My little Minolta Semi got a walk through the old fishing harbor, burning HP5+. I had not used this camera since 2015, IIRC. Love-hate relationship with 645.
The camera
and some from the roll.
There is a light leak to be corrected, but besides it the old instrument worked. It is nice to have 16 MF frames. I overexposed a bit, sometimes way too much, and the scanner had a tough job with that last frame - it was two stops overexposed.
This camera has a mechanism for counting frames based on rotation of the take-up reel, that depends crucially on the diameter of the reel. In a separate thread, Alex gave me the diameter for the wooden reels that were used when the Semi was new (modern plastic ones are a bit slimmer). I did try different diameters (using tape), with spent rolls, and watched how the frames aligned at the end of the roll. They were off by at least 1 cm, in different directions, depending on how the film was getting into the take-up reel.
In the end I decided to rely on the yellow window, because the frame alignment was kind of unpredictable. In a word, I chickened.
This was my first roll with HP5+ in some years, and I have more coming to vary from my usual FP4+. Tried D-23 1:1 in this one.
Minolta Semi in the harbor.
- PFMcFarland
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Re: Minolta Semi in the harbor.
Those small 645's are fun to use, except for the lack of a rangefinder. I like my Zenobia, but like you say, sometimes it can be a hassle. Another fine batch of photos, Julio.
PF
PF
Waiting for the light
Re: Minolta Semi in the harbor.
Enjoyed this glimpse into warmer weather for sure! D-23 1:1 is now my go-to developer; cheap, simple, works well. Looks like it worked for you, too.
Robert
Robert
Re: Minolta Semi in the harbor.
Thanks for the comments!
I had a Zenobia, which is a very similar little folder; gave it to a friend in a period of 645 hate. And fully agree about D-23. My usual dev is Beutler for slower films, but grain would be too much to try it on HP5+.
I had a Zenobia, which is a very similar little folder; gave it to a friend in a period of 645 hate. And fully agree about D-23. My usual dev is Beutler for slower films, but grain would be too much to try it on HP5+.
Re: Minolta Semi in the harbor.
That's a nice little camera. Nice images as well.
GrahamS
Age brings wisdom....or age shows up alone. You never know.
Age brings wisdom....or age shows up alone. You never know.
Re: Minolta Semi in the harbor.
That’s a great little camera, even with its idiosyncrasies. You did well with focus, nice images.
Re: Minolta Semi in the harbor.
For a moment, I thought that you meant the camera fell into the harbor. I'm glad that didn't happen.
-Mike Elek
Re: Minolta Semi in the harbor.
Probably still works......
GrahamS
Age brings wisdom....or age shows up alone. You never know.
Age brings wisdom....or age shows up alone. You never know.
Re: Minolta Semi in the harbor.
That is a fine looking camera. And as expected that Rokkor lens produces great results. I particularly like the first image.
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