Miranda Sensoret (1972)

Miranda Sensoret (1972)

#238

Esta fotografia é do exemplar que possuo

Características

The Sensoret was the only rangefinder type camera ever offered by MIRANDA CAMERA CO. It was a compact, snapshot type camera with a fixed lens and fully programmed exposure automation. Miranda provided a  good quality 4 element 38mm Tessar type lens and a coupled rangefinder. The shutter was the new SEIKO ESF electronic shutter which controlled the speed and diaphragm settings simultaneously in a combined unit.  Other cameras of this time also used this new shutter to provide full automation at a popular cost, such as the Minolta Himatic E, the Konica C35, or the Olympus EM.  All of these cameras were totally electronically powered with two 640 1.4v mercury cells, which are no longer available in the US, so today most have limited possibility for on-going use.  There was no manual exposure control provided.

In the USA and Japan, the Sensoret was available as a kit complete with a little custom flash gun, the EF-1. This flash worked with the Sensoret aperture adjusting according to the distance set by the user.

Miranda also offered a wide angle and telephoto auxillary lens kit, similar to lenses offered by other makers for their rangefinder cameras, notably Yashica.  The magnification of these lenses, however, was only 0.8x and 1.3x respectively.  Since the auxillary lenses totally obstructed the viewfinder, an external finder was fitted to the flash shoe of the camera. The rangefinder was not coupled to these lenses either.

The Sensoret was sold under both the MIRANDA and SOLIGOR brand names but there was no difference apart from the name identification. Most of the production was in black leatherette with chrome top and bottom plates, but other cosmetic versions were also offered. The basic black bodied finish was available with either chrome or black enamel finish to top and bottom plates.

In addition, chrome model variants were made with different coloured leatherette covering in small numbers. Sensorets with red, beige, grey, green or blue finish have accordingly become  collector items.

Remember, without the 640 mercury batteries or equivalent, the camera's exposure system and shutter will not work at all.

Treasures for the Collector
Worth the hunt if you are into collecting more than the basic Sensoret. How practical are these lenses in practice?  Don't expect normal Miranda versitality and professional easy of use from these accessories.. but they certainly look luxurious on this all black camera.

User Notes and what to look for:
Sensorets were consistent with other light amateur cameras of the era. That really means they were not exceptionally tough. Top and bottom plates were metal, with good but not outstanding chrome. In my experience, many are found at camera shows in user condition at best. The wind lever is concealed in the body, but that means that a considerable length of the top plate has to be self supporting over the slot where the wind lever moves. Again, I have seen quite a few Sensoret top plates deformed in this area. Many Sensorets were bought as snapshooter cameras and not accorded the care one finds for more advanced amateur cameras. The lens was tested very positively by Amateur Photography at the time for its class, and if clean should provide very satisfactory results. It is a semi-wide angle type.

The black finish is enamel, good quality, but like most black finished cameras of this era, the enamel edges are rather subject to wear or damage, which rapidly causes a rather tatty looking camera.

Battery contacts are a frequent cause of the camera being immobilized, so clean the contacts carefully (using the erasor end found on lead pencils for example) before declaring a Sensoret as dead. However, I must observe that without batteries to test it, you can't be sure of the camera's working condition. And many of those 'average condition' examples just don't seem to work, proper batteries or not. Insist on testing it.

Quite a large number were made (over 80,000 has been suggested by research) and you should eventually be able to find an excellent condition working example on the www.ebay.com web site. For practical user purposes, if you have the batteries available, a working Sensoret should be quite reliable. The Seiko shutter has been proved by many camera makers.

From the collector point of view, a mint condition black or coloured outfit is obviously worthy of the hunt. For the user, if you have a good working Sensoret, there is little to go wrong with this little camera if you continue to use it with care.

Fonte: mirandacamera.com

The Miranda Sensoret is a small, compact 35mm camera and was the only rangefinder model that Miranda made. It was available in chrome and black; this article reviews the chrome model.

My Miranda Sensoret Camera
I found this camera on eBay amongst a series of cameras all being sold by the same person. They were all marked as ‘spares or repair’ and seemed to belong to a collection they had acquired and were disposing of. I almost missed the Sensoret amongst the other cameras but, as a Miranda collector, I am glad I didn’t because they are not an easy camera to find. I’ve only seen two appear on eBay over the last year and both of those were from other European countries and had a high ‘Buy it now’ price. Because of its rarity I placed a bid of £20 on it but in the end no one else wanted it so I managed to secure it for only the opening price of £6.

When it arrived I found the ‘spares or repair’ description was well warranted, the film advance is jammed and the shutter release button doesn’t operate. It may be possible to fix it – I’ll get it apart soon and have a look, but in the meantime, at least I have a display copy.

Other than it’s non working condition, the camera is fairly clean and tidy with all the other controls apparently working as expected.

Miranda Sensoret Description.
This description of the Sensoret is based on my own analysis of the camera because I couldn’t find any online manual for it and none was suppled with the camera. The one bit of information I could glean from Mr. Google is the date of manufacture, which was between 1972 and 1975. As I discover more information about the camera, and/or if I manage to fix it, I’ll update this article appropriately.

The Sensoret is typical of the small rangefinder cameras which were quite popular in the early 1970s, being convenient to keep in a pocket or bag, and capable of giving great results. This model has a 38mm Miranda/Soligor f/2.8 lens which is  wider than the standard lens on many similar cameras available at the time, which were typically around 45mm.

The exposure system is fully automatic, with a light-cell fitted in the top of the lens mount. This was a typical location for light cells in these style cameras, and is useful because it allows filters to be automatically compensated for. Something non-typical with this model however is the inclusion of an exposure compensation dial mounted in the front of the lens mount as well. I’ve never seen this in this style of camera before, although my experience of small rangefinders is not exhaustive. I assume it works by shifting the ASA dial by a stop either direction and although I thought that would mean it wouldn’t work at the extreme of the scale, it turns out that it can. I guess the meter range is a stop over the range the camera can be set to.

In the bottom of the camera is a battery compartment to house the battery which drove the exposure system. The cover is marked ‘HM-N or RM640’ which is the original battery type fitted. I’ve tried, without success so far, to find a modern equivalent because there is a remote possibility that the shutter fault may be because the camera needs the battery to work.

In common with several cameras of the same vintage, when fitted with an external flash, the guide number of the flash is dialled into the camera using a ring round the back of the lens and the camera sets the exposure automatically based on the power of the flash.

The focus range adjustment of the camera is quite highly geared, with only about 45 deg adjustment covering the full range the camera will focus. In the viewfinder, the focus display is one of the clearest I’ve seen with a nicely bright area in the centre which shows the second image, making it quite easy to see the alignment of the two images as focus is achieved.

The viewfinder also shows an indicator at the bottom of the display, showing the aperture the camera has chosen for the exposure. An oddity of my example of the camera is that as the focus is adjusted the aperture display changes between f/2.8 and f/22, but I believe this is because of the broken nature of the camera rather than the normal behaviour. When it’s working normally, I think this just displays the aperture chosen and would change with the light level.

All in all this is a nice, although not exceptional 35mm rangefinder with a couple of stand out features, the main one being the +/- one stop exposure compensation.

Fonte: simonhawketts.com


Especificações

Miranda Sensoret 35mm small rangefinder camera
38mm f/2.8 Miranda/Soligor lens
Fully automatic exposure
Guide number driven flash auto exposure
+/- one stop exposure compensation
Auto reset frame counter
Shutter release lock
Hot shoe flash socket
Short focus adjustment from inf to 0.9M
ASA range 25 to 800
Light cell within lens mount to automatically compensate for filter
Light meter powered by 2 x HM-N or RM640 battery

Fonte: simonhawketts.com

Modelo

A minha tem o n.º de série 2441699.


Sítios de referência

mirandacamera.com

simonhawketts.com


Manual

Manual em inglês


Baterias

2 x HM-N or RM640 battery


Note about RM640 batteries:

The LR52 / A640 is a mercury-free replacement for the RM640 / MR9 cell that was commonly used in cameras and carriage clocks. Mercury cells are now banned because of toxicity and environmental fears.
The LR52 / A640 cells produce 1.5 Volts, which is higher than the 1.35V produced by the original mercury cell. Most devices accommodate the small increase in voltage and function properly.
Replacement For the following: PX640A, A640PX, RM640, MR9, EN640A, EPX640A, PC640A, LR52, 1126A, PX640, EPX640, V640PX, H-N, E640N, MR52, NR52, 1126MP
RM640 Battery is compatible with the following models:
RM640, MR52, PX640A, 1126MP, EN640A, V640PX, 960-0374, PX640AB, RM640R, PC640A, A640PX, 1105M, RPX640, E640N, PX640, EPX640, KX640, EPX640A, E140, V640,

Fonte: 24hourbatteries.com


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