Minolta Dynax 5 (2001)

Minolta Dynax 5 (2001)

#270

Esta fotografia é do exemplar que possuo

Características

Name: Minolta Dynax 5 , α-5 (China), α-Sweet Ⅱ (Japan), Maxxum 5 (USA)

Fonte: mhohner.de


At the start of the millennium Minolta showed for the last time its pride about its autofocus system SLRs with the Alpha-mount. The pride of the company was perfectly represented by another superb camera model of that series, the Minolta Dynax 5. It is also know as Maxxum 5 in the Americas, α-Sweet II in Japan and α-5 in China. In the class of low-price amateur cameras it got best notes in tests and comparisons. It was a light fast camera which got all the features of the Minolta Dynax 600si, thus being a mighty tool for amateurs.

The electronically controlled vertically travelling focal-plane shutter has speeds of 30s to 1/4000 of a sec. plus a bulb mode. Flash sync is at 1/125 or slower. A self-timer mode is available with a delay of 10 seconds.

The exposure system is based in a TTL type system. This measuring element is a 14 segment honeycomb formatted silicon photo diode. It has a metering range of 1 to 20 EV, and in spot mode 4 to 20 EV (ISO 100, f/1.4). Exposure modes include PASM; Program mode, Aperture priority, Shutter priority, and Manual exposure. In Program mode there is also a PA and PS modes along with scene modes for portrait, landscape, close-up, sports and night portrait. A built-in auto pop-up flash is also in the top housing it has a GN of 12.

The automatic focusing system is based on a TTL type system with a range of -1 to 18 EV (ISO 100). Auto focus modes include single or continuous mode. An AF illuminator is activated for lower lighting conditions. A manual focus mode is also possible. When enabled the eye start feature uses sensors in the hand grip and viewfinder eyelet areas and allows the camera to automatically set exposure and focusing.

The camera is able to use DX encoded film with speeds from 25 to 5000 ISO, but can also be set manually and changed from 6 to 6400 ISO in 1/3 increments. Non-DX film will automatically use the previous film's ISO setting. The film transport is motorized and has two drive modes. Single or continuous advance for up to 3fps. Rewinding is automatic, but manual rewinding is also possible in mid-roll. The film back has a window to identify film emulsion type. The film counter is upwards counting on film advance and downward on rewind. The camera is powered by two CR2 battery.

Fonte: camera-wiki.org

The best SLR on the market?

I've never been a big believer in brand loyalty. In my time I've used cameras from Konica, Yashica, Pentax, Contax, Olympus, Fuji and Minolta. The only one which has never had so much as a hiccup and produces great exposures every time is my Minolta 600si. But when people ask me to recommend a good value SLR I always choose the Canon EOS 300, which I've never even used!

t's always been an easy recommendation. The EOS 300 does everything a more expensive camera would do but is cheap, small and light, and easy to use. You have access to the full range of Canon lenses, including Image Stabilisers and the like which aren't available for Minolta cameras.  The old Minolta 404si and 505si were clearly no match for the Canon.  Nikon and Pentax made equivalent models too, but there was no reason to recommend any of these over the excellent Canon.

But there's a new kid on the block, (first available in the UK only a few weeks ago) and now I have two stock recommendations. For people who want the beginnings of a camera system, and are likely to eventually buy some expensive lenses and other kit, I recommend the EOS 300. For people who just want the best camera for the money, I recommend the Dynax 5.

First impressions

It's small and silver. It's VERY small, in fact. And light. But it doesn't feel flimsy - it feels light and compact but sturdy. Nice to hold.

What doesn't it do?

With a camera like this, there's not much point explaining all the features and what it can do, suffice to say there's nothing missing. It has all the features of my 600si, including depth of field preview and there are some new ones like flash metering based on distance (when used with the special D series Minolta lenses). It even has a slightly faster motorwind than the 600si, at 3 frames per second. This is the main area where it beats the Canon EOS 300 which only winds the film at a weedy 1 frame per second.

Exposure

Minolta figured out how to do automatic exposure properly some time ago. I think ever since then the 14-segment honeycomb metering has been the same on all their cameras. It works very well indeed, and every shot on the roll of 36 slides I shot with the Dynax 5 was well exposed, despite the fact I was trying to fool it with difficult lighting situations. So even for slide film users, exposure compensation would only be needed in very unusual situations, and print film users can happily leave exposure to the camera and concentrate on composition instead!

Focusing

Most camera magazines seem to go to great lengths trying to discern the slight differences in focusing speed, accuracy etc between various autofocus cameras. I'm never terribly impressed and prefer to use manual focus. But the Dynax 5 definitely seemed faster to focus than my 600si. The Dynax 7, big brother to the 5, is supposed to be the fastest of all the autofocus cameras, but from my brief test of the 7 in Jessops I couldn't tell much difference between it and the 5 in terms of focussing speed.

Viewfinder

My Dynax 600si has a lovely bright, clear viewfinder. I was expecting the 5 to be a letdown in comparison, considering how small the camera is. I was pleasantly surprised - the viewfinder on the Dynax 5 is just as crisp and bright as on the 600si, with the same viewfinder information.

Whereas the 600si just used to focus on the centre of the frame, the 5, like the EOS300, has several focusing points. Unlike the EOS300, the 5 tells you which one it is focusing on - it lights up red in the viewfinder. This is neat, although I question the value of the various focus points, which seem to make autofocus even more of a hit-and-miss affair than it already is.

Custom features

This brings me to another neat feature of the Dynax 5 - everything can be customised. Don't like the bleep when the camera has focussed? Turn it off. Don't like the eye-start feature? Turn it off. Don't like the multiple focus points? You can set it always to focus on the centre. Just about every aspect of the camera can be customised, although you'll have to look in the manual to find out how to do it - there's no way you could guess what setting "Custom program 8 to setting 3" would do without the manual!

User friendliness

This camera is a bit like Windows 95 - there are always about 5 different ways of doing any particular thing. Whether you think this is user friendly or just added confusion is a matter of personal taste. The Dynax 5 certainly lacks the instant familiarity of the 600si and the Dynax 7 with their old-fashioned style dials. But at least it doesn't have a Gameboy welded onto the back of it like the Dynax 7 does! And there's a very handy "P" button which resets everything to default, but keeps your custom settings. It resets everything which might spoil your shot (like exposure compensation, or putting the camera into manual mode) but keeps your custom settings.

The bottom line

I enjoyed using the Dynax 5. It's smaller and lighter than the 600si but has an equally good viewfinder, equally good autoexposure, better autofocusing, faster motorwind and some new flash features. I don't regret buying my 600si about 5 years ago, and I'm sure anyone who buys a Dynax 5 today will feel the same way about it in 5 years time. It's getting harder to recommend the EOS300, but I'd still recommend it to anyone who wants to build a whole camera system and might want an image stabiliser lens, an underwater housing, a digital body, an APS body etc, all of which are available for the Canon system but not Minolta.

So to go back to my headline, how can I justify calling the Dynax 5 the "best SLR on the market?"

Well, look at the specifications below and see if there's anything that you want it to do which it doesn't do.  I suspect not.  Then bear in mind that it's about as small and light as 35mm SLRs get, look at the price, and see whether anything else beats it.  It might not be "better" than a Nikon F5, but for most people it is, because unless you're a professional photographer you don't want to have to worry about something as expensive or as heavy as an F5.

Fonte: virtualtraveller.org


Especificações

Camera Type: 35mm SLR with built-in flash, auto focus (AF), and autoexposure (AE)
Film Type: 35mm film
Lens Mount: Minolta A mount (metal mount)
Eye-start Automation: AF and AE automatically activated/deactivated by combination of eyepiece and grip sensors.
Eye-start Automation can be disabled.


Focus system:
AF sensor system: Minolta's TTL phase-detection system with CCD line sensors (7-point AF system with a center cross-hair sensor)
Sensitivity range: Ev -1 - 18 (at ISO 100)
AF illuminator: Built-in flash automatically activated to aid focusing in low light and low-contrast situation.
Range: approx. 1 - 5m (with 50mm lens)
Autofocus areas: Wide focus area
Any local focus area can be selected from the 7-point sensors.
Predictive Focus Control: Multi-dimensional Predictive Focus Control for moving subjects
Focus modes: Autofocus, Manual focus
Manual focus: Visually monitoring the viewfinder focusing screen or the focus signals on the viewfinder data panel
Exposure system:
Metering: Ambient: 14-segment Honeycomb-Pattern, Spot
Flash metering: Direct TTL OTF (ADI or TTL multi-segment can be selected with a custom function.)
Metering cell: 14-segment Honeycomb-Pattern SPC (silicone photocell), 4-segment flash-metering SPC
Metering range: 14-segment Honeycomb-Pattern: Ev 1-20
Spot: Ev 4-20
(ISO 100, f/1.4 lens)
Exposure modes: Programmed AE (with PA/PS Creative Program Control), Aperture priority, Shutter priority, Manual
Subject program selection: 5 user-selectable programs tailored to specific subject or scene characteristics - Portrait, Landscape, Close-up, Sports action, Night portrait
Shutter and aperture control: In 0.5 Ev increments
Exposure compensation: ±3 Ev in 0.5 Ev increments

Exposure bracketing: 3 exposures in 0.3, 0.5, 0.7 or 1 Ev increments
ISO setting: Automatic setting for DX-coded film
Manual setting
Non DX coded film is set to the previous ISO setting.

ISO range: Automatic setting: ISO 25 - 5000 in 1/3 Ev increments
Manual setting: ISO 6 - 6400 in 1/3 Ev increments
With flash: ISO 25 - 1000

AE lock: Exposure is automatically locked when focus is locked.
Exposure within the spot metering area is locked with the spot AE-lock button.

Shutter:
Type: Electronically-controlled, vertical-traverse, focal-plane type
Speed: 1/4000 - 30 s, Bulb (up to approx. 7 h with fresh batteries)
Flash-sync speed: 1/125 s or slower
With shutter speeds faster than 1/125s, camera automatically switches to high-speed sync (HSS)*.
* available with Program Flash 5400HS, 5600HS(D), and 3600HS(D)
Flash:
Type: Built-in
Guide number: 12 (in meters at ISO 100)
Coverage: 28mm
Flash modes: - In programmed AE and subject program selection modes: autoflash. Fill flash and flash cancel can be selected.
- In aperture priority, shutter priority, and manual modes: fill flash is manually selected.
- Red-eye reduction (using pre-flash)
- Wireless/remote off-camera flash (including ratio flash function)
Viewfinder:
Type: Eye-level fixed pentaprism
Focusing screen: Spherical acute matte
Field of view: 90 x 90% of film frame (with 50mm lens focused at infinity)
Magnification: 0.75X (with 50mm lens focused at infinity)
Eye-relief: 16mm from the eyepiece, 13mm from the eyepiece frame
Diopter: -1 diopter
Eyepiece cup: Removable
Depth-of-field preview: Control placed on the front of the camera
Film transport:
Type: Automatic with built-in motor drive
Auto threading, Auto advance to first frame, Auto rewind, Manual start of rewind

Film advance: Single frame advance, Continuous advance
Continuous advance speed: 3 fps (max.)
Rewind time: Approx. 8 s (with 24-exposure film)
Film Chamber Lock: Automatically locks the back cover when the film is loaded
Self-timer: Electronic with 10-second delay
Self-timer can be canceled.

Remote control*: IR Remote Control RC-3 (sold separately)
* IR remote control capable model only
Audio signal: Tone indicates focus lock, IR remote-control operation, and self-timer countdown.
Audio signal can be disabled.
Other functions: Remote-control terminal
14 custom functions
Multiple-exposure mode
Power: Two 3-volt CR2 lithium batteries
Battery-condition indication: 3-stage indicator appears when the camera is turned on.

Dimensions: 127(W) x 87(H) x 60.5(D) mm
Weight: 335g (without batteries)

Fonte: virtualtraveller.org


Modelo

A minha tem o n.º de série 00114345


Sítios de referência

camera-wiki.org

mhohner.de

virtualtraveller.org


Manual


Baterias

2 CR2 batteries

Filme

Kodak Gold 200/36

Fotografias tiradas com esta máquina

Minolta Dynax 5 sample 1

Minolta Dynax 5 sample 2

Minolta Dynax 5 sample 3

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