Minoltina P

Has anyone ever used one of these? It's a compact half-frame, zone

focus Minolta from the early 1960s with a Rokkor 38mm f/2.8 lens.

I've been trying to figure out how to adjust the shutter speed and

aperture on this camera. Some sources on the Internet (and they are

few) say the shutter is "programmed" - I'm guessing it's linked to

the meter cell. If that's so, then this camera is probably useless -

the selenium meter cell is unresponsive, and appears to be dead. Any

info or ideas?

 

JW

If there are no shutter adjustments possible, than it's probably a camera with a shutter and aperture both controlled by the lightmeter. Some of these cameras have a setting for flash use (with a flash symbol), and in most of these cases the shutter will run at 1/30 sec. Some of these cameras also have a manual apertue setting for use with a flash. If this is the case with your camera, you can use it only - or still - at 1/30 with variable aperture.

I recall my wife buying one of the Minoltina P's back in the early sixties. It cost about $40.00 new. She used it for several years. I believe it was a full frame (24x36) camera.

Bill

You're right - it's full frame, not half frame.

 

JW

The exposure setting is done by match-needle with the meter. There's a ring you turn which sets both the speed and f-stop. I think the EV numbers are marked, so you can use the camera even if the meter is dead. Remember that with ASA 100 film, direct sun is EV 15, and open shade is EV 12. Knowing those two numbers, you can guess outdoor exposure closely enough for C-41 film when using EV cameras.