Guide to Minolta Cameras or What They Didnt Tell Us in Their Docs

Compiled by Petr Holub

2002 2003
This guide is based on experiences of people around the Internet mostly from Minolta Yahoo group. This guide is dedicated to this group in hope that it could help to bring back discussions to the photography instead of lost expectations about D-SLRs and similar things.
I WOULD LIKE TO THANK TO all the people that contributed to this guide in any way and all the people that participate in Minolta Yahoo group discussions. P. H.

Contents

I would like to thank to. Contents List of Tables List of Figures 1 Foreword 2 Information on bodies and lenses 2.1 Minolta AF bodies. 2.1.1 Overview of Minolta AF bodies. 2.1.2 Batteries for Minolta equipment. 2.2 Minolta Dynax/Maxxum 600si (507si, 650si). 2.2.1 Beyond the Owners Manual: Tips and Tricks 2.3 Dynax/Maxxum Lens Chart. 2.3.1 G Series. 2.3.2 D-Series. 2.3.3 RS = Re-Styled Lenses. 2.3.4 Maxxum Lens Glossary. i ii iv v 27 27
3 Flash-less photography 3.1 Photographing with M42 / Minolta AF lens reduction. 3.1.1 Comment on M42. 3.2 More on photographing with M42 / Minolta AF lens reduction 3.3 Alternative testing of vignetting. 3.4 Setting Minolta DiMAGE Scan Dual with VueScan. 3.4.1 Scanning Fuji Provia. 3.5 Minolta mounts. 3.6 Disabling the lens mount check. 3.7 Remote release cord. 3.7.1 Building your own Remote Cord (v. 1). 3.7.2 Building your own Remote Cord (v. 2). 3.7.3 Building your own Remote Cord (v. 3). 4 Flash photography 4.1 FlashAmbient Control 4.1.1 P Mode Flash. 4.1.2 A Mode Flash. 4.1.3 S Mode Flash. 4.1.4 M Mode Flash 4.1.5 Fill Flash.

CONTENTS

4.2 4.3
4.1.6 Slow-Shutter Sync. 4.1.7 Other comment. Short summary on using ll-in ash. Short summary on using wireless ash
A Flash-less experiments A.1 INI les for Minolta DiMAGE Scan Dual with VueScan A.1.1 Settings for Fuji Provia 100F. A.1.2 Settings for Konica Centuria 100. A.1.3 Settings for Konica Centuria 200. A.1.4 Settings for Konica Centuria 400. A.1.5 Settings for Konica VX 100. A.1.6 Settings for Fuji Superia 1600. A.2 Reciprocity Corrections Brooks Institute. B Flash experiments B.1 Wireless ash experiment. B.1.1 Experiment setup. B.1.2 Experiment results and discussion. B.2 Flash Test ADI/Pre-Flash/Bounce/Wireless.
Bibliography Literature about Minolta and Minolta-compatible equipment Web links about Minolta and Minolta-compatible equipment Camera bodies. Lens. Flash. Interesting books on photography.

List of Tables

2.1 2.2 2.3 2.4 2.5 2.6 2.7 2.8 2.9 2.10 2.11 3.1 3.2 4.1 4.2 Minolta AF Bodies in Chronological Release Date Order Batteries for Minolta equipment. Fixed focal length lenses. Zoom lenses. Macro lenses. Teleconvertors. xi zoom lenses. G lenses (I). G lenses (II). G lenses (III). D lenses. 45
VueScan parameters for scanning Fuji Provia using Minolta Scan Dual. Disabling the lens mount check. Flashambient compensations performed by camera. Changing Program Flash Control with the Custom xi card.
A.1 Reciprocity Corrections Brooks Institute (1/2). A.2 Reciprocity Corrections Brooks Institute (2/2). B.1 B.2 B.3 B.4 B.5 B.6 Wireless ash experiment setup. Wireless ash experiment: observations of camera and ashes behavior Wireless ash experiment: results. Flash experiment: 2485 lens. Flash experiment: 2880D lens. Flash experiment: Wireless.

List of Figures

3.1 3.2 Results of M42 adapter tests (1). Results of M42 adapter tests (2). 40
B.1 Wireless ash experiment setup.

Chapter 1

Foreword
As noticed by many photographers around the world Minolta produces high quality products for photographers. What they lack are people capable of writing documentation of reasonable quality. After hearing many discussions like: My camera of this brand is much better that your of that brand! and after seeing many master-pieces of photography shot with some of old all-manual cameras the point I feel as the most important is to get acquainted with the camera you already have (unless its really crippled) and to know exactly what it will do under (almost) any situation and how to make it do what you need and want. I hope that this guide will help us at least a bit to have our Minolta cameras working in this manner. Heres the list of people whose contributions has been included in this guide: Chingfeng Au (cfau1974@hotmail.com)

Phil Brandon (??) Chuck Cole cncole@earthlink.net) CyberSimian (CyberSimian@BTinternet.com) Gary Friedman (gary@friedmanarchives.com) Petr Holub (hopet@ics.muni.cz) Csaba JOZSA (??) Scott Kimball (SCOTTK@MAINE.maine.edu) Peter Blaise Monahon (peterblaise@yahoo.com) Dario Piantanida (ario@logic.it) Marat R. Saulin (??) Magnus Wedberg (mw@9000.org)
I would really appreciate having other people contributing to this guide to help other from the community. If you have anything what you think could be valuable for others dont hesitate to contact me. The same holds if you discover some valuable discussion in Minolta group archives. I will be happy to add your contributions! P. H.

Chapter 2

Information on bodies and lenses

2.1 Minolta AF bodies

2.1.1 Overview of Minolta AF bodies
[Author(s): Unknown, taken from Minolta AF FAQ [4].]
Table 2.1: Minolta AF Bodies in Chronological Release Date Order Released Europe Dynax 7000 AF 9000 AF 5000 AF 3000i 7000i 5000i 8000i U.S. Maxxum 7000 AF 9000 AF 5000 AF 3000i 7000i 5000i 8000i SPxi 3xi 7xi 2xi 5xi 9xi 700si 400si 500si 600si (Classic) 800si HTsi XTsi 9 QTsi NYA Canada Maxxum Japan Alpha ( ) 7000 Alpha 9000 Alpha 5000 Alpha Alpha 7700i Alpha 5700i Alpha 8700i

1991 3xi 1991 7xi 1992 2xi 1992 5xi 1992 9xi 1993 700si 1994 500si 1995 300si 1995 500si Super 1995 600si (Classic) 1997 800si 1998 505si 1998 505si Super 1999 303si 1999 404si continued on next page.
807si Alpha Sweet 9 STsi 7 5

2.1. MINOLTA AF BODIES

. continued from previous page Released Europe U.S. Dynax Maxxum 3L 3L

Canada Maxxum

Japan Alpha ( )
2.1.2 Batteries for Minolta equipment
Table 2.2: Batteries for Minolta equipment Body or Meter Dynax/Maxxum AF Bodies All except below & XTsi Dynax 5, 505si, XTsi Dynax 7 and 9 body VC-700 and VC-800 grips VC-7 and VC-9 grips Original AF Bodies & 5000 with original battery holder 7000 & 5000 with optional BH-70L MF SLRs XM, XE-1, XE-5, XD-7, XD-5, XG-1, XG-2, XG-9, XGM, X-9 X-300, x-300s, X320s, X-500, X-700 SRT-101, 100, 202, 303, 100x, 101b, 303b, SR7, SR1 Meter Vectis APS Bodies S-1, S-300, 30, 25, 200, 20, 10, UC, Weathermatic, GX variants Himatic Compacts and Earlier Rangender Bodies Minolta AL-F, AL-E, Himatic 7, 7s, 9 and 11 Himatic 7S-II, 5, G, G2, C Himatic E, F Himatic S, S2, GF, AF, AF2, AF2M Minolta CLE (Leica M lensmount) AF and Focus-free Compacts (modern) 140EX, 135EX, 105EX, Panorama Zoom 28 90EX, 70C, Weathermatic DL 115EX, 75W, 70W, 70EX, RZ 70, Pcio, Mini, Panorama 105i, 90C, Twin 28, AF Zoom 65, AF Zoom 90, AF Tele Super AF5, 100AF, AF35EX, AF35, AF35C, Riva 35 AF-101R, AF-20R, F-10/BF, C-10, Memory Maker FS-E, FS-EII, FS-35, AF-E AF-C AF-T AF-Z, AF-EII, AF-DL, AF Tele 60, AF-SP continued on next page. Batteries Used 1 2CRCRCR123A 4 AA or 1 x 2CRAA or (1 2CR5 and/or 1 CR123A)

2 CRx CRCR2

PX625 PX675 PX640 AA 10L14 or EPX-76 CR123A DL223A CR123A 2CR5 AA AA AA 10L14 AA or DL223A AAA or DL223A
AA AAA AA EPX-76 or 2 10L14
2.2. MINOLTA DYNAX/MAXXUM 600SI (507SI, 650SI)
1 AA 1 AA and 1 PXPXMN10LPX1.35 V mercury cell: PX1 or RM1
Notes: PX625 and other PX- type button batteries, as used in many older manual focus SLRs, contain mercury and slowly being outlawed around the world for obvious environmental reasons. A possible solution is the air cell, made by Wein in the USA. Ask for WeinCell MRB625 (to replace a PX625), MRB675 (PX675) or MRB400 (PX400). Some discontinued AF bodies use a separate internal button battery to provide memory backup for settings, etc. Although they last a long time, they do eventually need replacing. The individual requirements of these particualr bodies are not listed in the table above, but I would be glad to add them. Avoid the cheap types of button cells made for virtual pets or market-stall watches. They are not the same as those intended for photographic use: their output voltage varies underload and this will lead to incorrect meter readings.

Flash Auto Program: The Minolta 507si, 600si, and 650si camera selects a ash program when the retractable ash head or an accessory ash unit is activated. However, in Program Exposure Mode with sufcient available light, the camera will not use the ash unless you press and hold the Flash Control Button during exposure. Auto Focus Illuminator: The Minolta 507si, 600si and 650si camera Auto Focus Illuminator light feature of the built in ash or attached accessory ash will not function in C Continuous Auto Focus mode. Auto Metering Features: The metering system of the Minolta 507si, 600si, and 650si camera starts with a proven auto focus-integrated computer rst introduced by Minolta with the xi series cameras. This computer ensures that the light meters main emphasis is on the area in sharp focus. This optimizes exposure for the primary subject. The camera meter is calibrated for medium gray, which is equivalent to an 18 %, reectance. This value was arrived at with the assumption that average photographic subject scenes have a contrast range of 1:32. This is a valid assumption for common outdoor scenes that include grass, dirt, rocks, trees, and sky, for instance. The various reectance values average to a median value with a density of 0.75, or 18 % reectance. The camera meter measures light reected back from the subject through the lens, hence the term TTL Through The Lens metering. This is also the design of all other modern SLR Single Lens Reex cameras. When the camera metering system determines the subject scene to be a landscape, metering emphasis is on the lower section of the frame. In strong backlighting, such as when shooting toward a bright ocean, the camera metering and exposure computer automatically compensate for a bright rendition of the scene. However, with a small subject on bright sand or surf, such as a small boat on a large body of water, expect to need to dial in a 1 EV Exposure Value compensation factor because the camera metering system interprets such a scene as a landscape. When you set the camera to the evaluative 14 Segment Honeycomb Pattern Metering Mode, the camera computer sets its own Exposure Compensation in an attempt to render a bright scene or dark scene accurately on lm. For example, beyond a certain high brightness level, the camera system increases exposure by one EV Exposure Value stop to render the subject as bright. Use the Exposure Compensation feature to assist the cameras Metering system to accurately match your chosen photographic subject scene brightness dynamic range to your chosen lms sensitivity dynamic range: A white surface reects more light than a gray surface approximately two stops more. + Plus EV Exposure Value Compensation will increase the amount of light reaching the lm to render a light photographic subject accurately. A black surface reects less light approximately two stops less. Minus EV Exposure Value Compensation will reduce the amount of light reaching the lm, to render a dark photographic subject correctly. If the range of brightnesses within your chosen photographic subject scene are within the or range of the Viewnder Data Panel scale, then they can be recorded accurately within most lms reproducible dynamic range. Any index reading of 3 or greater will probably be reproduced as white on lm, and any reading of 3 or beyond will probably be reproduced as black on lm. To toggle on/off the viewnder LCD indicator for Exposure Compensation, hold the ISO Button and the Depth Of Field Preview Button. The center-weighted metering is not linked to the auto focus system, nor does it input exposure corrections of its own. Primary emphasis is placed on the subject area within the brackets etched on the viewnder, with much less emphasis on surrounding areas, and none on the top section where sky might be located. Auto Focus Features: In the Minolta 507si, 600si, and 650si camera, program modes are aware of an attached automatic lens focal length. A telephoto lens activates higher shutter speeds, and a wide-angle lens activates smaller apertures. For example, the camera sets a small aperture for a landscape to achieve an extensive range of apparent sharpness. If the AF Auto Focus system detects motion, it sets a high shutter speed such as second to stop action. For a portrait, a moderately wide aperture is set to

2.3. DYNAX/MAXXUM LENS CHART
blur a distracting background while keeping both the subjects nose and ears in focus. In selecting an aperture-shutter speed combination, the system considers such factors as focal length, subject reectance and contrast, subject distance and type, and the reproduction ratio, or degree of magnication. The system then selects an appropriate combination of aperture and shutter speed for the situation, however it will try to maintain a hand-holdable shutter speed, such as second shutter speed with a 50 mm lens, to reduce the risk of blur from hand held camera shake. To disable AF Auto Focus lens to Shutter interlock, hold the ISO Button and the Lens Mount Button while turning the camera ON. Automatic Exposure Bracketing: Automatic Exposure Bracketing drive mode exposed 3 consecutive images, one at normal EV Exposure Value, plus one at stop EV Exposure Value and then one at stop EV Exposure Value, which is a rather narrow exposure range best suited for the sensitivity and dynamic range of slide lm. For other lm, you can use manual Exposure Compensation control, perhaps taking two additional frames, one at +1 or greater and the other at the +2 or greater setting. Multiple Multiple Exposures: Although you can pre-set a maximum of nine exposures on one frame of lm, you can actually achieve any number. If you want to shoot 16, for example, merely reset the Multiple Exposure feature to 8 after shooting the rst 8. Body Depth: The depth of the Minolta lens mount to lm plane is 44.7mm. Setting DX Film For More Than 24 or 36 Frames: The Minolta 507si, 600si and 650si camera will rewind the lm immediately after the last frame of 24 or 36 exposures as sensed by the DX coding on the lm can. The selected Aperture and Shutter Speed values will disappear immediately after the last exposure when rewind begins preventing you from viewing and recording these values. To wind to the true end of your lm and expose additional available frames, scrape the paint off the lm can DX sections 8, 9 and 10. The camera will then rewind only when lm advance is not possible due to reaching the true end of the lm, or if you manually press the Rewind Button. This permits you to manually rewind after recording your Aperture and Shutter Settings after the nal frame, either 24 or 36, or to expose an additional frame. However, be aware that rewind will begin immediately after the nal exposure, so watch for and record you nal frame Aperture and Shutter Speed before or during the nal exposure.
2.3 Dynax/Maxxum Lens Chart

[Author(s): Minolta Corp.]
Used abbreviations: * Discontinued RS Restyled HS High Speed For detailed explanation see section 2.3.3 (page 14).
Table 2.3: Fixed focal length lenses Lens Elements / Groups 11/8 10/9 10/9 8/8 8/8 9/9 5/5 10/8 10/8 7/6 7/6 7/6 7/6 6/5 6/5 7/6 7/6 Angle Of View

1/7.14

integral

1/6.25

3.28 2.85

1/6.25 1/4

55 mm 72 mm
29/16 31/4 31/8 315/16 51/4 51/4 93/8 93/8 811/16

3.3 2.62

1/7.7 1/5.88

55 mm 55 mm

25/213/16 31/16
*85mm f/1.4 7/6 G [RS] *100mm f/2 7/6 100mm f/2.8 7/7 Soft *135mm f/2.8 5/7 135mm f/2.8 8/6 [T4.5] STF *200mm f/2.8 8/7 APO 200mm f/2.8 8/7 APO G [HS] *300mm f/2.8 11/9 APO 300mm f/2.8 11/9 APO G [HS] 300mm f/4 9/7 APO G continued on next page.

1/7.81

1/6.66

1.5 1.5

1/6.66 1/6.66

49 mm 49 mm

25/8 25/8

49 mm 55 mm

29/16 29/16

1/5.88 1/5.88

115/16 115/16 11/2 11/2 19/16 19/16 12/3 213/16 213/16

1/7.7 1/7.7 1/5

55 mm 49 mm 55 mm
25/8 115/16 29/16 111/16 29/3

1/6.5 1/6.5

1/7.7 1/7.7

72 mm 72 mm

31/6 31/6
16mm f/2.8 Fisheye *20mm f/2.8 20mm f/2.8 [RS] *24mm f/2.8 24mm f/2.8 [RS] 28mm f/2 28mm f/2.8 *35mm f/1.4 G 35mm f/1.4 G [RS] *35mm f/2 35mm f/2 [RS] *50mm f/1.4 50mm f/1.4 [RS] *50mm f/1.7 *50mm f/1.7 [RS] *50mm f/1.4 [RS] *85mm f/1.4

215/16

Min. Focus [ft].7

Max. Magnication 1/6.6

Filter (dia.)
Dimensions (dia. length) [in]

Weight [oz]

25/8 201/8 21/8 13/4 13/4
141/10 19/16 19/16 101/16 61/2 169/16 179/16 87/16 81/2 85/16 85/6 85/16 193/8 193/8 1615/16 151/2 127/8 253/4 177/8 177/8 871/2 871/2 493/4
Table 2.4: Zoom lenses Lens Elements / Groups Angle Of View Min. Focus [ft].98

27/8 31/8 27/8 31/8

2.6(.8)

1/8.3(1/4)

211/16 33/8 211/16 33/8

2.6(1.2) 1.3

1/9(1/4)

1/5.88

1/5.55
211/16 23/8 211/16 23/8 27/8 27/8 27/8 27/8 213/16 211/16 31/4 49/16 211/16 21/16 29/16 211/16 27/16 29/16

1/12.3

1735mm 15/12 f/3.5 G 2035mm 13/11 f/3.54.5 *2450mm 7/7 f/4 2450mm 7/7 f/4[RS] *2485mm 14/12 f/3.44.5 2485mm 14/12 f/3.44.5[RS] 24105mm 12/11 f/3.44.5[D] 2870mm 16/11 f/2.8 G *2880mm 7/7 f/45.6 MZ 2880mm 10/10 f/3.55.6 II 2880mm 8/7 f/3.55.6 (D) (S) *2885mm 13/10 f/3.54.5 *2885mm 13/10 f/3.54.5 [RS] *28105mm 13/10 f/3.54.5 MZ 28105mm 13/10 f/3.54.5[RS] continued on next page.

104 63

Max. Magnication

10/9 10/9

1/9 1/9

integral integral

65/8 65/8
400mm f/4.5 APO G 500mm f/8 Mirror Reex *600mm f/4 600mm f/4 G [HS]
. continued from previous page Lens EleAngle ments / Of Groups View

Min. Focus [ft] 9.9

Max. Magnication 1/6.5
103/4 45/8 1711/16 1711/16

67 237/194

Dimensions (dia. length) [in] 31/4 31/23/4
211/16 117/16 101/16 101/16 145/8 145/15/813/16 81/2 611/16

175/16 175/16

171/8 171/8
23/4 33/4 27/8 315/16 27/8 4
27/8 33/16 31/2 69/16 31/2 69/16

1/3.84

27/8 315/16 23/4 311/16 23/4 311/16 27/8 67/16 213/16 413/16 213/16 413/16 213/16 413/16

5(1.34) 2.8

1/12.5(1/4) 1/6.5
*3580mm 8/8 f/45.6 3580mm 8/8 f/45.6 II *35105mm 12/14 f/3.54.5 *35105mm 12/10 f/3.54.5N *70210mm 9/12 f/4 *70210mm 12/12 f/3.54.5 *70210mm 10/10 f/4.55.6 MZ 70210mm 10/10 f/4.55.6 II *75300mm 13/11 f/4.55.6 75300mm 13/10 f/4.55.6 75300mm 13/10 f/4.55.6 II 75300mm 13/10 f/4.55.6 (D) (S) *80200mm 9/9 f/4.55.6 *80200mm 16/13 f/2.8 APO 80200mm 16/13 f/2.8 APO G[RS] *100200mm 8/7 f/4.5 *100300mm 11/9 f/4.55.6 *100300mm 11/10 f/4.55.6 APO continued on next page.

1/14.3(1/4) 1/5.7

3.3(1)
*28135mm f/45.6 3570mm f/3.54.5 MZ 3570mm f/4

5 (.82)

1/11(1/4)
. continued from previous page Lens EleAngle Of ments / View Groups

Min. Focus [ft]

Dimensions (dia. length) [in] 215/16 45/16 211/16 21/2 211/16 21/16 29/16 215/16 27/16 210/16 211/16 37/16 211/16 25/16 27/8 6
267/16 73/4 91/16 67/8 53/8 171/2 73/4 241/13/16 123/8 111/4 301/2 181/2 171/4 161/4

109/16 451/8 451/8

131/4 147/16 153/8
These lenses have the same glass as the previous MZ models. No Focus scale. No focus lock button. Table 2.5: Macro lenses Lens Elements / Groups 7/6 7/6 5/5 8/8 8/8 8/8 13/8 7/5 Angle Of View

300mm f/2.8 APO 600mm f/4 APO 80200mm f/2.8 APO
These lenses were redesigned in 1988 for the Maxxum Series-i cameras. Internal changes include a faster focusing gear and a new IC ROM to enable faster focusing with Series-i, xi, and si cameras. External changes include AF lock/lens function button (one for 200mm, two for 300mm and 600mm lenses), and High Speed Focus decal on lens shade. Additionally, the 80200mm f/2.8 APO received a stronger focusing shaft which enabled better focus tracking, a rubber focusing grip for easier manual focus, and white paint nish.

APO Tele Converter

The converters were redesigned with new gear and IC ROMs. External changes include TYPE II designation. It is OK to use old-style converters on new lenses. Using a new converter on an old, nonupgraded lens will cause slower focusing Warning: THE APO CONVERTERS CANNOT BE USED WITH THE 80-200MM APO LENSES. If mounted together, the front element of the converter will contact back element of the lens and damage both.
2.3.4 Maxxum Lens Glossary
Circular Aperture Defocused background highlights take the shape of the diaphragm in wide-aperture portrait shots. The 9-blade apertures found in some of the G-lenses is specially designed to provide a circular opening at widest apertures (small f-numbers). A circular aperture produces softer, more natural-looking backgrounds at wider apertures than a lens having a standard 5-, 6-, 7-, or 9-bladed aperture. Floating Optical Design Rather than moving all lens groups as a single unit, designated optical groups in some of the G-lenses move independently as the lens focuses. This oating movement provides an extremely at image at the lm plane thus assuring corner-to-corner sharpness. It also provides a high degree of control over sagittal are, and eliminates coma, an aberration that causes off-axis object points to appear as short comet-like images on lm. Reducing sagittal are and coma provides an extremely sharp, high-contrast image which more effectively separates the subject from its background at large apertures. Internal Focusing The AF 200mm, 300mm, and 600mm APOs internal focusing system moves lighter internal lens elements to focus the image instead of the larger front elements used in conventional systems. This along with a high-ratio lens drive provides quick, accurate focusing of fast moving subjects. In addition, a focus limiter permits selecting a focusing range for even faster response. Anomalous Dispersion (AD) Glass Different wavelengths of light come into focus at different planes. This effect is know as Chromatic aberration and can cause a rainbow halo around points of light and reduced sharpness. Standard achromatic telephotos are corrected to bring the red and blue components into focus at the lm plane. The Anomalous Dispersion (AD) glass, used G-Series APO telephotos and zooms as well as the 100-300mm APO and 100-400mm APO virtually eliminates the effects of lateral and longitudinal chromatic aberration, providing increased sharpness and extremely accurate color rendition. Aspheric Design Different than the smooth continuous arc of a normal lens element surface, the curvature of an aspherical lens element changes shape across its surface. This irregular surface helps to correct spherical aberration and coma, an aberration that causes off-axis object points to appear as short comet-like images on lm. It also reduces sagittal are. The inclusion of aspheric elements in a lens design enables designers to reduce the amount of elements in the design. This in turn reduces the amount of are producing surfaces, two per element, which increases the contrast and snap to the nal image. The reduction in elements also makes the lens smaller and lighter. Focus-Hold Button When pressed, it locks focus or can be used to select spot focus or continuous AF (with Custom Function Card or Customize Function Card xi). Distance Encoding Distance encoding with new and revised D lenses provides rened multi-segment metering for manual focus operation and depth-of-eld display on Navigation Display with the Maxxum 7 as well as ADI ash functions when the new 5600(D) and 3600(D) ashes. Integral Filters Because a front-mounted lter would be expensive and would cause excessive are, the 300mm and 600mm Apo lenses have a built-in lter holder. Six lters are provided: NORMAL (clear), Y52 (yellow), O56 (orange), R60 (red), 1B (skylight) and ND4X (2-stop neutral density). Achromatic Coating Minoltas Achromatic, multi-layer coating provides remarkably accurate color rendition and excellent contrast by virtually eliminating reections between lens elements.

4.2 Short summary on using ll-in ash
Based on my experiences and experiences of other people [3] here is a short summary on how to get gentle ll in ash: M mode (called Brainer mode by Gary Walts in [15])
Meter your subject and set aperture and shutter speed for proper exposure with ash turned off. You can also use results of measurement in P mode again with ash turned off and set those vaules in M mode.
Dial-in the desired ash compensation e.g. dial-in even no ash compensation at all.
ash compensation or you can set
4.3. SHORT SUMMARY ON USING WIRELESS FLASH
P and A mode (called No-Brainer mode by Gary Walts in [15]). Just press the force ash button on camera body. The result will habe about one stop underexposed background/ambient light so its not what you usually want as daylight-balanced ll-in ash. But its great for backlight.
In P and A mode you can use SLOW SYNC method. SLOW SYNC is designed to make your shutter speed long enough to get proper exposure of ambient light 1. According to Phil Brandons notes on ash programing (Table 4.1 on page 26 and 4.1.6 on page 28) the ambient light in this mode should be exposed without any compensation (in my experiences it is sometimes up to EV underexposed) the same situation you probably want with daylight ll-in ash. In my experiences it worked O. K. except for the high-speed sync (HSS mode) when it has usually no effect on shutter speed 2. When you want especially subtle ll-in you can dial 1 or even 2 EV ash compensation. P and A mode You need to compensate (ambient) exposure decrease invoked automatically by the camera in those modes when ash is turned on. Amount of compensation varies on ambient light level but usualy you need to set about 1 EV. Unless you have Maxxum/Dynax 7 with ash compensation detached from ambient compensation bear in mind that ash output increases by the same amount as the ambient compensation set. Now you need to compensate ash for both the automatic increase due to ambient exposure compensation and the ash compensation that you want to dial in. In case of 1 ambient compensation you need to dial 1 ash compensation to get original ash power. Than you can go further with your intended ash compensation if you want to have ash power increased by you need to dial-in total ash compensation. Disadvantage of this approach is in the fact that overall exposure compensation that camera sets after turning on the ash may be exactely one stop (if camera decides its frontlight situation) but it may be even more so you never know what compensation exactely should be set unless you do the measurement with ash turned off.

Place: Brno, CZ Minolta Dynax 600si, 2485/3.54.5 set to 85 Kodak ProFoto 100 (expiration 07/2004), scanned on Noritsu QSS-2901 digital minilab/scanner in Base4 resolution (theoretically 1536x1024, actually 1486x1024)

ambient light

heavy cloudy, spot metering on windows made 5.6/8 on average and 5.6/45 at maximum experiment performed indoors with setup pictured on Fig. B.1 setup for each picture is summarized in Tab. B.1 observation of camera and ash behavior are summarize in Tab. B.2 resulting pictures are in Tab. B.3 Table B.1: Wireless ash experiment setup # aperture/speed position 5.6/5.6/5.6/5.6/60 5400HS 5 5.6/60 3600HS(D) 6 5.6/60 3600HS(D) 7 5.6/60 5400HS 2:[1] 8 9.5/60 5400HS 9 9.5/60 5400HS 2:[1] continued on next page. position 2 built-in 5400HS wireless control 5400HS wireless control 2:[1] built-in built-in built-in built-in built-in built-in position 3 3600HS(D) 3600HS(D) 3600HS(D) 3600HS(D) 5400HS 5400HS 2:[1] 3600HS(D) 3600HS(D) 3600HS(D)
B.1. WIRELESS FLASH EXPERIMENT
. continued from previous page # aperture/speed position 9.5/5.6/5.6/5.6/60
position 2 5400HS wireless control + ash button 5400HS wireless control + ash button 5400HS wireless 5400HS
position 3 3600HS(D) 3600HS(D)
Experiment results and discussion
Table B.2: Wireless ash experiment: observations of camera and ashes behavior
before exposure blinking alternately glowing glowing
after exposure blinking blinking blinking
blinking alternately blinking alternately blinking alternately
blinking blinking blinking

blinking alternately

blinking
blinking alternately blinking alternately glowing blinking alternately glowing glowing
blinking blinking alternately glowing blinking blinking blinking
test ash (AEL button) one starting ash (on-camera) and one ash (off-camera) one starting ash (on-camera) and one ash (off-camera) one starting ash (on-camera) and two simultaneous ashes (off- and on-camera) one starting ash (on-camera) and two ashes (off-camera) one starting ash (on-camera) and two ashes (off-camera) one starting ash (on-camera) and two ashes (off-camera); 5400HS ashes approx. 0.5 sec after 3600HS(D) one starting ash (on-camera) and two ashes (off-camera); 5400HS ashes approx. 0.5 sec after 3600HS(D) one starting ash (on-camera) and two ashes (off-camera) 5400HS ashes approx. 0.5 sec after 3600HS(D) undistinguishable from case 1 and 2 undistinguishable from case 1 and 2

F IGURE B.1: Wireless ash experiment setup Table B.3: Wireless ash experiment: results # picture # picture
. continued from previous page # picture

picture

B.2. FLASH TEST ADI/PRE-FLASH/BOUNCE/WIRELESS
To summarize what I got from this experiment: When placing wireless ashes around your subject be careful about distances you place your ashes from the subject and the powers of ashes since you can create different ratios unintentionaly 1.
You can have ratio wireless off-camera ashes even without dedicated wireless ash controller despite what Minolta says in 5400HS ash manual. All you have to do is to set 5400HS to 2:[1] ratio and re the ashes using built-in camera ash. If you have 5400HS on-camera and you have your camera swichted to wireless mode (so that you have WIRELESS word shown on 5400HS display but not WIRELESS CONTROL!) ash works just like ordinary on-camera ash and it is unable to re any wireless ash. You need to set it to WIRELESS CONTROL mode by pressing and holding OPT button to do so. If you have 5400HS on-camera ash set to WIRELESS CONTROL and you need to use it as ll light (2:1) then you need to switch it to WIRELESS CONTROL 2:[1] mode. The way usual for built-in ash (holding ash button on camera body while shooting) seems not to work 2.
B.2 Flash Test ADI/Pre-Flash/Bounce/Wireless
[Author(s): Marat R. Saulin. Reviewed by: Petr Holub.]
There are three tables down there: Flash Tests 2485 (Tab. B.4), Flash Tests 2880D (Tab. B.5) and Flash Tests WL (Tab. B.6). Pictures in the rst two tables were scanned with the exposure lock except for the le 2880D ADI 5600 which served as a sample, i. e. I scanned it with the AE and then locked exposure for all other images in order to show exposure differences. Pictures in the third table were scanned with the AE (on the negative there were almost no differences between them). Please, do not judge the artistic value of the images they were made for pure test purpose only. As long as I had only 4 test pictures for the 2880/3.55.6 D lens (I didnt make bounce shots with this lens because I think they would be equal to those made with the 2485/3.54.5) I put two additional images made with the 2485 lens instead, but on them the subject is relatively far away from the camera - focal length was 85 mm, with all other shots, except WL, it was 70 mm. As you
1 Ive heard rumors that Canon cameras together with Canon ashes can be programmed in such a way that they are distance independent. The only way Im able to come up with how to do this sort of thing is that ashes are red sequentionaly so camera can balance them to get equal portion of light from each of them. Nota bene: this note is not to provoke any amewars or brand-wars but its rather because of my technical curiosity!!! 2 The other possibility is that on-camera ash is so weak in this case that I havent noticed it on the resulting photos. This shoud be re-measured using slide lm with small exposure latitude.

may see, the camera was badly tricked by the uorescent lighting in the room and the picture 24-85 Preash 5600 Vertical is severely underexposed, though the ash still provided some weak light. :-((. If we accept the sample picture, 28-80D ADI 5600 as perfectly exposed one, then the 4segment metering comes the best after it with about 1/2 overexposure regardless the lens ash combination used. With the pre-ash metering results are practically unpredictable if a non- D lens is used - in some cases it gives heavy overexposure (like in 2485 Preash 5X00 les) or shows bad underexposure (see the previous comment). With the D-lens even non-D 5400 showed similar results to 4 segment metering.in the pre-ash mode. In the wireless mode results should be interpreted the following way: the rst ash in the name stands to the left of the camera while the second one stands to its right. Numbers in parenthesis indicate the ratio power for each ash. ctrl means Control, slv means slave for the pictures where one of the ashguns was used as a control for another. For getting this work I made a trick with the OS1100 lling in the whole on the shoe. But as long as the ashes were relatively close to the subject (I think less than 1 meter) the results in this mode are contradictory to what it should be in reality the control ash, even set to (1) ratio power overexposes its side of the picture, though it should be way around. Another note: when the 5600 acts as a controller the camera does not give an OK signal, though the pictures were apparently exposed properly. With the 5400 set to the controller everything works as it should and the camera gives OK signals. I think that this is understandable, as long as the manual for the 5600 warns against using the 5600 as a controller if a non-D ash is used as a remote because the latter wont re. Well, in my tests the 5400 red all right, though without OK signal after the shot.
The built-in ash works in fact as a real wireless controller, so it is possible to use 1:2 ratio between two remote units. Though the it works the best with the 5600 set to (2) and 5400 set to (1). With reversed setting the effect of the ratio is much less prominent, but this way it is possible to play with lighting in a more exible way, IMHO. When both ashes are set to the equal power (i.e. without any ratio, just plain wireless mode) they provide equal illumination.

> > > >

Thanks for posting the results of your flash test, Marat. My conclusion is that, contrary to what has been stated earlier and often on this e-group, Minolta flash results are very unpredictable unless using a D lens.

Yes, they are. Unpredictable they become only with the pre-ash and a non-D lens. Now, as long as I dont have a D-lens, I have switched the ash metering to the 4-segment one - at least it gives very consistent and predictable results, though it tends to overexpose a bit. But still the 4- segment metering is much better than the centerweighted one in all Minolta cameras prior to the 9. Table B.4: Flash experiment: 2485 lens # 2485 Bounce 5400 picture # 2485 Bounce 5600 picture

2485 Preash 5400

# 2485 Preash 5600

2485 4S 5400

Table B.5: Flash experiment: 2880D lens # picture # picture
2485 Preash 5600 Vertical

2485 4S 5600 Vertical

2485 4S 5600

# 2880D Preash 5400

2880D 4S 5400

2880D ADI 5600

Table B.6: Flash experiment: Wireless # picture # picture
WL 5400ctrl(1) 5600slv(2)
WL 5600ctrl(1) 5400slv(2)

2880D 4S 5600

WL 5400(1) 5600(2)

WL 5600(1) 5400(2)

WL 5600(1) 5400(1) Built-in(1)

WL 5400 = 5600

Bibliography
Literature about Minolta and Minolta-compatible equipment
[1] Maschke T., Burian P. K., Magic Lantern Guide to Minolta Maxxum 600si, Magic Lantern Guides (A Laterna magica R book), 1995, ISBN 1-883403-34-0 [2] Damian Dinning, Complete Minolta Users Guide: Minolta Dynax/Maxxum 600Si (Hove Users Guide), Watson-Guptill Pubns, ASIN: 1874031606, February 1996, ISBN: 1-874031-60-6
Web links about Minolta and Minolta-compatible equipment
[3] Minolta Users Discussion Group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/minolta/ [4] Minolta Users Group, http://www.35mm.freeserve.co.uk/mug/ [5] Minolta SLR FAQ Tips & Tricks, http://fotozoom.net/stary_fotozoom/hp/foto/minolta-faq/af-tips.html [6] Minolta Users Group of Thailand, http://www.geocities.com/minoltacamera/ (in Thai only :-( ) [7] boonedocks.net Minolta Site, http://boonedocks.net/photo/minolta/ [8] Free Minolta Manuals, http://www.geocities.com/eskoufos/fmm.html [9] Minolta Dynax System Accessories Overview, http://www.minolta.com/cameras/camera_mh/slr/acc/acc_othera.html

Camera bodies

Dynax/Maxxum 600si [10] Minolta 600si Board FAQ, http://w3.one.net/georgek/minolta/MPG/600SI/ [11] Minolta Dynax 600si Brochure, http://www.geocities.com/minolta600sibrochure/minolta600si-brochure-01.html [12] Peter Blaise Monahon, Minolta Alpha 507si and Dynax Maxxum 600si 650si Classic and Panorama Date Photography, http://www.geocities.com/minolta507si600si650si/index.html