Minolta 16II, Amazing little camera

[Nokton48]

My Mamiya Enlahead (16mm Enlarging Attachment) arrived from the UK today.
It works perfectly on my little Beselar 67 Dichro Enlarger.
Makes a projected image from 2"x2.5" to whatever size I require.
Quite a clever little device!


2016-04-28 16.34.38 by Nokton48, on Flickr

 

[Timmyjoe]

That is adorable. Congratulations.

 

[Nokton48]

That is adorable. Congratulations.

Thanks Tim. I think it will be fun to make some wet prints from some of these submini negs.

2016-04-30 11.36.53 by Nokton48, on Flickr

The fun is continuing and I've loaded some HP5+ to shoot next. I've learned NOT to run the film through the slitter oriented incorrectly, it tears the edges of the roll. Some loss factor but also a lot of success.

I've ordered ten more film cartridges, and a Minolta 16QT (since I have a lot of film to load and use). Above ^^ Joe McGloin (from Subclub) has on Ebay Russian plastic "coffins" that fit the Minolta cartridges -perfectly-. So I am loading up on them, since my cartridges need some extra plastic boxes.

 

[zuiko85]

What size print are you thinking about? I generally find 5X7 with a 1/4 inch border about right for enlargements from my 10X14mm negatives. A bit grainy with the Eastman 16mm movie film but still acceptable, at least to my eyes.

 

[Nokton48]

What size print are you thinking about? I generally find 5X7 with a 1/4 inch border about right for enlargements from my 10X14mm negatives. A bit grainy with the Eastman 16mm movie film but still acceptable, at least to my eyes.

When I was printing a lot of 35mm I preferred 5x7" prints. Perfect for my needs and looked great.
And it is economical with expensive printing paper.

If I can get that from my 16mm I will be a happy camper 😀

Eastman 5222 is probably my favorite film. Will be loading up some soon.

 

[Nokton48]

So now I have loaded some Double-X to go with the HP5+
Are the batteries for the 16QT still available?

2016-05-01 11.43.48 by Nokton48, on Flickr

 

[Timmyjoe]

I don't believe so, I use a 1/3N battery. Same voltage

 

[Nokton48]

I don't believe so, I use a 1/3N battery. Same voltage

OK Thnx! Great info.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Okay folks, time to start posting some pics from these cameras. Nothing spectacular, just to show what these little cameras are capable of.

These are all Kodak Double-X (7222) B&W motion picture film (finally got around to processing some of the rolls I showed in a post above):

Okay, don't leave me hanging' out here, someone else post some images please.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Timmyjoe]

And I finally got around to processing some Plus-X that I shot in the 16QT. I find it a lot less grainy than the Double-X:

I hope this gets others motivated to post images made with these cameras.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Nokton48]

Minolta 16 #1 by Nokton48, on Flickr

Here ^^ are my first four Minolta 16 rolls, the top two are Tri-X, the bottom two are Efke 25. I had quite a few "duds" from AG1B bulbs not firing, but I have since sorted that out. I also have a light leak that I need to sort out. These four rolls were processed in straight Microdol-X. There appear to be a few "keepers". Need to figure out how I am going to scan these (Recently I bought a refurbed Nikon L2000 scanner). And of course I can wet-print with the Enla Head.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Hey, that's a good start. On the second and third strip down, looks like there might be a bit of a light leak.

If your Nikon L2000 has the capacity to scan individual 35mm slides, one thing I did years ago when I had a similar Nikon scanner is I made a "dummy" slide out of thin plastic stock that was 1/2 the thickness of a regular slide (you sandwich the two pieces together), and cut a center section out of the "dummy" slide, the exact frame dimensions of the little 16mm images. I taped the two plastic pieces together along one edge, so I could lay them out flat on a table, put the 16mm strip down on one side, line up the frame I wanted to scan, then close the two plastic half's, making a "dummy" slide that had the 16mm frame right in the center. It's a slow process, but it worked.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Nokton48]

That's a great idea. Yes I can scan individual slides with the L2000 so I will give that a try. I'll have to find the holder, I've never used it.

 

[Timmyjoe]

The other thing that would probably work, if you don't have the plastic, is a couple pieces of cardboard, as long as when they're sandwiched together they about the same thickness as a regular 35mm slide.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Timmyjoe]

Just processed the last of the backed up rolls of Double-X.

Not usually a hip shooter, but I liked this one:

Was doing my usual commute, train, El, bus, El, Train:

All Double XX (7222) B&W motion picture film shot in Minolta 16QT. Grain gets a bit intense at times, but still a fun camera to use.

Hope this encourages others to post. I love seeing what kind of pictures folks can get from these old miniature cameras.

Best,
-Tim

 

[Jake Mongey]

I want to shoot some film through my 16 mg which is in mint condition still packaged in plastic but i dont want to break the seals!

 

[Timmyjoe]

I do believe the cameras were made to take pictures, but to each their own.

 

[zuiko85]

Great shots on the L Tim. From 1969 to 1978, durning my 20's l lived in Chicago. Came there from rural southern Indiana to find work. It was fun, my favorite places, in order, were the Adler planetarium, Museum of Science and Industry, and the Field Museum. Chicago was where I bought my first serious camera, a Minolta HiMatic 9. After 30 years, in 2008 I returned for a visit and my Chicago was just gone. The only surviving camera store in the Loop was Central, there had been at least 9 or 10 in the mid 70's if you count Wolk's three locations, and Shutan Camera that was just outside the Loop. For an aging film dog like me it was all too sad.

On a more upbeat note you are making me want to try to find a good QT again. I've have looked at four over the last few years and not one worked. All were in cosmetic good shape and two of the four had frozen focusing tabs. I'm thinking I'll try one more time, perhaps it was just a run of misfortune. This time I'll disassemble the camera and fix it if I can get a really good deal. The focusing lens and larger negative are just too tempting.

 

[Timmyjoe]

The things I like about the QT are the bigger negative, the focusing lens, and the built in light meter. Makes it a pretty much self-contained system that you can pretty much shoot anywhere with nothing else to carry.

 

[Timmyjoe]

Yeah, Chicago just keeps changing. Moved here originally in 1987, when there still weren't lights on Wrigley (lived down the street from the ballfield). Moved away in 1990, came back in 1996, totally changed. Lived here until 2005. Moved back in 2008, again, many changes. My old neighborhood (Lakeview) is almost unrecognizable from when I first lived there in 1987. I'm an old fart, so naturally I liked it better the way it was. But what can you do.