Minolta Dynax 4 - An Affordable Entry Into Film Photography

A friend of mine decided he needed to sell a few cameras to thin out his collection and one of them was a Minolta Dynax 4 fitted with a Minolta 28-80mm f/3.5-5.6 kit lens. He listed it on ebay with three other cameras that were attracting bids, but nobody was interested in the Minolta. I figured I would help him out and started the bidding at £10.

A few days later, it was the only bid and I was the new owner of this very clean camera and lens. To be fair he wasn't expecting much interest in it and was glad it sold to someone he knew would use it. He duly despatched it to me and a couple of days later it arrived. Knowing how well my friend cares for his cameras I wasn't surprised at the condition. It looks like new and the lens is clear and free from dust. I purchased some batteries for it and set about learning how to use it.

The Minolta Dynax 4, called the Maxxum 4 in the Americas and the Dynax 3 in the Asia Pacific region, was introduced in 2002 and was on sale until 2004. I soon discovered that this light weight, plastic, auto focus camera was listed at the top of the lower entry level, aimed at beginners who want an easy to use SLR with enough features to help them hone their skills over time. It was also at a price that wouldn't be beyond reasonable reach of most people.

It's the kind of camera that you can carry around all day every day with no effort and capture photos good enough to hang on the wall using full auto, the various scene modes or fully manually. The standard Minolta 28-80mm zoom, sold as a kit lens with the camera, is not the fastest zoom lens, but certainly a solid performer and capable of producing excellent photos.

I learned it is very similar in operation as the Minolta Dynax 500si I bought for my grandson a couple of years back and does everything that camera can do. Shutter speeds are from 30 seconds to 1/2000th of a second with bulb mode and a self timer. It has scene modes for portrait, landscape, macro, sport and night photography. A film DX code reader is built in and if you want a little more creative control the iso can be manually selected ranging from 6 - 6400. There's also a built in flash too. I loaded a roll of Agfaphoto APX400 35mm B&W film and headed out for a wander to try it out.

That wander turned out to be indoors at Salford Museum and Art Gallery on a day out with my wife and our pal Keith who came to visit. The good folks at Salford Museum and Art Gallery were great to let me and Keith loose with our cameras. Their conditions were "No Flash" and we had to sign an agreement not to sell any of our photos. We said we would send them some photos and signed on the dotted line.

I upped the iso to 800, set the camera to aperture priority and took a deep breath, I knew I might have to breathe like a sniper for this one. I was glad I upped the iso to 800 as it gave me enough shutter speed to keep camera shake at bay without having to shoot wide open all day long. Even the couple of photos I took in the dimly lit Lark Hill Place street exhibit were well exposed. My entry level Minolta Dynax 4 with its kit lens performed admirably and I managed to shoot an entire roll as we wandered around Salford Museum and Art Gallery.

I developed my roll of APX400 shot at 800 iso a couple of days later with Kodak HC110 dilution B for 11 1/2 minutes at 20 celcius. and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it the next day with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2,5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the raw files with Affinity Photo 2.

I have to say I am rather impressed with how well my photos came out. The Minolta Dynax 4 was on the market at the end of the glory days of film and was discontinued after 3 short years. The inevitable move to digital by all the big players saw them discontinue all film camera production by 2006 which left only disposable and simple plastic cameras left in production to the present day.

If you want to learn film photography, you can pick up a Minolta Dynax 4 and it will feel instantly familiar to those who have been using DSLR and Mirrorless digital cameras. It has all the famiiar functions and presets that were designed in the 80's and are on all modern cameras today. They are also in the class of "Plastic, Auto Focus" film cameras that dont get a lot of love and consequently are dirt cheap to buy. Mine was £10 well spent.

Here's a few favourites from our day at Salford Museum and Art Gallery. if you want to see them for yourself in all their colourful glory, the museum is open all year round and it's free to get in. Donations are of course welcomed and there's a café for drinks and snacks if you like to have a break during your visit. More information about Salford Museum and Art Gallery is available via their website using the link below.

Salford Museum and Art Gallery

Sakura Hanami with Harman Phoenix 200

 For this years Sakura Hanami, I wanted to see how Harman Phoenix 200 handled the pink, green and brown hues of the trees filled with cherry blossom. Despite the almost constant dark, wet, cold, dull and gloomy days here in Wigan, I managed to get out on a reasonably bright, yet overcast day in mid April that would diffuse the light and hopefully make the colours pop. I chose to again use my Olympus OM10 with my 28mm f/3.5 and 50mm f/1.8 Zuiko lenses. I loaded my film and toddled off out.

The Cherry Blossom never fails to impress me with it's full spectrum of pinks interspersed with the dark colours of the branches and green leaves. This year, despite not being the warmest start to spring I have noticed over the years, the Cherry Trees had once again taken their chance to put on a superb display for us. The overcast sky did try to let a little sunlight through, but for the most part it was diffuse light.

As I was enjoying the beauty of nature, a couple stopped their car, got out and started taking photos with their phone cameras. It was nice to see it's not just me that appreciates the cherry blossom near my home. Spring always brings a smile to peoples faces as they climb out of the winter doldrums and see the earth awaken with colour.

I was having a lot of fun hunting nice flower heads and generally documenting the display for 2024 that I hadn't noticed I had almost ran out of film. I took my final photo and made my way to the next part of my walk to try out my recently purchased second Balda Baldax, loving named Baldy Jr. Once that was done I headed for home to have a well earned rest and a cuppa tea.

I sent my roll of Harman Phoenix 200 back to Analogue Wonderland for developing. I was very impressed with how my first roll turned out and I was happy to send my other rolls to them. It takes a little time, but it's worth it to give my Harman Phoenix 200 to a proper lab for developing. I would also rather not have it sitting in my fridge for months waiting for me to shoot enough colour film to make it worth my time buying a C41 kit.

When I got my negatives back from Analogue Wonderland I had a good look at them. The conditions gave me a chance to explore Harman Phoenix 200 when shot in diffuse light. It loves to be exposed on a bright sunny day, but an overcast day was a challenge to get my exposures right. I had put my faith in my OM-10 and it's excellent aperture priority metering when maybe I should have gone with my instincts.

I shot it at box speed on a grey day when the sun didn't quite manage to shine through the overcast sky. I could have rated it at 100 or maybe even 50 iso to gain that extra exposure time. However, it does make for a different aesthetic that I would not have got with my favourite Kodak ColorPlus 200. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, but we live and learn for another day.

I know the two are miles apart in terms of research and development, but ColorPlus is the cheapest colour film in Kodak's current roster. Harman Phoenix at the very least needs to be on par with Kodak's cheapest film in a wide range of lighting conditions and I reckon it will in future iterations.

I digitised my film using my Nikon D700 (I was counting on it's dynamic range and bespoke colour profile to help me out), Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed my RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

When I started processing my RAW files I could see the potential for next years Cherry Blossom season shot on Harman Phoenix 200. I like to keep my editing simple and the auto functions in Affinity Photo usually do the trick with a little sharpening and small adjustments. Colours are decent, there's still that red halation and my exposure settings aren't the best. Some did need a little more work, but that's ok, it's all part of the fun of editing. They were easily tweaked in Affinity Photo 2. I just need a sunny day to get the best from this film.

Here's a few Cherry Blossom photos from my roll of Harman Phoenix 200 shot with my Olympus OM-10 and Zuiko lenses. I know they are much different to my previous Sakura photos over the years, but that's fine by me. Harman Phoenix is an experimental film and will take time to perfect. In the mean time it's fun to experiment and give Harman as much data as possible. I have placed them and a few more in an album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Sakura Hanami - Harman Phoenix

Frugal Film Project 2024 - May - 35mm

 I am always leaving things to the last minute and it's something I will forever struggle with. Don't ask me why it keeps happening, I have no idea, it just seems to work out that way. Thus it was that I went for an afternoon walk around the local farm on May 31st 2024. I loaded my OM101 with Kentmere 400 and headed out to say hello to the horses who are back in the fields for the summer. One day I will do this in the first week, not the last.

I had taken a couple of shots in Wigan a day or two earlier and I just wasn't feeling it. I was more concerned with finishing my medium format film, so I left it and I was glad I did to be honest. The light was never going to magically become perfect, it was a hazy afternoon, but better than a few days earlier.

I always enjoy seeing the horses in their fields. They have become accustomed to the strange human with the clicky box thing coming to say hello. They were waiting patiently for their humans to come and see them when I arrived. Horses are quite pragmatic, they tend to trust those who care for them and know when it's time for their humans to arrive. They will also not turn down a treat from passing strangers.

This is a strict NO! If you're walking in the countryside, don't feed or touch any livestock you may encounter on your travels. Horses can get Colic from a number of things, at best it is very painful and can be fatal in the worst cases. You don't know if a horse or a pony has a special diet, so it's best to leave their food up to their humans. You can say hello, horses don't mind you stopping by for a little chat, but it will be a one way conversation. I don't mind that, I was having fun and it seemed like I was only out for 10 minutes when I finished my film and headed home.

I developed my roll of Kentmere 400 with HC110 1+31 dilution B for 6 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi 35mm film holder, Pixl-Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

I enjoyed my walk to visit the horses. It's always good to get out after a few days of rain and cloudy weather. Here's a few of my favorites from my May roll of Kentmere 400 35mm B&W film for the Frugal Film Project 2024. I have put them and more in my Frugal Film Project 2024 35mm album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2024 - May - 35mm

Frugal Film Project 2024 - May - 120 medium format

 This month is a tale of two parks, Peel Park in Salford and Mesnes Park in Wigan. I took Baldy the Baldax on our visit to Salford Art Gallery and Museum and, as nature had blessed us with nice weather, I took some shots looking down into Peel Park. The park is noted for being a location in the film adaption of the Harold Brighouse play, Hobson's Choice. It's where the characters Maggie Hobson and Willie Mossop go courting.

Peel Park is not a difficult place to get to. Salford Crecent railway station is close by and my wife and I intend to make a day of it next time we visit. From our high vantage point I could see the lay out was quite ornate and I took a few long shots alongside some shots of trees my wife pointed out for us to photograph. There is a ramp leading down into the park, but Keith was a little worried his faithful chariot would not have enough power to make it back up. I must admit I would have struggled walking up it.

Sadly we had to leave Salford and make our way home, we've had one parking ticket on our travels and we do not intend getting another. We will be back someday as it was an enjoyable afternoon outing, but we might need a sherpa to carry us up that hill after exploring Peel Park more thoroughly.

I needed to finish my roll of film and I made my way into Wigan several days later to capture some shots of Mesnes Park, the jewel near the centre of Wigan, loved by residents who enjoy spending time there or just using it as a part of their walk into town. Mesnes Park was built in the late 1870's - early 1880's and given to the people of the town to use for leisure time after a long week down the mines, in the mills or at the iron works.

Peel Park was built in the 1840's for much the same reason. It was also the first public park in the UK paid for with money donated entirely by Public Subscription. The people of both Salford and Wigan make full use of their parks and it's nice to be able to enjoy some nice scenery on a sunny afternoon.

Both parks were also refurbished in the early 2000's with help from grants awarded by the national Lottery Heritage Fund and the staff at both work hard all year round keeping them looking their best. It didn't take me long to finish my roll of Ilford HP5 120 medium format film in Mesnes Park and I headed home.

I developed my film a couple of days later in HC110 1+31 dilution B for 5 minutes at 20 celcius and soon had it hanging to dry in my bathroom. I digitised it with my Nikon D700, Tamron Adaptall 2 90mm f/2.5 macro lens, Valoi medium format film holder, Pixl_Latr and A5 size led light pad. I processed the RAW files with Affinity Photo 2.

Sadly not all my photos were up to standard as light leaks are once again plaguing Baldy the Baldax. It has to be the bellows that are failing, which to be fair are doing well for 90 years young. I have one more month and then Baldy will have done a full year. I will shoot my June roll of Ilford HP5 and then decide on wether to bring on super sub for the remainder of the year. I have to be honest I didn't think Baldy would get this far and has exceeded my expectations. Tough choice coming up I reckon.

Here's a few favourites from my May roll of Ilford HP5 shot for the Frugal Film Project 2024. I really enjoyed getting out and about and photographing two beautiful green spaces right in the middle of Salford and Wigan. As always I have placed them and more in my Frugal Film Project 120 medium format album on Flickr you can visit using the link below. I hope you enjoy them.

Frugal Film Project 2024 - May - 120 medium format