As Minhas Câmaras: Yashica Minister D (1963)

domingo, 11 de outubro de 2015

Yashica Minister D (1963)

Yashica Minister D

Esta fotografia é do exemplar que possuo.

Características

Yashica Minister D, manufactured around 1963 in Japan. This 35mm rangefinder camera has a Yashica Yashinon 5 elements in 4 groups 4.5cm f/2.8 lens, helical focus 2.6 ft to infinity, Copal-SVL shutter (speeds 1 to 1/500 sec + B, M,X, delay action) and an uncoupled CDS exposure meter. It has a parallax corrected viewfinder.

The Minister D accepts 46 mm screw-in filters and 48 mm push-on lens hoods.

Fonte: Camerapedia

The Yashica Minister D rangefinder camera was manufactured in Japan beginning around 1963. The main change from the Yashica Minister III was the new CdS meter cell mounted below the rewind crank. However the light meter remained uncoupled from the exposure settings on the lens barrel. The Minister 700 is a variant of the same camera but with a faster, f/1.7 lens.
The light meter indicator measures light from 3 to 17 LV. To determine the EV, the scale on the meter can be adjusted to match the film ISO.
The lens barrel has an LVS ring to set the exposure level. The ring has LV numbers from 2 to 17. Turning the LVS ring alone adjusts the aperture ring automatically to maintain the same exposure level, giving this camera a kind of shutter-priority mode. Reaching the minimum or maximum aperture will then automatically turn the shutter ring too.

Manufacturer: Yashica
Date of Production: circa 1963
Type of Camera: Rangefinder camera

Film type: 35mm film
Lens: Yashinon 45mm f/2.8, focus range 70cm-infinity
Shutter: Copal-SVL leaf shutter
Shutter speed range: self-timer delay, B, 1-1/500s
Viewfinder: eye-level rangefinder with parallax correction
Flash: cold shoe with PC socket, X and M sync modes
Exposure Modes: manual, quasi-shutter-priority
Exposure Metering: uncoupled CdS
Focusing: manual
Film advance: manual lever with double-exposure prevention
Battery: Mallory PX-13 or 625 button cell for light meter
Weight: 675g

Fonte: Camera-wiki.org

The bug eyed Yashica "Minister" III morphed into the Minister [IV] Model D in 1964 [ as near as we can tell ]. As hard as we look, we can't find anything that's not to like on this camera. It may be the perfect choice for a photo / journalism student because the price is right and it comes "loaded". The dependable Yashica film transport serves to support the strictly mechanical Copal SVL shutter. The Yashinon 45mm ƒ2.8 lens has an angle of view of 56º. Yes, there are faster Yashinons out there, but the fact is that film emulsion speeds have increased to such a degree while the grain structure has actually been reduced since the introduction of these cameras, that ASA 100 film with the ƒ2.8 lens, may be all that you will ever need. The lens mount accepts 46mm screw-in accessories.

Let's leave the editorializing behind and see what make this camera tick.

User selectable shutter speeds are: B, 1, 2, 3, 4, 8, 15, 30, 60, 125, 250, 500. secs. The shutter can be set at M or X synch. One oddity is that the shutter must be set at X synch to use the self timer, regardless of whether you are using flash or not. A self timer with a nominal 8 sec delay is provided. The shutter button is threaded to accept a cable release. Electronic flash fires and synchs at any speed, great for exterior fill light.
The user selectable aperture ranges from ƒ16 to 2.8. Moving the aperture ring, changes the selected ƒ stop in step with the shutter speed dial.

To move only the ƒ stop, an extreme outer ring is provided. Changing the shutter speed is therefore a two step procedure. First move the Aperture and the Speed in tandem to the desired speed, then move the Aperture only to alter it's desired setting, using the outer ring. This might seem like a pain, but most of the time really speeds up any change you wish to make once the initial correct exposure has been determined.

The outer ring is numbered to coincide with the numbers on the Exposure Meter dial. Yashica's tried and true split image range-finder, self corrects for parallax. Manual focus is capable from 2.6 ft [0.8 meters] to Infinity, with clear graduations, in case it ever gets too dark to use the range-finder. The specific camera we are looking through, even as we write, has no problem focusing on distant areas of the room which are too dark to comfortably read a newspaper by. Try that with your SLR ! The independent built in exposure meter can be set within a range of ASA 10 to 400. There is no DIN scale. The exposure meter runs off a 625A battery, inexpensive and readily available, but not required to use the camera. The lack of a Hot Shoe is probably a plus, as this encourages the use of a hand grip / flash holder combo, the only way to get both a secure grip on such a small instrument and freedom from dreaded "red eye". A PC socket is mounted on the front left, and as with all front located photo flash connectors, care should be taken to make sure that the cable cannot dangle in front of the lens. A button with a red dot, located at the rear, extreme top left of the camera, activates the exposure meter. A plastic stud about halfway across the top rear, is just a dummy plug, for what may have been intended as a battery check during the design stage. This is common to several Yashica models. The loading door is opened by sliding a small lever on the left side of the base from "P" to "O", and while in the "O" position, pressing inward. It takes a little practice to get used to this. The tripod mount socket is secured to the frame of the camera by 4 screws on a mount beneath the cover plate. The thread stops short of bottom leaving enough space to work a wire tie under, and can be clearly seen through the hole as it makes it's way. What this means is that a portal exists for all sorts of contaminants to enter into the inner workings of the camera. We store our camera with a ¼ X 20 set screw inserted. Keeping the camera in a case would solve that, but of course you know that "carrying" cases are for just that purpose. Never store a camera, collectors knife or gun in a case, most particularly in a warm climate with salt air, but then everyone knows that, or do they? A small number of these cameras were produced under the marque, Minister 700 with an ƒ 1.7 lens. The only 700's that I have ever seen on offer were in the UK.

Fonte: Yashica-guy.com

Modelo

Só foi fabricado um modelo. A minha tem o n.º de série H 133291

Bateria

Funciona com uma bateria PX625