Koolzakukumba
Real men use B+W
Great wee camera though my Minolta A2 digital is, it's not much good when it comes to taking night shots as noise levels go way up at higher film speeds. I decided, therefore, to take a Minolta Hi-matic 7s with me on a recent holiday to the south of France with the intention of shooting hand-held.
I loaded it up with XP2 Super and shot everything at either 1/15 or 1/30 wide open at f1.8. Having checked a few scenes with a separate light meter, I knew this wouldn't be far off the mark. Generally, I shot at 1/30 unless there was something I could brace the camera against such as a wall or a door frame.
Surprisingly, most of the shots turned out fine. The exposures were there or there abouts and I lost only a couple of shots to camera shake. However, it did show up some faults in the quality of the Minolta lens wide open. It was OK but not exactly razor sharp and there were signs of coma in some of the pin-points of light from distant street lamps, etc. Flare and ghosting were better than I had expected, though.
It's hard to say if this Rokkor is typical of the 7s and it's possible that, after four decades, it's not performing at its best. I've since picked up a Hi-matic 9 and will do some comparisons to see if there's much difference. It's also quite possible that camera shake has just taken the edge off the sharpness and it has to be borne in mind that depth of field at 1.8 on a 45mm lens isn't great.
Overall, though, I'm pleased with the end results from the 7s which are much better than I would have got from the A2.
Bruce
I loaded it up with XP2 Super and shot everything at either 1/15 or 1/30 wide open at f1.8. Having checked a few scenes with a separate light meter, I knew this wouldn't be far off the mark. Generally, I shot at 1/30 unless there was something I could brace the camera against such as a wall or a door frame.
Surprisingly, most of the shots turned out fine. The exposures were there or there abouts and I lost only a couple of shots to camera shake. However, it did show up some faults in the quality of the Minolta lens wide open. It was OK but not exactly razor sharp and there were signs of coma in some of the pin-points of light from distant street lamps, etc. Flare and ghosting were better than I had expected, though.
It's hard to say if this Rokkor is typical of the 7s and it's possible that, after four decades, it's not performing at its best. I've since picked up a Hi-matic 9 and will do some comparisons to see if there's much difference. It's also quite possible that camera shake has just taken the edge off the sharpness and it has to be borne in mind that depth of field at 1.8 on a 45mm lens isn't great.
Overall, though, I'm pleased with the end results from the 7s which are much better than I would have got from the A2.
Bruce
Beniliam
Out of the limelight
I like the quality of the photos. I have the Canonet QL III 17. I find the exposure very nice. You use 400 iso no? and make a pulse the photos? Its normal that some appear shake, but I find the photos fantastic. The A2 of minolta have a great design, a great features, a great EVF, but poor image quality. How its more important? For me the image quality, other people find that AS is decisive for take good photos. OK... but the grain at high iso is horrible
The photos remember me some Atget and Brassai night pictures
The photos remember me some Atget and Brassai night pictures
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jan normandale
Film is the other way
Try a small tripod and a cheap cable release next time. I think you will find that a lot of the loss of sharpness is due to the camera movement. Also at 1.8 you may also lose some sharpness.
Still, for handheld without a tripod, I would have had to do as you did.
Nice shots
Jan
Still, for handheld without a tripod, I would have had to do as you did.
Nice shots
Jan
Koolzakukumba
Real men use B+W
I deliberately decided against a tripod as this was a family holiday and I was travelling light. However, I should have thought to use the self-timer to trip the shutter as this would have helped reduce any camera shake.
The 1/30 shutter speed gave an ISO of 800. That left some of the shadows a bit dark but that isn't so much of a problem in night shots. I've been thinking about uprating Tri-X to 1250 ISO and/or getting a Yashica Lynx 14 with the f1.4 lens. The other alternative I have is to use my Rolleiflex. With 1250 ISO and the camera braced against my chest on a short neck strap, I should be able to handhold it quite comfortably at 1/15th.
With regard to the image quality of the A2, I haven't had any problems with it at all. As long as you shoot at ISO 64 or 100 then noise isn't a problem. The results I've been getting are better than I was getting scanning 35mm negatives. I've attached a pic I've already posted somewhere else on this forum. The original print from an Epson 2100 is very sharp and the colours are great. The A2 certainly delivers the quality I need for street photography and landscapes and I'm not that easily satisfied!
Bruce
The 1/30 shutter speed gave an ISO of 800. That left some of the shadows a bit dark but that isn't so much of a problem in night shots. I've been thinking about uprating Tri-X to 1250 ISO and/or getting a Yashica Lynx 14 with the f1.4 lens. The other alternative I have is to use my Rolleiflex. With 1250 ISO and the camera braced against my chest on a short neck strap, I should be able to handhold it quite comfortably at 1/15th.
With regard to the image quality of the A2, I haven't had any problems with it at all. As long as you shoot at ISO 64 or 100 then noise isn't a problem. The results I've been getting are better than I was getting scanning 35mm negatives. I've attached a pic I've already posted somewhere else on this forum. The original print from an Epson 2100 is very sharp and the colours are great. The A2 certainly delivers the quality I need for street photography and landscapes and I'm not that easily satisfied!
Bruce
Koolzakukumba
Real men use B+W
Here are another few nightshots I had on my desktop. Same deal as before-7s, XP2 Super, handheld at 1/15 and 1/30.
Bruce
Bruce
hugivza
Well-known
I was given a Himatic 7s a few month's ago and I obviously need to take it out for a spin. The thumbnails look great.
Fedzilla_Bob
man with cat
That 3rd image in the second batch is like something out of an old film noir. Dark and beautiful.