Eight months is not very long but it is enough time for us to modify the land and start building. I’m not against building places for people to live but I still feel a sense of loss for this little oasis of grass land that was home to owls and coyottes and many things in between. I don’t know of any other place nearby where wild flowers bloomed like this.
After several years in my possession I finally took my Minolta Super-A off the shelf and ran a roll of film through it. It is an aesthetically and operationally pleasing camera to use. The viewfinder is designed to accommodate both a 35mm and 50mm lens so it has bright lines for the 50mm yet provides a good wide overall view for framing a subject. It has a leaf shutter behind the lens that provides from 1sec to 1/200 second. Additionally it has a bulb setting which also releases the add on light meter when selected. While the meter is coupled to the shutter speed through a mechanical gear the aperture is only suggested by the meter and it is up to the photographer to actually adjust the exposure. The meter adds an additional 135 grams to the already hefty camera but eliminated the need to carry a separate meter.
I haven’t been able to get much information about the camera off the Internet other than that it was released in 1957 as well as the usual info that is obvious when one is holding the camera. The 10 aperture blades form an interesting pattern that differs from the usual octagon, I would describe it as a 10 point star at f5.6 which gives unique out of focus highlights. The focus rack is built into the body and not the lens and allows focus down to 3.5feet. There is a small indicator on the front of the camera just bellow the shutter release that turns red when the shutter is cocked but there is no lock for the release itself.
In my next post I will provide some photo’s taken with this gratifying example of late 1950’s design.
