Camera Talk

I got this Minolta Semi, s/n 278xx. made in Occupied Japan. I have no idea if it is a valuable camera; in any case the eBay seller did not think so, and the price was quite right.



It took several test rolls to get rid of a nasty light leak in the bellows. The Semi has a film counter, which works on the take-up spool rotation, so its accuracy depends on how well the film is wound. Safer to rely on the window, IMHO, but it is a nice feature.

Test roll was expired Shanghai GP3, not really a high-quality film. For some reason, the number and marks in the paper get faintly transferred to the film (I suspect weakly radioactive ink was used on the paper roll), and the emulsion develops a kind of texture which looks like mold. In any case it is good enough for tests. And it helps with a vintage look.

Some samples from this test roll. I am taking more test rolls than projects this year, which is a bad thing.



The second picture was taken right against the sun; the lens behaved quite well. There was a direct sun reflection on the water. Look at the mold-like texture in the dark boat in the upper right corner.



You may notice the round marks in the last sample. These match the dots coming before the film number on the paper roll.

That Minolta Semi is quite a find! It surely looks good and the results are fine. Is it the Semi III by any chance? according to Minolta that was the first postwar camera in Japan. Whether is is a III or not, it should be a great user by the looks of it; half-120 is a very useful size, I think. Thanks for the post.

Bill Delehanty

Very good results with the camera, Bill Julio. These are fairly well thought of cameras, as I usually can't bid high enough to snag one. Glad you got the bellows leaks fixed. Now run some good film through it next time.

PF

Thanks Bill and PF. I think this is a Minolta Semi IIIC, judging from the Camerapedia article, the camera features and the range of serial numbers reported there. If so, there were about 8,500 made.