Review: Minolta Hi-Matic 9

[bmattock]

OK, folks!

I can't promise that I can knock one of these out every day like this, but here's another one. Hope you like it, please let me know if you have any trouble viewing it, or if there is something you'd like to see that isn't there, etc.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

Bill Mattocks' Camera Evaluation: Minolta Hi-Matic 9 (http://www.growlery.com/minolta_hi-matic_9/)

[wierdcollector]

Keep up the good work Bill. I think I can safely say we all enjoy reading them. I don't know how you ever find the time, but you're a real inspiration. Have to get my butt in gear and use some of my collection since you're making me feel lazy.

[back alley]

wow, again and what great timing as a minolta 9 just arrived at my door the other day!!
looking forward to using the camera and reading more reviews.
good job bill, wow...

joe

[r-brian]

Bill

I suspect that the shutter speeds of 1/15 - 1/250 that is listed in McKeon's is the available range in auto mode. In the MUG site for the Hi-Matic 7, they make mention of 1/250 as the top speed in auto mode.

Hi from a fellow Albuquerqueian or what ever we call ourselves.

Brian

[bmattock]

Originally posted by r-brian
Bill

I suspect that the shutter speeds of 1/15 - 1/250 that is listed in McKeon's is the available range in auto mode. In the MUG site for the Hi-Matic 7, they make mention of 1/250 as the top speed in auto mode.

Hi from a fellow Albuquerqueian or what ever we call ourselves.

Brian

Hmmm, seems like you might be right about that...but McKeon's also has the correct (manual) speeds listed for the 7S. So go figure...

Glad to see another Duke Cityite here! Or whatever we call ourselves! I'm on the NE, off of Paseo del Norte and Wyoming, how about you?

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[taffer]

And another fantastic article of yours Bill ! Definetely you need another "quiet" week to write some more !

And that Rokkor is sharp indeed !

Best !

Oscar

[r-brian]

Bill

I'm off Academy between McKinney and Burlison. Almost walking distance apart.

Brian

[bmattock]

Originally posted by r-brian
Bill

I'm off Academy between McKinney and Burlison. Almost walking distance apart.

Brian

Brian,

Hmmm! Perhaps we should do a photo-shoot together? I'm usually on the road - home only one day per week. But this weekend, I'm home and planning to go out and take some photos! Imagine, the first RangeFinderForum.com photo outing!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[r-brian]

Bill

Sorry. This Sat. I'm taking the kids over on the other side of the mountain to go sledding. Maybe some other time.

Brian

[Doug]

Very nicely done, Bill! I like the useful links at the end, the test shots that actually relate to features or failures of the camera, excellent product illustrations of the camera itself, even with a viewfinder shot! And, this time, the formatting came through perfectly for me with Mac OSX and Netscape 7.1

Next thing you know "Bill's Best Reviews" will be a popular online resource!

[Rich Silfver]

Another excellent camera review!

I like the layout of these reviews a lot and enjoyed reading it all.

I also really liked the photo showing how it looks through the viewfinder! I think that's very important to show so good job !!

(How did you take that photo by the way...?)

[bmattock]

Originally posted by rsilfverberg
Another excellent camera review!

I like the layout of these reviews a lot and enjoyed reading it all.

I also really liked the photo showing how it looks through the viewfinder! I think that's very important to show so good job !!

(How did you take that photo by the way...?)

Thanks for the kind words! As to the view through the viewfinder...um, I just held my digital camera up to the viewfinder of the Minolta. I wasn't sure it would work, but it seems to be ok. Not great, but usable, anyway.

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[pshinkaw]

Bill:

I was so inspired by your review of the Hi-Matic 9 that I bid on the next e-Bay auction that I found and both it.! Only $20.00 plus another $10 for shipping.

I tried it out this weekend. It is a really solid camera. Once I clean the fungus out of the lens and get the 1970's dust out of the viewfinder it should be terrific.

It seems to have a lot of design similarities to the Minolta AL series rangefinder. I 've been working to restore a couple of those, and going "under the hood" is pretty staightforward.

I'm hoping that a Canonet QL17 I bought will arrive soon and I can do a comparison between it, the Hi-Matic-9 the Yashica Lynx-5000.

-Paul

[Brian Sweeney]

Once the lens is cleaned, my money is on the Hi-Matic 9.

I have the Ql17, Hi-Matic 9, and had the Lynx 14. My Hi-Matic 9 has the edge on sharpness. The Olympus SP is also one to look out for- too close to call between it and the Minolta.

[bmattock]

Originally posted by pshinkaw
Bill:

I was so inspired by your review of the Hi-Matic 9 that I bid on the next e-Bay auction that I found and both it.! Only $20.00 plus another $10 for shipping.

I tried it out this weekend. It is a really solid camera. Once I clean the fungus out of the lens and get the 1970's dust out of the viewfinder it should be terrific.

It seems to have a lot of design similarities to the Minolta AL series rangefinder. I 've been working to restore a couple of those, and going "under the hood" is pretty staightforward.

I'm hoping that a Canonet QL17 I bought will arrive soon and I can do a comparison between it, the Hi-Matic-9 the Yashica Lynx-5000.

-Paul

Paul,

Wow, I didn't know I had such influence (lol)! I really hope you like your Hi-Matic 9. I just got off the plane here in Seattle, and I brought only one camera with me - the Hi-Matic 9. I guess I was lucky, mine was in like-new shape. No dirt, no fungus.

As to your anticipated comparison, I have all three of the cameras you mentioned as well. I'd say the Hi-Matic 9 should beat the Canonet on sharpness by a smidgen, the Lynx 5000 by a lot. Cameras that I would compare to the Hi-Matic 9 would be the Hi-Matic 7s and the Yashica Electro 35 GSN. Of them, only the Hi-Matic 9 has auto or manual operation on speed/aperture, and the very cool Flash-Matic system for any flash.

My only gripe on the Hi-Matics (and this applies to all of them), is that the lens seems to have reached the top of it's form just as mechanical construction of the cameras themselves began their long slow decline. Mechanically, I feel that the cameras from the 50s and 60s are much better made than the cameras from the 70s - but the lenses put out by Yashica, Minolta, Canon, Ricoh, Olympus, and Konica were just awesome. Hard to go wrong with any of that crop from the mid to late 70's.

The second thing I'd mention is that the viewfinder in the Hi-Matic 9 is not the very best I've seen. As I mentioned, mine is nearly new, and it flares out fairly easily. The Yashica Electros have a much better viewfinder. I don't find that true with the Lynx series (I have a 14 and a 5000), but with the GSN/GT/GST series, the viewfinder is wonderful.

Just my experiences. Hope you have fun with your new Hi-Matic 9!

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[bmattock]

Originally posted by Brian Sweeney
Once the lens is cleaned, my money is on the Hi-Matic 9.

I have the Ql17, Hi-Matic 9, and had the Lynx 14. My Hi-Matic 9 has the edge on sharpness. The Olympus SP is also one to look out for- too close to call between it and the Minolta.

Brian,

I agree, although at the moment, I find the RD better than the SP. Could just be my examples, but that's how it looks so far.

There is nothing wrong with the Canonets - I have three and like 'em! And I'm a Canon guy when it comes to SLRs. But I agree with you that the Minolta Hi-Matic series have the edge in terms of lens sharpness. The Canonet is a tad smaller and feels a bit better made. Just my observations...

Best Regards,

Bill Mattocks

[taffer]

And I also join this conversation, not with a 9 but with a 7s :)

If the slightly fast rokkor on the 9 is even better than the one on the 7s... well, then that must be REALLY sharp. I got the first roll with the 7s yesterday and that thing is amazing!

Probably I won't run a side to side test with any other one (I don't have the necessary patience, I think), but I agree that lens is first class without doubt.

Yes, there are some details that could be more user-friendly (speed and aperture rings are way close together, and the finder could be a bit more contrasty on the outside), but if you can get used to that, the Hi-matic is a winner. Oh if I could only find a decently priced 7sII !!! :rolleyes:

Just kidding, but I've been after a 35mm Rokkor wideangle for my SLR Minoltas without success :( I missed one for $28, and after that, they don't go for less than $40...

[back alley]

used minolta stuff (http://www.mcbaincamera.com/Used/usedframeset.htm)

oscar,
here is a link to a camera store in my area.
they have used equipment for sale also.
there is a 35mm lens (md mount) for $ 50 cdn. (30.11 euros)
want me to run down there & pick it up for you?

joe

[pshinkaw]

Bill:

Your reviews are terrific. I enjoy reading another user's perspective.

In my own experience, I confirm all of your comparison points on the rangefinders you mentioned. I haven't shot the comparison's yet with the Minolta and Canon, but the construction points are well made.

I am in the process of trying to turn 4 broken Minolta AL's into 3 working cameras. I can confrim that while there are clear design similarities between the AL and the Hi-matics, the older Minolta's are much better constructed.

My experience on the Yashica's is that they all have very excellent optics, but weak shutter's.

I also started work on a repairing a beat-up Konica Auto-S the other day. They have really good viewfinders! It might have something to do with the really large lenses used in the finder system. Once cleaned, they are brilliant. One of these days I will get my hands on an Auto-S2 at a reasonable price and try that one too.

-Paul

[taffer]

Originally posted by backalley photo
used minolta stuff (http://www.mcbaincamera.com/Used/usedframeset.htm)

oscar,
here is a link to a camera store in my area.
they have used equipment for sale also.
there is a 35mm lens (md mount) for $ 50 cdn. (30.11 euros)
want me to run down there & pick it up for you?

joe

Joe, thanks a lot for offering to get the lens for me, you're too much :) ! Anyway, as I already told you by mail, just now I'll try to "focus" in getting better pictures. Probably it won't be the end of my gear acquisition adventures ... but it may be a break...

... and give a try to b&w film processing at home. OTH the price for that lens was pretty good if it was in good condition, so I'm not closing that door completely.

Sorry I can't post something more, I'm a bit out of time these days :( let's see if I find some spare hours to review the pics from the gallery and read some of the recent posts here !

Best !

Oscar

Oh, I almost forgot it, and time to invest some of the "photo funds" in some technician work on my Rolleicord, she has been waiting for whole years...

[back alley]

oscar, got your p.m. and no problem at all. i just thought i'd offer.
i used to work there part time and know most of the people. for future reference, they offer a 3 month warranty and i have never seen a knowingly bad deal go down. with used equipment there is never a certainty that the peice will not have a problem but usually before they do a trade(where used stuff comes from) they check out the equipment pretty thoroughly (sp?)

it's too bad they don't take old rangefinders in on trade or i'd have a local place to find some vintage stuff.

joe

[taffer]

joe i'm taking your word :-) as you can probably figure, the used stuff market is not the same in all places. a similar lens here (http://www.casanovafoto.com/tienda.php?id_producto=3248&root=ocasion) is 120 euros, so now you know why i'm almost always looking for overseas products.

the store itself, www.casanovafoto.com has some interesting offer from time to time, and if you know a bit of spanish you can take a look, going to tienda online -> ocasion (used), on the overall, and as Francisco said, they are "caros".

their services are... well, as bill said in another post, depending on the mood of the guy behind the counter and the opinion they build about you that day... but usually nice people. on the gear no problem at all. each used camera or lens is checked, cleaned and serviced if needed before going for sale, and they offer a 3 months warranty also.

on the tienda online -> colleccion (collection) department things are a bit different, you can arrive to some kind of word warranty, and they have the usual grade scale, but they sold as-is items too and there's no official warranty at all.

one of the best sites if not the only one to find classic stuff in barcelona though, i like to go there from time to time and take a look at their cabinets, the collection store is more a museum than a store itself.

well i see i'm completely off-topic now... to return to the original point, that is, hi-matics, i'm really happy with my canadian one ;-)

best !

oscar