Minolta Hi-matic F

amhildreth

amhildreth

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I just picked up one of these little beauties in great shape on eBay for $15. Does anyone have some experience with the F model? I understand they were designed to be a "less costly" model of Minolta rangefinder, but don't know much more about it.
 
i've got the HiMatic F, basically apart from focus which is by the rangefinder, they're fully auto, so you have no control over shutter & aperture.
Still, I get nice results from mine, and they are a very nice looking camera!
3515528113_a149ee7018.jpg
 
I have a Himatic E - I think its the same camera except the F doesnt have parallax correction in the viewfinder.
After living with a Contax IIa for several months, the bright clear viewfinder in the Minolta and smooth easy focussing; lever advance, makes the camera a real pleasure to use. AS for the auto metering only, they seem to have excellent automatic meters in them. (I read somehwere its the same system from the Yashica electro, possibly under license) The lens is sharp and contrasty.
Quite frankly its a relief to use a neat little camera like this after living in the 1950's with the Contax. Simplicity! And it cost less than a family trip to Macdonalds...
 
Thanks for the replies. I was informed it was shipped yesterday, so It should be fun to used while my Vivitar 35es is being sent out for repair and CLA. I have one of the CRISS adaptors for my older Petri, and love them. Does anyone know off the top what adaptor #'s I need to order for the 2 batteries in the Minolta?
 
I dont know about adapters, but I use 4 x small SR44 (I think thats what they are - just standard ones) in the Hi-matic E and it works just fine - I have packed some bits of foam around them to hold them in place.
ALthough I only shoot B&W with it; everything has come out exposed just right so far.

(One trick is to keep the lens cap on the camera when not in use, as the meter is always metering and will wear the batteries down if you dont. The lens cap is the "off" switch, if you will.)

They are neat little cameras.
 
Got it yesterday, and what a beauty! It came with the original case, and everything is in great condition. Batteries that were in it are completely flat (expected that), but I'll see about feeding it some modified LR44's and make the magic happen.
 
This probably uses what's known as the "trap needle" autoexposure system.

A large number of other cameras used it -- German and Japanese. It's a predefined range of coupled shutter speeds and apertures, and in some cameras a set of metal jaws clamp down on the meter needle to lock the exposure.
 
The woman I got it from had good batteries in it, she just "flipped" one to keep them from draining. Battery check says they're good and the shutter seems to work fine. With it being automatic, how do I use the GN number to get proper exposure with a flash?
 
amhildreth said:
With it being automatic, how do I use the GN number to get proper exposure with a flash?
Click to expand...

I understand this following way - set GN lever to closest value matching your flash. Then...it depends. Not knowing Hi-Matic, I'll give common idea.

35RC has Flashmatic mode in which, as you focus, appropriate aperture is automatically selected. Speed automatically is set it 1/60 or 1/30 (?). In fact, it automates aperture selection depending of distance. Quite handy, must admit.
 
Thanks, btgc. I'll try yours and see how it goes. When I hook the flash on, the little lightning bolt appears in the viewfinder, so it should at least fire the flash.
 
amhildreth,

Congrats on getting a Hi-Matic F. This is one of my favorite cameras. It is easy to use and produces very nice pictures. I am on my 2nd roll and plan to finish it this weekend. I have a .pdf or .doc copy of the manual for the Hi-Matic F. Email me if you want me to send it to you. Let me know what format you can use.

http://www.flickr.com/photos/camerabear/sets/72157619645231631/
 
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If I can clear up a few misconceptions here...

(I read somehwere its the same system from the Yashica electro, possibly under license)
Click to expand...

Having rebuilt both Yashica Electros and Hi-Matic Fs, I can categorically say the metering systems are completely different.

(This probably uses what's known as the "trap needle" autoexposure system.)
Click to expand...

No, there is no metering indicator in them at all so you don't know what exposure your getting.

One trick is to keep the lens cap on the camera when not in use, as the meter is always metering and will wear the batteries down if you dont.
Click to expand...

The meter isn't always metering. It only meters when you put pressure on the release. At all other times, there is no current drain from the batteries.

she just "flipped" one to keep them from draining
Click to expand...

Waste of time - see above.

And thanks to camera.bear for the manual. 🙂
 
amhildreth said:
Many of them seem to be underexposed, even in decent lighting.
Click to expand...

They don't look underexposed to me - or do you have others?

Under exposure on the Hi-Matic F is most likely caused by the shutter escapement which controls the rate at which the shutter blades open. The rate is controlled so that, with longer exposures the shutter blades open further so effectively giving you a larger aperture. It's quite a neat way of controlling aperture and shutter speed all in one.

If the escapement is not running correctly, the shutter blades won't open as far as they should so reducing the aperture and hence the exposure.

If you're convinced these are under exposed, then the camera maybe needs servicing.

P.S. I just noticed you said you were going to use LR44 batteries. This MAY have some effect on exposure. I've never checked the 'F' for voltage tolerance so can't say for sure. Maybe I'll check mine to see what the effect is and get back later.
 
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You probably can use hearing-aid batteries with rubber "O" rings. I just got one of these cameras. Needs a lot of work, as expected.
 
monopix said:
I've never checked the 'F' for voltage tolerance so can't say for sure. Maybe I'll check mine to see what the effect is and get back later.
Click to expand...

I've just been running some voltage checks on my 'F' and it's very tolerant of voltage changes. With an exposure of around half a second I checked it with a range of battery voltages from 4V down to 1.5V and there was no change in exposure. It stopped working somewhere between 1.5V and 1.25 V.

So I don't think batteries are likely to be a problem.
 
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