Konica-Minolta Dynax 40 & Fuji Superia 100

 

Much of my film photography of late has been taken with either Focal 100 (a 3M Ferrania film rebranded for K Mart that disappeared in the early 90s) or Fuji Superia 100 film.  I was gifted a large amount of film a few years ago and am gradually working through it.  Those films are expired but have been kept frozen and they are amazingly just as good as the day they were bought.

When I first got back into Film Photography, it was like Christmas at times!  Prices on eBay were very reasonable as people were offloading their old film cameras that they thought had no future with the growth of digital.  It was a buyers feast!

Moving on about 12 years now, people are selling film cameras 'for display only - does not work' or 'parts only' for round about the price I paid for this.  The price of second hand film cameras has tripled in the last 10 years as people have become to realise that there is a very big resurgence in film photography.  Many professional photographers have turned to film photography as an 'edge' to their business; the romanticism and nostalgic aesthetic of film photography not being lost on those planning a wedding.  Many younger photographers have 'discovered' film photography and are embracing the discipline and craft it takes to shoot and develop film.

This camera, a Konica-Minolta Dynax 40 was one of my first camera purchases off eBay.  It came with a Minolta 28-100mm f3.5 zoom lens.  It was in perfect condition and I purchased it for only AU$35! The owner had purchased a digital camera and this had sat in his cupboard for years.  

This particular model was introduced about 2004 as a basic consumer level intro camera.  This is a little surprising as the camera is packed with pre-programmed settings for Portrait, Night, Landscape, Macro and, Sports.  It has a choice of full manual mode, Aperture Priority and, Shutter Priority.  It also has a hot shoe for Minolta flashes or a pop up flash.  The lens I got with this camera was the standard kit lens that came with the package.  The lens did not receive some good reviews of those that I have seen but, I can't see why as I have never had a problem and think it is a nice sharp lens.  The camera also comes with Red Eye Reduction, Flash Synch is 1/90 second, shutter speed is 30 seconds to 1/2000 second and Bulb.  The camera will read the DX file for film speed and set that automatically but the ISO can be manually set from 25 up to 3200.  This camera also has auto bracketing for exposure and the ability to shoot multiple exposures on the one frame.  As you can see, this is hardly a 'beginners' camera.  It is a great size too and I can fit it into my shoulder bag with no problems.

Many would not realise the history and years of experience that goes into a camera like this.  Minolta was founded in Japan in 1928 and was the first to make the integrated autofocus 35mm SLR Camera.  It was merged in 2003 with Konica.  Konica was a company that had been around since 1873 when a pharmacist began selling his photographic paper in Tokyo.  In 2006, the company transferred its digital camera SLR section to Sony which then became the Sony Alpha (after the lens mount system) line of cameras.

The lens mount on this camera is the Minolta A mount system although some often refer to the AF system (which actually just stands for Auto Focus!)  Some modern day Sony A mount lenses are compatible with this camera although I highly recommend trial before purchase on that as some I tried did work whilst others did not.

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Really lovely warm colours from the Fuji Superia 100 film for a few Sunrise shots.

If you live in Newcastle, NSW and have never visited this Book Shop then you're
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The Newcastle Ocean Baths just after Sunrise.

Wandering around Warners Bay on the beautiful Lake Macquarie.

Sun sets over Lake Macquarie from Warners Bay.