Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Minolta P's)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Minolta P's)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Minolta P's)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Minolta P's)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

Malaysia's Online Marketplace for Vintage Film and Digital Cameras, Lenses,
and Camera Accessories. Follow ImagingPixel on Facebook, Pinterest, and X.

Minolta P's, A 35mm Panorama Film Camera

Panoramas: Film photography favorites, sights, and scenes with the Minolta P's, a 35mm point-and-shoot film camera with a 24mm wide-angle lens.

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The Minolta P's (Minolta Riva Panorama / Freedom Vista) is a lightweight, compact 35mm autofocus point-and-shoot film camera with an auto flash and crop frame panorama feature. The camera, a cult classic introduced by Minolta in 1991, comes with fixed blinds that trim the top and bottom of the normal 3:2 image aspect ratio of standard 35mm film images to 2.7:1.

Tech specs include 5 elements in 5 groups 24mm 1:4.5 lens, infrared autofocus with a range from 0.9 meters to infinity, programmed autoexposure, a shutter speed range from 1/4 to 1/200 second when flash is deactivated, ISO 100 or ISO 400 DX-coded film rolls, and automatic film loading and rewind. The camera is powered by a CR132A 3-volt Lithium battery, which is good for up to 25 rolls of 24-exposure film with 50% flash use.

Minolta P's

Loading the film is fairly straightforward - open the film back, drop in the film canister, pull the film tab across to the red line across the film box, and close the back. Using it is equally easy and fun, slide the lens cover open, frame the image, and half-press the shutter button for the green diode to light up before releasing the shutter fully. The camera flash will fire automatically to compensate for low-light conditions, and the shutter will remain locked while the flash charges.

To capture images without flash, press and hold the press cancel button located to the left of the camera's top while taking the shot. Low battery is indicated when the flash takes more than 20 seconds to charge, the shutter will not release, or the film rewind stops before the operation is completed. A tripod socket is available on the bottom plane of the camera. The camera weighs 170 grams without battery and is slim enough to fit in your pants pocket.

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Photo of the Day

At long last, my first success with a 'moon shot,' tonight,

Sony DSLR-A350, Minolta AF APO 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6

(handheld, 300mm, cropped, ISO 100, f8, 1/160 second)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Sony DSLR-A350, Minolta AF APO 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6)

Vintage Camera Marketplace by ImagingPixel

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Sony DSLR-A350, Minolta AF APO 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Sony DSLR-A350, Minolta AF APO 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Sony DSLR-A350, Minolta AF APO 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6)

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Minolta AF APO 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6, Early Images

The CCD Sensor: Early images with a compact and lightweight Minolta AF APO 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6 lens mounted on a 14.2MP CCD Sony DSLR-A350 camera.

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First impression test of the Minolta AF APO Tele-Zoom 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6, a bargain A-mount tele-zoom (compatible with all Sony A-mount SLR camera bodies) introduced by Minolta in 2000. Seen as a fair price offer on the auction listings, the AF 100-300mm lens is a lightweight and compact 3X telephoto zoom lens with a circular aperture and two AD (Anomalous-Dispersion) glass elements to correct chromatic aberrations. The front lens element does not rotate during autofocus, and the lens has a focus-hold button and focus-range limiter for reduced focusing time and improved operation.

The lens is very well built, with 11 elements in 10 groups, 9 aperture blades, a smooth black satin finish externally, a nibble of wobble with the zoom fully extended, a metal mount, weighs 435 grams on my kitchen scale, and takes 55mm filters up front. Zoom and focus operate smoothly, manual focusing is a bit (plastic) 'dry'. The front element housing, and the hood (if it still needs to be fixed) are plastic. Images are impressive and inspiring, with the mention of having 'Minolta Color' qualities, sharp even at its widest, and excellent form f8 on.

Sony DSLR-A350, Minolta AF APO Tele-Zoom 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6

On the Sony A-350, the Minolta AF APO 100-300mm 1:4.5~5.6 is equivalent to a 150-450mm long tele zoom, which is more often the realm of sports and nature photographers. Too bad I am neither of both. What matters most is that the lens is a well-built lightweight, a potential favorite, and even when combined with the camera itself, is still a price breaker. I do not think that I will have any qualms about lugging the camera/lens combo around for the next street shoot and beyond sessions.

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Canon EOS 300D, Pentacon Auto MC 50mm 1:1.8)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Canon EOS 300D, Pentacon Auto MC 50mm 1:1.8)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Canon EOS 300D, Pentacon Auto MC 50mm 1:1.8)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Canon EOS 300D, Pentacon Auto MC 50mm 1:1.8)

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Pentacon Auto MC 50mm 1:1.8, Colors Enhanced

Digital Moments: Image making with the Pentacon Auto MC 50mm 1:1.8, recognized for its delightful and pleasant colors, and bokeh characteristics.

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First impression images with the Pentacon Auto MC 50mm 1:1.8, mounted on a Canon EOS 300D. Both camera and lens are vintages, of course, with the M42 mount Pentacon produced from 1971 to 1978 from the factory outside of Dresden, in Germany, while the Canon EOS 300D (EOS Digital Rebel in the US, EOS Kiss Digital in Japan, and also sold as the DS6041) was the first entry-level digital SLR camera introduced by Canon, Japan in 2003. The camera is fitted with a 6.3MP APS-C-sized CMOS sensor.

The well-made 6 elements in 4 groups Pentacon Auto MC 50mm 1:1,8, said to be a direct descendant of the equally acknowledged Meyer-Optik Görlitz Oreston 50mm 1:1.8, is a compact full-frame lens with an unusually close focus distance of 33 centimeters. The lens has a slightly rounded 6-blade diaphragm, measures 60mm in diameter, and 38mm in length, weighs 194 grams, and takes 49mm filters. Though optically identical, the lens was seen with over four iterations during its production run, and also a late version with a PB mount.

Canon EOS 300D, Pentacon Auto MC 50mm 1:1.8

The lens enjoys a Sharpness rating of 9, Aberrations at 8.3, Bokeh at 10.0, Handling at 8.7, and Value at 10 on PentaxForums. While the lens may have imaging flaws associated with its use as a full frame lens, which is not to everyone's taste, the lens has also enjoyed its moment as a 'cult classic', appreciated for its very delightful and pleasant color both on film and digital, and its bokeh quality, including the 'soap bubble' genre which has attracted many enthusiasts.

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax Optio W90)

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Photo of the Day

(Photo of the Day: Pentax Optio W90)

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Pentax Optio W90, A Morning Show

The CCD Sensor: The Golden Hour with a 12MP CCD Pentax Optio W90, a very versatile all-weather compact digital camera, first impression.

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Images do speak for themselves, and in the case of these exceptional first impression images here, it looks like a resounding good start for the ruggedized, dustproof, waterproof, and shockproof all-weather digital compact, the 12MP CCD Pentax Optio W90, which I acquired recently at quite a fair and reasonable price. The underwater digital, a 2010 vintage, is one for the go-anywhere do-anything outdoorsman whose preference for the rough-and-tough is reflected by the hardware and equipment he uses.

On the W90, images are framed and reviewed on a 2.7-inch LCD with a 230,000 dots screen resolution that has a wide viewing angle and is finished in anti-reflective coating. Autofocusing is by a 9-point contrast detection autofocus system, with face detection that can recognize up to 32 individual faces and three pet faces with Smile Capture and Blink Detection to ensure portraits look their best. Focusing is possible to as close to just one centimeter in Super Macro mode, and down to 10 centimeters in standard Macro mode. Three LED lights around the lens provide illumination in Macro mode shooting.

Pentax Optio W90

The Optio W90 has a normal shutter speed range from 1/4 to 1/1,500 second, up to 4 seconds in Night Scene mode, and a self-timer with a two- or ten-second delay. Normal ISO sensitivity, from 80 to 1,600, is automatically or manually controlled. The ISO sensitivity can be expanded to ISO 3,200 or ISO 6,400 under manual control, or in the automatic Digital SR (Shake Reduction) mode, by dropping image resolution to 5MP. Exposure modes include a Green (fully automatic) button, Auto Picture, Program, and a selection of 21 scene modes, with 24 capture modes.

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