The Minolta Dynax 505si Super was a light autofocus SLR camera for 35mm film made by Minolta. It was the same camera body as the Minolta Maxxum XTsi for the American and the Minolta Alpha Sweet for the Japanese market. Its distinguishing features were the "cust" functions, 9 programs for different exposure preferences, and the eye start function (autofocus starts working when the viewfinder is moved towards the eye). Unloading and reloading a film was no problem with this camera. A special version of it was the Dynax 505si Super QD DATE panorama which was switchable to a second exposure format, a panorama format. The camera was made in Malaysia.
Type: autofocus SLR camera body
Year of release: 1998
Manufacturer: Minolta
ASA/ISO range: 25 to 5000 ASA DX-coded (6 to 6400 manually)
Film Format: 35mm
Modes: programmed modes for sports, landscape, portrait, macro and night, fully automatic mode, shutter preferred mode, aperture preferred mode
Exposure Metering: 14 field TTL measuring, spontaneously switchable to spot metering via central field
Focusing: 2 vertical AF-sensors and a central cross-sensor controlled by fuzzy logic system, switchable to manual focusing or single sensor usage. A focusing priority mode allows shutter release only after correct focusing
Shutter speed range: electronically controlled, 30 sec to 1/4000 sec
Viewfinder: pentaprism showing 90% of image
Lens Mount: Minolta A-Lenses bayonet
Flash: guide number 12, selectable as autofocus support light
Weight: 350 g without Lens + Film + Cr2-Batteries
Dimensions: 135 x 90 x 58,5 mm
The Minolta Riva AF 35 EX, or Freedom AF 10R in America, is a cheap autofocus compact camera released in 1993 as a follow-up to the Riva 35c. In comparison to the 35c, it has a wider angle 30 mm lens, and is smaller and lighter. It is a full-auto camera, meaning auto-loading, auto-advance, auto-rewind, auto-flash, auto-exposure and auto-focus. It has a built-in flash with an additional anti-red eye lamp and a self-timer. The lens is protected by a sliding cover. Like so many Minolta cameras of the same age, it only exposes films at ISO 100 or ISO 400. A dateback version was also available.
Lens: 30 mm f/4,5.
Focus: Active infrared autofocus from 1,1 m to infinity.
Exposure: EV 10,5–15 (at ISO 100).
Flash: Built-in, auto-activated, non-cancellable with optional anti-red eye mode. Range: 1,1–3,5 m. Flash ready LED signal.
Film speed: Crippled DX decoding; films below ISO 400 are exposed as ISO 100, those above as ISO 400. Non-DX films exposed as ISO 100.
Film transport: Automatic loading, advance and rewind.
Power: 2 x AA alkaline. CR2025 cell for date back.
Dimensions: 126 x 70,5 x 46,5 mm.
Weight: 195 g without batteries.
Câmara oferecida pela D. Isabel Alber. Muito obrigado!
Características
The F55 (or N55 as it is known in the U.S.) is a 35mm film SLR autofocus camera introduced by Nikon in 2002. It was targeted at a new and lower price-point than the F65 (previously Nikon's cheapest autofocus SLR). The F65 continued to be sold alongside the F55. The camera is made in Thailand.
It is unique among recent Nikon autofocus SLRs in that it does not support autofocus on Nikon lenses with "AF-S" silent wave motor focussing, or the "VR" optical stabilisation features found on some lenses.
It features several different operating modes, including seven program modes that are subject specific, Aperture Priority, Shutter Priority, and Manual.
Included with the F55D variant is a date/time-imprinting facility, ("Data imprinting,") but at the cost of a slightly larger camera body.
Easy operation with exposure mode select dial and Command Dial with large top deck LCD panel
[AUTO] mode for fully automatic control
Three-Area Autofocus system
Choice of Dynamic AF and Closest-subject-priority Dynamic AF
Focus Tracking with Lock-On™
Built-in AF-Assist Illuminator
3D Matrix Metering (with D-/G-type Nikkor lens)
Center Partial Metering (in [M] mode)
Five Vari-Program modes
Four exposure modes ([P], [S], [A], [M])
Built-in auto pop-up Speedlight: guide number 12/39 (ISO 100, m/ft.); 28mm lens coverage
Matrix Balanced Fill-Flash capability
F55D features data imprinting
August 2007: I bought one of these for my mom, and it's everything I thought it would be. It's super lightweight, far less than you'd imagine, and works fast and great. For $200 including lens brand new, it's the film camera bargain of the digital age. It sells for much less used - I paid about $140.
If you want digital, it's easy! I buy print film at Costco for $1 a roll (Fuji 400 with a coupon) and have it developed with 5x7" prints and the images burns as JPGs on a CD for about $9 a roll. You can shoot this way for years, not pay as much as you would for a digital camera, and have the files on gold archival CD, prints, negatives, and presuming you copy the files to your computer, your computer, too!
September 2005: Nikon discovers a flaw where the autofocus system may stop working. They'll fix this for free.
January 2002: Nikon first announced the N55. It's called the N55 in the USA and the F55 elsewhere.They are the same camera. I've seen and played with it but not shot with it. People ask, so here are my impressions.
This is easy to write. This is a simple camera ideal for people who want great photos with a simple, lightweight camera. Yes, it should take photos just as good as any $1,000 camera, and as of December 2004 it sold for only $169, complete with a lens!
Not only that, but this film camera can give better color, wider dynamic range in highlights and sharper enlargements than my $4,000 digital Nikon D1H.
PERFORMANCE
It has all the features important to making great images, and skips few of the advanced features few people know how to use anyway. Unlike 20 - 40 years ago when cameras were mechanical and it was very expensive to incorporate any feature, with modern electronics it costs nothing to add or retain features.
Therefore, the important features like Matrix Metering, vari-program and exposure compensation are in this camera. I prefer the Nikon matrix meter above all others, so images made in the full auto mode of the $169 N55 ought to be better than those made with expensive Canon cameras like the EOS-1V ($1,500) and it's inferior metering system that requires constant manual compensation.
The images should be IDENTICAL to those produced with the $2,300 F6 and better than those from Canon. Of course the AF will be slower than the F6 if you are shooting sports.
The niceties you give up by saving over two thousand dollars and a few pounds of weight are minor: the viewfinder is tiny, it only has 3 AF sensors and trying to track fast action may not work too well (for this you'd want a lens that costs more than this camera anyway), no depth-of-field preview (again, almost no one even knows what this does), no manual ISO setting (not needed anyway), no rear sync (too bad, but almost no one knows how to use this anyway and you do have the very important SLOW sync most people don't know how to use but should.)
The biggest things it skips are that it does not work with AFS lenses unless you focus them manually, and the N55 does not provide TTL flash metering with external flash units. It does have full TTL control for the built-in flash. The N55 also has a plastic lens mount, not likely to be a problem for the people who will buy this camera. The plastic mount could be a problem if you had many lenses and you changed them all the time.
There's an odd yin/yang about the N55 and D40: the D40 only focuses AFS lenses, and the N55 only focuses the traditional AF lenses. Use the other kind of lens on either and you have to focus manually.
Even though all the features are inside, unlike fancier cameras you lose some of the ability to tweak these settings. For the people for whom this camera is intended that's good, but for advanced workers looking for a back up camera the N75 or N80 are better because they allow direct twiddling with the advanced adjustments, like AF dynamic modes, that confuse beginners.
The film winds in reverse, deliberate stupid-proofing in case you open the camera before the film rewinds, or if the camera breaks (you won't be stranded like you can with the $1,000 F100), or if your camera is opened by the Religious Police for moral violations in a public market in Yemen. Unfortunately the camera is ugly silver, and not professional black, so the Religious Police are more likely to spot you.
The N55 provides multiple exposures, a feature I never use and a feature that my $3,000 Mamiya 7 lacks. See, even the N55 has features no one needs.
The only issue in addition to shooting fast motion that might make you want a fancier camera is that flash sync is only 1/90. This is very limiting for use in daylight for the fill flash I find very important. On the other hand, external flashes DO NOT provide TTL exposure control. If you plan to use an external flash get the N65 instead.
The self-timer cancels itself after each shot, thank goodness.
What the N55 has that the N65 lacks:
Strap and battery included (check me on that)
Lighter weight
What the the N55 lacks that the N65 and other cameras have:
You have to focus manually with AFS lenses
No metal lens mount
No ability to use external flash in TTL mode (extremely important if you use a separate flash)
I see no cable release socket and am unsure if there is some sort of screwy remote control
SUMMARY
All in all, unless you really care about how many knobs your camera has, if you think you want this camera and just want great pictures without having to screw with anything, by all means go get one.
The very few limitations it has to an advanced photographer like myself are completely meaningless for the person for whom this camera is intended. Indeed, this camera will probably give most people BETTER photos than more exotic cameras simply because it is designed to make the best use of all the extremely advanced technology inside it AUTOMATICALLY and spares you from having too many meaningless buttons you can set the wrong way.
Go for the N65 instead for just a little bit more money if you intend to use an external flash or intend to use it with current and future AFS and AFI lenses.
Of course if you're an involved photographer you'll find this camera limiting since you won't be able to screw with the settings. You want an N80 or fancier.
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.
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.
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)
The Trip AF Super of 1990 was a fully-automatic 35mm compact camera, with motor drive and autofocus manufactured by Olympus. It was one of a series of cheap models branded with the famous Trip name. It was made in Malaysia.
Lens: 35mm, f/4.5
Shutter speed: Fixed at 1/125s.
Good viewfinder, but no framelines.
LED warning as reminder to use flash.
Integral Flash, with on/off switch.
Sliding lens cover prevents accidental shutter release.
Auto-wind and motor rewind of DX-coded 35mm film.
There is NO tripod socket.
Power: 2x AA batteries.
