Minolta Hi-Matic F

Minolta was a powerhouse in its early days and all the way up into the 2000s. They made cameras of every variety you can think of and made some of my favorite cameras ever. Though sadly no more, you cannot deny the quality and colors you get from a Minolta lens. One of their interesting forays was the Hi-Matic line of cameras introduced in 1962. These were automatic exposure rangefinders that slowly made their way from having a plethora of options to full automation. The 1972 Hi-Matic F was released as a lower end model rangefinder with fewer features, but even with a slower lens then its predecessors, it was no slouch when it came to picture quality.

THe Manual Focus point and shoot

The Hi-Matic F is an automatic exposure camera that you have focus via a rangefinder. Being relativity light it’s the perfect size camera to wear around your neck and take pretty much anywhere. Beautifully styled with defined separation between every part on the camera makes this quite a contrast to other “all one color” cameras. Someone put a lot of work into the look of this camera, and I’d say they got the style spot on.

With the feature of a rangefinder, you focus through a good size viewfinder and bright viewfinder patch. Even in low light the patch is very visible and didn’t cause me any problems with glasses. When you half press on the shutter release, if the shutter speed is below 1/30th of a second, an indicator light will illuminate to show that you need to use a flash. The focus has an insanely short throw, which makes focusing on anything as speedy as it gets. You have to wind and rewind the camera manually as well, and it feels sturdy enough. With a Rokkor 38mm f/2.7 lens, you have an average speed with a great wide angle lens. I never had issues with getting everything in the frame, but it didn’t work so well for taking portraits or any closeup photography. I would say its more along the lines of a vacation or landscape camera. This camera has a hot shoe and a PC sync, along with distances marked on a dial on the lens for how far away you are, so it can adjust the aperture for the flash.

On the front around the lens, there is an ASA dial. The speeds supported are 25-500, which are manageable for most people. With shutter speeds from 4 seconds to a very odd 1/724th of a second, it proved great for days I was taking pictures indoors and outdoors. There is a check button on the backside of the camera to check if your batteries need to be changed, and this is were the biggest downfall of the camera occurs. You need batteries to run this camera, and without them, the camera is completely inoperable. The batteries were an odd size and voltage from the 70s and are no longer in production, but there are many different ways around this. Personally, I use two LR44 batteries in one compartment while I stuff tinfoil in another. This is probably the easiest and most convenient fix, but it causes you to have to increase the exposure and rate your iso one stop more to compensate for the voltage difference. This is completely manageable but makes you have to remember one more step when using the camera.

The Specs and Features

Shutter Speeds - automatic, 4 sec to 1/724th of a second

Aperture - automatic, electronic

Meter Type - CdS

Shutter - automatic, electronic, leaf type shutter

ASA - 25 to 500

Lens - Rokkor 38mm f/2.7, 4 elements in 3 groups, infinity to 2.6 feet focus

Flash Option - PC socket or hot shoe, X-Sync at 1/20th of a second, coupled aperture to distance scale FlashMatic system

Batteries - RM-640/E-640 Mercury [2 batteries X 1.4 volts] (2 LR44 equivalent is fine with foil spacer, over expose 1 stop to compensate)

Film Type - 35mm

Other Notable Features - battery check light, flash indicator (in viewfinder), parallax correction lines, film loaded indicator

The EXPERIENCE

I was very excited when I picked this camera up from a local resale store, it was a good price and came with the original case. But as I took the camera out to look at the battery compartment, I was subjected to quite a graphic scene. The batteries long exploded and leaked acid so much that the bottom plate around the compartment corroded as well. Given the price, I decided to grab it anyway and see if I could revive it.

This camera was a tricky one to fix, the corrosion completely ate the ground wire connecting to the battery compartment. After some reading online, I decided to give up on the old wire and try to solder another ground wire onto the battery terminal. You have to remove a lot of components to get to said wires, and I will say it's not for the faint of heart. I ended up soldering the battery terminal ground to another ground wire in the camera, and it was not that easy. I’ll be honest, after I opened the camera up and saw how much the battery acid leaked I didn’t have much hope. But when I threw a couple of batteries in, I was pleasantly surprised to see the camera working right away.

I’m not the biggest fan of automatic exposure cameras, but this camera was a lot of fun to use. Having a rangefinder on this camera was the biggest selling point for me, I choose what to focus on and there is no need to worry about auto focus issues. It worked like a dream indoors and out, even with the slower film I was using (Agfa Vista Plus). The only real issue I had was how wide the lens was. I’m used to using a 50mm lens, so I found myself having to get real close in some situations.

Would I recommend this camera, without a doubt yes. Whether you are a seasoned photographer, new to film, or just love Minolta I would say this is one of the best cameras to take with you anywhere. Of the images I took, they had the same quality feel as any SLR Minolta lens, and I came away with a handful of pictures I really ended up liking. I would say this camera has moved up to one of my favorites to use, and I see myself looking into more of the cameras in the Hi-Matic line.