Hi Matic 11

[corky]

Got a Hi Matic 11 at a garage sale for $5. Clean, and meter works with replacement non-mercury battery and (budget production) pictures look ok . I'm a neophyte so a few questions.
Am I ok with the non-mercury battery and what's the downside(s)?
Is there a flash I can get? What's availability of used or new and general reliablility?
I don't have a light meter, nor much photo knowledge, so am I ok for the most part just using the auto function outdoors?
Willing to learn and would appreciate comments.

 

[Jon Goodman]

Hi, Corky. You got quite a nice price on that camera! Yes, yes and yes....the non-mercury battery will always spark a debate, but for normal C-41 process film with today's wide lattitude, go right ahead with your battery. If you want something more similar to the 1.35v mercury later, we can show you how to make a little adapter and use cheap hearing aid batteries. The flash...any general electronic flash will work fine. These cameras didn't have "smart" flashes, so I'd just pick up a typical unit and follow the scale on the back of it. If you have trouble finding one, please let me know. The light meter in the Minolta should be ok for you...try a roll of ASA 100 or 200 film outdoors and see how things go. With the model 11, I think you are pretty much relegated to the auto function. That is to say you select the shutter speed, but the camera selects the aperture setting. Good luck. I think you'll have fun with it.
Jon

 

[RichardS]

Got a Hi Matic 11 at a garage sale for $5. Clean, and meter works with replacement non-mercury battery and (budget production) pictures look ok . I'm a neophyte so a few questions.
Am I ok with the non-mercury battery and what's the downside(s)?
Is there a flash I can get? What's availability of used or new and general reliablility?
I don't have a light meter, nor much photo knowledge, so am I ok for the most part just using the auto function outdoors?
Willing to learn and would appreciate comments.

Congratulations. You got it at a very good price. Don't worry too much about the non-mercury battery. It's voltage may be slightly different than that of the original mercury battery but it shouldn't cause any problem. I have several Yashica Electro cameras which originally took mercury batteries and I have substitute batteries in them and get the proper exposure. Enjoy your new camera. As for flash, any small, cheap flash should do.

Dick

 

[phototone]

I have some really great photos taken with my Himatic 11. It has a wonderful lens. I have learned to "trick" the exposure metering when I use the camera on a tripod, to get a smaller f-stop than the camera wants to allow, when I am doing time exposures. Since this camera uses a trapped needle type of auto-exposure, you can "trap" the needle by partially pushing down the shutter release, therefore if you don't like the aperture the camera wants to use, you can either aim the camera at a light source and partially "set" the exposure by pushing the shutter release half-down, then re-aim and shoot. I have also done this with a pocket cigarette lighter, for many of my night shots, where I measure the exposure in seconds, not fractions. I will compose with the camera on a tripod, shutter set on "B", and using a cable release. I will then "flick my bick" in front of the lens, wave it around until I get the f/stop I want, and then partially push the cable release to "set" the exposure, then remove the lighter, and push the shutter release completely down, and count off the seconds of exposure. "One-thousand and One, One-thousand and Two, etc."

If you find that modern batteries give incorrect exposure you can always adjust the asa/iso to a different value to compensate.

 

[corky]

What's the typical shutter speed for outdoors? I can put the camera on AA and it selects the shutter speed for me, right? Or is it best to manually set this? Is there I source I can reference for general situation advice for shutter speeds?

Also, for the flash, there's a setting on the lens where it seems you set it for the distance to photo subject. Can I get some detail on the working of this setting and if it will interact correctly with any inexpensive flash I purchase? And I assume when shooting flash you always set the lens at the flash setting?

Finally, as far as focusing, I can put the images together; however it's a little off vertically. From reading posts, it appears this can be adjusted. Does this affect picture quality? Or as long a I can tell it's focused, am I ok?