nostalghia
Member
Hey everyone. This is my first post but I have been enjoying all of the great info by all on these forums for awhile. A question on the Minolta Super 'A' from '57 (also part of '58?):
After acquiring several other lenses for this, i am curious as to whether these lenses can be interchanged mid-roll??? Thanks to all!
After acquiring several other lenses for this, i am curious as to whether these lenses can be interchanged mid-roll??? Thanks to all!
jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
Mind you, I've never handled a Super A in person (although what I've read about it sounds super-cool -- I especially love that curved frosted window that illuminates the frameline!) but going from documentation alone... yes, you SHOULD be able to change the lenses in mid-roll. The Seikosha MX shutter is permanently attached to the body (as is the focusing mount, as you know) so even when the lens is off, the shutter should shield the film from light.
If yours doesn't, it's possible the shutter has a weak mainspring that keeps it from closing all the way. (One peculiarity of the otherwise ultra-reliable Seikosha is that if you want to use the 1/400 top speed, you have to select it before you cock the shutter -- there's a separate booster spring that's switched in for the top speed only, and you have to follow this procedure to engage it. If some past owner didn't, and tried to force it, I can imagine the possibility of the spring getting damaged.)
Anyway, assuming everything is working correctly, you should be able to interchange lenses whenever you want by setting the distance scale to infinity, pressing the lock button in the middle of the focusing tab, and twisting the milled mounting ring in the direction of the arrow labelled "Off."
So, which lenses do you have? My books say that the normal was either a 50/2 or a 50/1.8 (with seven elements!) and that Minolta also offered a 35/3.5, an 85/2.8, and a 100/3.8. I'd love to see a picture of your outfit!
Regards, -- jw
If yours doesn't, it's possible the shutter has a weak mainspring that keeps it from closing all the way. (One peculiarity of the otherwise ultra-reliable Seikosha is that if you want to use the 1/400 top speed, you have to select it before you cock the shutter -- there's a separate booster spring that's switched in for the top speed only, and you have to follow this procedure to engage it. If some past owner didn't, and tried to force it, I can imagine the possibility of the spring getting damaged.)
Anyway, assuming everything is working correctly, you should be able to interchange lenses whenever you want by setting the distance scale to infinity, pressing the lock button in the middle of the focusing tab, and twisting the milled mounting ring in the direction of the arrow labelled "Off."
So, which lenses do you have? My books say that the normal was either a 50/2 or a 50/1.8 (with seven elements!) and that Minolta also offered a 35/3.5, an 85/2.8, and a 100/3.8. I'd love to see a picture of your outfit!
Regards, -- jw
nostalghia
Member
Hi jlw,
Thanks for responding. And yes you are correct, the seikosha does stay closed so changing lenses is no problem. Didn't know anything about the separate booster spring for the top speed (400). I just received in the post today: another Super A body (about 4xxx later than my other) w/ Minolta Meter and 50/2; 35/3.5; 85/2.8 w/ viewfinder (it's beautiful!
; filter case -all with the original Chiyoko leather cases. Sorry it took so long to respond - I was having trouble w/ my little Nikon S50, it hadn't been touched in a couple of months and it was definitely mad at me!
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=70841&ppuser=16725
Thanks for responding. And yes you are correct, the seikosha does stay closed so changing lenses is no problem. Didn't know anything about the separate booster spring for the top speed (400). I just received in the post today: another Super A body (about 4xxx later than my other) w/ Minolta Meter and 50/2; 35/3.5; 85/2.8 w/ viewfinder (it's beautiful!
; filter case -all with the original Chiyoko leather cases. Sorry it took so long to respond - I was having trouble w/ my little Nikon S50, it hadn't been touched in a couple of months and it was definitely mad at me!http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=70841&ppuser=16725
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jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
Thanks for posting that. Great-looking outfit! Looks as if you've got the whole setup other than the 50/1.8, the 100mm lens, and the close-up attachment that's supposed to slide into some reinforced slots on the bottom... so if you ever want to have a complete Minolta Super A collection, you're already most of the way there!
Based on my other experiences with Chiyoko/Minolta lenses of that era, I'll bet these are terrific picture-takers... am I right?
Based on my other experiences with Chiyoko/Minolta lenses of that era, I'll bet these are terrific picture-takers... am I right?
nostalghia
Member
jlw- thanks. i really love this camera, i picked it up in a small town (reaaally small) in the texas hill country at a place that auctions some estate items 1 day a month, i was very fortunate to find one there. i had no idea really what it was; it was sitting outside on a table, in the sun (the metal was burning hot!) and the lens and body was covered in this kind of grease/smoke residue. gave $5 for it, cleaned it up and shot a roll of agfa/walgreens 100 through it. when i picked up the prints, i was so blown away (i couldn't believe the performance of the lens). and so began my search for more info on chiyoda kogaku, early minolta 35s, and their rokkor lenses. i got that second one, thinking i'd give it to my dad (who LOVED mine) and keep the other lenses for myself (but he is a big canon guy, and i found a GIII QL17 on the cheap - and i think this is going to go to him instead .
I wondered what those little slots were on the bottom/front of the body! a close-up attachment? never heard or found any info on this... i meant to ask what books you were looking at...
i think they also made a 135/4.5
for me, who has never even touched a leica, it is perfect for basic street photography - and i am consistently amazed at the pictures i get back from the lab (no thanks to me, of course!). this weekend is going to be fun -some test runs on the canonet and some super A interchangeable madness!!!
. I wondered what those little slots were on the bottom/front of the body! a close-up attachment? never heard or found any info on this... i meant to ask what books you were looking at...
i think they also made a 135/4.5
for me, who has never even touched a leica, it is perfect for basic street photography - and i am consistently amazed at the pictures i get back from the lab (no thanks to me, of course!). this weekend is going to be fun -some test runs on the canonet and some super A interchangeable madness!!!
jlw
Rangefinder camera pedant
nostalghia said:
Great story about how you got involved with Super A-ness! Although I get a lot of my info from the McKeown price guide (an old one; can't afford the new edition anymore!) and the Hove Blue Book (now extinct, I think) my Super A info came from the writing that got me interested in old cameras in the first place: Jason Schneider's "Camera Collector" columns in the old Modern Photography magazine, and their collections in book form titled Jason Schneider on Camera Collecting, Books I, II and III (yes, I have all three!)
Schneider's exposition of camera minutia isn't always 100% accurate (usually because subsequent researchers have unearthed data that wasn't available to him at the time) but overall his writeups are colorful, useful, and engaging. It was a mention in his Super A story (in Book II, I believe) that tipped me off that the slots are for a close-up attachment.
He makes no mention of a 135 lens for the Super A, but that could be one of those things he didn't know about at the time. (If there's a 135 for the Super A, it'll have to have a pretty long minimum focusing distance, because the focusing mount is built into the camera body... correct?)
Although it's great if you just want to enjoy taking pictures with your Super As and sharing your enthusiasm for them with the rest of us, this does point out an interesting direction: If you wanted, you probably could become a leading expert on them, just by spending some time digging up info such as what the close-up attachment looked like and how all the stuff works for picture-taking. Most big-city libraries will have old issues of Popular Photography and Modern Photography on microfilm, and back when I had more time for this type of thing I spent many happy afternoons in the microform department, spooling through issues from the '50s looking for test reports, news stories, or ads about cameras in which I was interested at the moment. You also can poke around at sales or on eBay watching out for manufacturer literature, in hopes of finding illustrations of obscure accessories and whatnot.
Often that's the only way nowadays to find out this kind of info. Of course, another way is to look for yourself -- that's how I learned about the Seikosha shutter's booster spring. I had always wondered why it sometimes was so hard to advance the film on my Minolta Autocord (which also had a Seikosha shutter) and later why it was likewise harder to cock the shutter on my folding Mamiya Six (ditto) when it was set to its highest speed. Finally I just took the front ring off and had a look, and there it was: a little extra shutter hairspring bearing against the blade-driving ring, with a bump on the other end that pushed it into engagement only when the fastest shutter speed was selected. This was a super-smart design on the part of Seikosha -- at all speeds except the seldom-used top one, you can cock the shutter against a softer main spring, and the booster spring is tensioned only when it's needed, so it's less likely to wear out prematurely.
Forcing the cocked spring into engagement by turning the ring, though (rather than setting it first and then cocking the shutter to tension it) required a lot of extra torque on the speed ring, and I could see how that might wear the cam and/or raise the risk of the spring snapping out of engagement... thus Minolta's directive that you select the top speed only when the shutter was uncocked, or so I surmise.
Finding out this kind of stuff is one reason old cameras are fun... especially when they also take excellent pictures!
nostalghia
Member
Yes, the focusing mount is attached the body, but I wonder if 135mm might be streching the limits of any rangefinder, esp. one w/ a build as such? See the link below, its an advert from Minolta from '57, with a NY camera shop. That 50/1.8 mounted (drool!)
http://www.rangefinderforum.com/photopost/showphoto.php?photo=70916&ppuser=16725
I will definitely look for Schneider's publications, thanks for the lead! And off topic, you mentioned the Autocord w/ the Seikosha MX . . . any thoughts on these TLRs and their various shutters and later incarnations? I read a few things online that claimed the Seikosha Rapid was the best shutter produced on these (I've wanted one for awhile and have been holding out until I find one w/ this shutter (but it seems rare, and I think early??))
Anyway, really been enjoying this dialogue, I wonder why no one else has chimed in on this cam. Do most people know little to nothing about it, or do they just think this was some average 35 prod. by Minolta, not really worthy of any discussion? If the latter, I definitely disagree...
Also, the other Super A body I just got has a broken wind-up spool (cracked across the shaft, leading to the leader insert. It seems fairly easily repairable by me but is there any special glue that would be important to use, after lightly sanding the edges to ensure grip?