Tag: md

Olympus Trip MD

This camera has been in my cupboard a while so I am not sure quite where it came from. The reason it took me a while to get to it…it was covered in gunk from the bag. The edging on the bag just melted and ended up all over the outside of the camera. Yuck. Once I cleaned it off the camera I washed the bag too. Then replaced the seals as they had also turned to mush.

 

For a popular camera line, there is surprisingly little about this version on the net. This German site has the most technical information. From that site I gathered the shutter speed is fixed at 1/100th and changing the film speed changes the aperture. Apart from changing the film speed, there is nothing to this camera, a simple point and shoot. There is a red light in the viewfinder if the conditions are too dark. I used a 400asa film and it nearly always lit up.

The test roll below confirms its issue…they seem underexposed. There is no metering at all, the red light just acts as a warning to use the flash. You really have to judge the conditions by light experience and knowledge. Remember the speed is 1/100th and use the sunny 16 rule. The camera is fine in bright light, but then move the film speed up or down if the conditions change.

 

I took the camera around Ghibli Museum..not inside as no cameras are allowed…and then to the giant Godzilla head at Hotel Gracery. Despite the exposure issue, the images do see quite sharp. I didn’t know about the lack of metering and I am tempted to try it again with my own film speed advice. But really, I didn’t love the camera and it seems a bit of a waste of film. I much prefer the original trip or even the AF.

Keep or sell: given to a friend due to moving countries.

 

 

 

 

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Minolta Hi-Matic AF2 MD

This camera is from 1982. There is a lot of information about the AF2 online, but not too much on the MD version so I am struggling to link to anything. Anyway here is the camera.

I took a few pictures of things that I had issues with to remind me to write about it at this stage. I don’t have the camera in my hands so I am working on memory. I did find this tiny entry on the web, you will have to use google translate to read it in English. It does state the shutter speeds and apertures are from EV 6 (F 2.8 1/8 sec) ~ EV 17 (F 17 1/430 sec). I think the MD means motor drive, but I can’t confirm that. I did try the AF-D and that had a film advance lever so I am confident with my guess.

Using the camera is easy, just point and shoot. There is a red light and audible beep if there is not enough light. The flash on this version did not work, so I decided to set a limit – I would only take shots of buildings. So off I trundled to Odaiba and got to shooting.

As I had recently found a few expired films in a junk bin I loaded one of those into this funky camera. I had a couple of issues with the camera. The date imprint would randomly turn back on, I think the cover was pressing on the button. Plus the rewind did not work. That meant I had to put the camera in a dark bag and rewind it manually. This was another film I brought back to the UK for developing at Picture Lizard.

Here are the test shots.

For an expired film, the shots are great. The sky is especially impressive, with the highlights showing good detail. This is why I love film. There aren’t many digitals that would capture this amount of detail and sharpness.

Keep or Sell: Actually I threw it away. With the flash issue combined with the rewind fault, I didn’t see the point in keeping it…but now I have seen the photos?? Would I buy another? No, I have the Nikon I tried recently and a plethora of others. BUT, I would recommend it to others. Any of the other Minolta AF versions would be great if you happen upon one.

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