Minox GT random observations/queries

[john_trent]

1. I was given a Minox GT, but got just a couple rolls of film

exposed before the mercury battery gave out. I bought the battery

conversion set from Minox, but now find the camera underexposes by

almost 2 stops. Not a problem with manually-adjustable ASA, but

wondered if this was a typical experience.

 

2. Absence of exposure lock seems to be the biggest hindrance to

getting quality results with this camera. With its AE lock, I get

much better results with slide film using an Olympus Stylus (f/3.5

triplet) than I do with the GT. Because of the exposure problems,

the GT has been relegated to snapshots on print film, which seems a

waste of its supposedly fine lens.

 

3. I have read Peter van de Haar's suggestion in these forums for

locking in a 1/125 second shutter speed on the GTE by inserting a

square piece of plastic in the hot shoe. On the GT, a square piece

of plastic is always in the hot shoe, I assume to protect the flash

connection, and has no effect on the automatic operation of the

shutter. I could keep the flash unit in place and turned off, but

that kind of ruins the pocketability feature. Is there a trick to

locking in the GT at 1/125, too? The manual states that you cannot

disengage the automatic exposure control of the Minox GT.

 

4. Depth of field scale seems very conservative. For example, at

f/8.0, hyperfocal distance on the GT is about 20 feet, giving depth

of field from about 15 ft. to infinity; on a 35mm Zeiss Distagon,

hyperfocal distance at the same aperture is about 10 feet, showing

depth of field from about 6 ft. to infinity. In practice, I've been

very satisfied using the depth of field range for one f/stop smaller

than is set (i.e., the f/11 range when using f/8).

[clint_stephenson]

1. If the replacement battery kit uses silver or other than mercury batteries and provides no method of voltage drop (usually via diode) then the meter reference voltage may be off due to the different battery voltage. I have a gl, and opened it and re-calibrated the meter and shutter to silver oxide types. Some later minox types have some sort of internal regulator or are otherwise able to take silver or alkline or lithum cells, but i'm not sure about that, sorry..

 

2. The asa contol is your salvation for exposure compensation. I meter what I want to 'lock' to then re-compose and turn the asa control until the meter needle goes back to the 'lock' value. It's easy to forget what speed film is in the camera this way, unless you have some written reminder..

 

3. On the gl, there is a little nub on the edge of the shoe recepticle that gets pressed in when a flash is fitted. Perhaps a shoe cover from a different camera would press the actuator on your shoe receiver to activate the flash mode/shutter-speed fix.

 

4. I make fewer outdoor out of focus mistakes with the guess-focus minox than I do with my slr! I use f11 alot...

[MTC Photography]

I don't know about GT; my GT-E and 35ML exposure is right on<p>

 

Carl Zeiss uses a circle of confusion of 1/25 mm vs Leica/Minox

1/30mm, that is why Leitz/Leica/Minox has tighter depth of field

[MTC Photography]

The memory lock feature is available on two Minox models: MDC and 35ML

[john_trent]

Thanks for the replies and for setting me straight on the means to lock in that 1/125 shutter speed. Strange how being able to disable the automatic exposure control and having just a single shutter speed makes the camera seem so much more versatile and user-friendly! With my favorite ASA 64 slide film and the sunny f/16 rule, that one shutter speed makes me ready for anything from heavy overcast to bright-sun-on-snow.