Minolta AL-F and its CLC

[Lobo]

Hi Ragefinders,
i have 2 Minolta AL-F Rangefinder cameras here, bought recently. Very fine cameras, with good buildquality and fitting ergonomics. They are between the tiny 1970s RF like the Konica C35 and its clones and the more massive mid 1960s RF like Yashica Lynx or Electro 35.

But there is one strange thing:
camera No1 seem to be an early one with a Serialnr of 118XXX, still Japan Quality control sticker from 1974. Its Viewfinder is blue tinted. No2 has a Serialnr of 917XXX and its viewfinder is magenta tinted. Both have slightly different Lensring on the front, i will make a pic tomorrow.
I wonder why No1 meters more towards closing the aperture, e.g f=11, while no2 prefers f=8 for the same situation. I took reference with a digital camera and a Gossen lightmeter, where they tend more to f=8.
Also the No1s Meter tend to fluctuate or react more when moving the view slightly, while No2s meter seem to be more stable.
Which one is more accurate?

I know about the Contract Light Compensation System (CLC), where the lower half meter is doubled in sensivity to compensate the bright sky.

 

[farlymac]

Had to dig mine out of the box for a comparison, but it's an older selenium powered meter version.

Two things can affect the meter readings in your cameras. One is the type of battery, as these originally took mercury cells of 1.3v. They had a very flat power curve which meant the voltage level was very constant over the life of the battery, falling off quickly when it got old. Newer alkaline cells have a sloping power curve, constantly losing voltage over the battery's life which is why they are of a higher voltage to start with, usually 1.55v.

The newer meter systems are designed to work with this variable power level, whereas the older systems were not, and thus have to be modified to take modern batteries. The old mercury cells also lasted a long time, so sometimes you can find a camera with one in it that is still working. So first check to see if the batteries are correct in your cameras. An alkaline cell will cause over exposures.

Secondly, CdS meter cells will age out, so it's possible one of your cameras has this issue. Hopefully not. But whatever is causing the difference between the two, most films today have the latitude to compensate for slight over and under exposures, especially in b&w.

As to the viewfinder tint, back in the day when most folks shot with b&w film, a blue tinted viewfinder was appropriate as it helped to visualize the contrast of the scene. Later on when color film became more popular the manufacturers switched to a warmer finder tint that accentuated the colors instead.

PF