on a dull day, so I never had to remember the aperture selection restrictions. Though I think even I can follow a colour-coded message. I shot both my example films at 1/125th only.

The V2 is all mechanical, with no light meter. It is made of metal and glass, which gives it a heavy, sturdy feel. Another bonus, my friend’s camera had a pretty good rangefinder patch. So all looked good, yes??

Well, I did see some marks on the back element, so I expected some haze or aberrations, but that was it. The camera’s actions were smooth, so I loaded a roll of bulk film and started shooting. I shot one image, and then the whole thing jammed up. Then I heard the sprockets rip. What??? I checked it, and everything was smooth??

I opened the back, and sure enough, the film was ripped and torn. But, this was not the ordinary sprocket film tears; this was torn and mangled. Then I saw a piece of gorilla tape sticking out of the cartridge. There is no way that got in there when I was bulk rolling the film. I do not need gorilla tape during that process. It must have been in the cartridge before I rolled it. I didn’t take a photo of any of this; you will just have to take my word for it. I have never had this issue before, but I have never used a plastic cartridge from a cheaper film before…and I won’t again.

Well, I removed the tape and thought that was the end of it. The film was now running smoothly through the cartridge and camera. Perfect…nope…then I developed the film. These were taken in Blackpool and on my first trip to Fleetwood. Here is a lovely video walk of the area, perfect if you want to hear an interesting English accent.

Clearly, the gorilla did more damage than I thought it had. Hopefully, it had not deposited any droppings elsewhere in the camera. There was only one way to find out: reload it…with a half roll.

This time I took the set-up to Jervaulx Abbey, during a break in the rain. The results had the haze I suspected, but no damage. Phew.

The haze isn’t overwhelming and doesn’t significantly distract from the images.

So in conclusion, I liked the camera. If it had a clear lens, I would be more than happy to use it again. With the haze present, I am happy to return it to the owner with no regrets. Interestingly, Mike Eckman has yet to find a working example, so my friend has one up on him. That will please him no end 🙂