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Minolta HiMatic 9
Here is a photo of my newest camera. It’s a Minolta Hi-Matic 9 with Easy Flash. I purchased it from the original owner after he had posted it for sale on Craigslist. He had picked it up in a department store in Minneapolis in the late 60s. I’ve cleaned it up a bit, put a fresh battery in it and loaded it with some expired film I found cheap at a thrift store.
I went with the Wein cell battery replacement since I plan on using the automatic setting a bit and didn’t want the meter to be reading off. I should have bought two batteries as my Minolta SR-7’s battery has died in the year since I put a new one in.
Here’s the Camera Wiki page on the camera. I’ve got to get used to the rangefinder focusing but I’m sure it will be a fun little camera. I think I’ll shoot this first roll on the automatic setting to see how well it works. Hopefully I’ll be getting some fresh film for xmas to really put the camera to the test.
The camera has a nice weight to it but not to heavy for my aching hands/arms. The metal is very smooth and it’s a bit of work to adjust the rings for the shutter and aperture. The film advance lever does have a huge throw so keeping it up to your eye and advancing will take some practice.
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Using up old film in old cameras
Yesterday I got a three rolls developed and scanned! I feel so accomplished!
I bought a 120 roll of expired Kodak Verichrome Pan 125 at an antique store nearby and ran it through the Yashica 124G. This was the second roll I shot through this camera and it is so fun to shoot! Right now I’ve got a roll of Portra 160 in it that I think I’ll use up for my dad’s family xmas this weekend.
I also developed a roll of Fuji Superia that I put through my new Nikon F100 to give that a test. I’ve been very happy shooting the F100. I think I will sell the N8008s since I don’t need two similar Nikons. I really appreciate the autofocus on the F100 and like that it sits at nice place in the Nikon film lineup to use newer and older lenses.
I decided to put an expired roll through my new HiMatic 9 to see if it had any light leaks. When I opened up the back to clean it up a bit after I got it home there was some bits of seal loose. But it looks like nothing to big was missing.
Developing was a nice time in the darkroom. I got a chance to clean up a few things and move one of the enlargers out to sell at a gear swap this weekend. A real comfort was having the space heater in the room that we picked up. I gave myself a refresher on color development with the roll of Superia and old Kodak Gold.
The old roll of Verichrome Pan was a huge what if. It expired in 1972 and I shot it at ISO 6 after some internet research I decided that my Ilfosol 3 might just work. I shortened the time and lowered the temp by a few degrees and I got the shots!
