Minolta Dynax 500si Super for the weekend

jemdna

jemdna

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Bryan
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Hey everyone

A good friend of mine has lent me his Minolta Dynax 500si Super to use over the weekend as he would rather see it used then sitting on his shelf.

Anything I need to know before firing a roll through? Any strange quirks etc :)

Bry
 
The af is slow and very picky about what it will focus on, it's plasticky and not very nice to hold, apart from that it's a jem!
 
I've got the 505si super which is a two or three of models better than yours. Although I don't have the slow focusing problem, I would deficiently recommend reading the cameras manual as if its anything like mine then there are a load of useful functions that you would not notice unless you've read it:

http://ca.konicaminolta.com/support/manuals/film-cameras/film_af_slr/index.html

Also when using the pop up flash be mindful that when it syncs to its highest shutter speed in low light conditions your likely to black out the background so select the slowest shutter speed that won't cause camera shake, possible in shutter priority mode or manual mode to prevent this. I would not recommend using apperture priority mode with flash as you can only select 1/90. Mine has a slow sync mode that automatically does this when selected so the background is not blacked out.
 
Cheers for all the advice :) I've picked up some Kodak Ultramax 400 and some Kodak Gold 200 to rattle through it :)

Bry
 
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The main problem I find with the AF is that it struggles with areas of low contrast (like many other AF systems).

My simple solution that works quite often is to rotate the camera through 90 degrees or however many it needs to lock on, lock the focus and recompose. I've used that method many times over the 10+ years I've used mine

As for not nice to hold, that's a personal opinion and may be down to hand size, I find it very comfortable to hold and use.
 
I have a 7000i and it's a gem !!!! I also have the 404si which I'm trying to sell for coins, the AF on that - yes, it's a bit slow.
 
The AF on the 505si super is a bit better as instead of just one central AF point it also has 2 vertical points as well either side of it which does help in focusing on moving objects and except in very low light areas where it has to pulse the flash to focus, it tends to be quite quick. One thing that I would recommend to anyone though, is to get a 3500xi or better flash as the AF assist lamp is much more discrete and faster than pulsing the flash. Personally as I have small hands I find mine fits my hands quite well.
 
Whilst Im thinking about it - Anyone know if the film I've got is any good? Found it in a local shop near mine as a quick fix till Monday... be interesting to know what its like :)
 
Can't go wrong with a Minolta. Not like I'm biased or anything :D

Kodak film? Bit soft and tends to give... "dated" colour rendition? Seems to have little in the way of personality but in effect that makes it a reasonable all-round film.
 
"soft"? Is that meaning that even with spot on focus, the image will appear a little OOF? (If so with my focusing technique it could be a REAL problem) :lol:
 
No, soft as in "nice"... it's a middle of the road film for all occasions, nothing great, everything reasonable sort of soft... no punch if you like.
 
Aah that kind of soft :lol:... does mean I have no excuse for my crap focus technique now :p

Looking forward to rolling it through over this weekend, got to stock up ready for bulldog bash as well :D

Bry
 
Bry; for most uses, you will not even notice the focussing speed - unless you are doing fast action photography.

The only thing it doesn't do is have a exposure lock function for centre weighted metering; other than that, its a fine camera for any enthusiast use ( unless you are going to photograph horses jumping over fences:D)
 
Ambermile said:
Kodak film? Bit soft and tends to give... "dated" colour rendition? Seems to have little in the way of personality but in effect that makes it a reasonable all-round film.
Click to expand...

You can't really go wrong with colour print film these days (when printing) as any decent lab does some colour and density correction before printing, so in my experience both Kodak and Fuji consumer films look very similar though I do prefer the Fuji as its about 50p each cheaper at 7 day shop compared to Kodak and the grain is a bit finer. With just scanning though I suppose you still see differences, I always get mine printed and only occasionally scanned as well.
 
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