I recently wrote an article for an American website called Casual Photophile giving a few suggestions for which camera a newcomer to photography should consider buying that cost no more than $100. For us Brits that's £75 at the time I wrote this blog. You can read the article by visiting Casual Photophile.com The gist of it is I chose three brands of 35mm compact point and shoot cameras and three brands of cheap 35mm auto focus SLR's you can buy for less than $100, fit a battery and load a roll of film into and go and shoot some film.
The reaction I got from the readers of the article was generally positive, but some do have their own ideas about what cameras a newcomer should buy, a few of which are stupidly expensive. The folk I was aiming the article at are people born this century who maybe never even saw a roll of film never mind shoot one. We are talking school kids, college students and folks in low paid, minimum wage jobs who want to give film a try, but haven't much disposable income. The kind of folk who are unable to fork out $200-300 on a camera.
To be honest this also includes me as I'm always strapped for cash, so I decided to take my own advice and see what camera I could find for less than $100/£75 that I have never used before. After having a think I decided to hunt down a Minolta 35mm auto focus SLR. I have never used a Minolta camera before, so this would be an excellent learning exercise for me. With a flurry of moths flying out of my wallet I headed to ebay.
I have a list of vendors on ebay that I have bought and had great service from over the last few years and it was at one of those vendors that I found what I was looking for, A Minolta Dynax 500si Super for less than $50. It looked to be in great condition on the photo's and came with a 35-70mm auto focus zoom lens and hood, a manual and a remote shutter release. I trust the guy who was selling it as I have bought a few items from him that were, and still are in great condition. I hit the buy it now and a few days later the postman to delivered it to my door.
On first inspection the camera was in better condition than the photos had me believe and I took the time to R.T.F.M. for a change. Anyone who has shot a modern DSLR will be able to pick up the Minolta Dynax 500si Super and be comfortable with it in a few short minutes. The manual is concise and clear and I was soon able to set the camera to manual to give me control over shutter speed and aperture. I loaded a roll of Kentmere 100 and set off for a wander around the neighbourhood.
It was sunny when I set off, but soon became overcast and a 100 speed film was the wrong choice, but it didn't matter. I wanted to see how the camera performed in the hands of a novice and picking the wrong film is a rookie mistake we all make. I needn't have worried as the Minolta handled my hamfistedness flawlessly. From the main road to the local woodland and down past the local farms, my new Minolta handled the overcast conditions with ease.
I was soon back home and developed my roll of Kentmere 100 in Kodak HC-110 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and hung it to dry in my bathroom. The negs looked decent and when I scanned them with my Ion Slides2PC scanner later that evening I was pleasantly surprised by what I managed to achieve with a camera I had never used before. I tidied the photos up with Affinity Photo to remove dust spots and scratches.
I revisited a lot of the shots a few days later when a beautiful sunny spring afternoon was just too good to ignore, again shooting a roll of Kentmere 100 at box speed. This time I began using the auto features, the camera chooses the best shutter and aperture based on what mode is chosen. I used the landscape and close up program modes and the camera nailed the exposure every time. Again I developed the roll in Kodak HC-110 dilution b, scanned it with my Ion Slides2PC scanner and tidied the photos up with Affinity Photo.
Here's a few shots from my Minolta Dynax 500si Super, I am quite pleased with how easy the camera is to get along with and this is the start of a long and hopefully happy relationship with it. As always I have placed the photo's in albums on my Flickr account you can visit using the links below. I hope you enjoy them.
I have opened a Ko-Fi account, I wont lie, the rising cost of living is affecting everyone, including me. If you enjoy my blog and my photos, please consider donating £3 to help me buy film using the Ko-Fi link below. Your support is very much appreciated.
Kentmere 100 - Minolta Dynax 500si album 1
Kentmere 100 - Minolta Dynax 500si album 2
Ko-Fi.com / Jim Graves
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These late film-era Minoltas are terrific first film cameras for people who want to break into the hobby. I've owned a handful of them and they are reliable and easy to use. The Minolta lenses are generally wonderful.
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