Venerable lineage machine!
column
camera
at first
I’m sorry
Because we can’t speak english
I am using DeepL translate, so it may be a strange sentence, but I would like you to understand
Thank you
Today I have a vintage camera for you!
It is a Minolta Hi-Matic 9.
This camera was released in 1966 as part of the Hi-Matic series.
The Hi-Matic was released in 1961, and the exposure meter and shutter were linked together.
It was a camera that allowed you to focus and press the shutter, which was revolutionary even at that time.
An OEM product of that camera was mounted on a rocket that took off into space from the U.S., and it seems that Minolta came to use the 7 in the call sign “Friendship 7” for the mounted machine.
Indeed, there were Minolta cameras with the 7 in their name, such as the X-700 and the α7000.
The Hi-Matic 9 is from such a venerable lineage.
It was a distance meter linked camera with a program AE system using a CdS exposure meter and manual exposure.
CdS is a system that reacts to light and lowers its resistance value, and that’s what we used for the sensor.
The shutter was the Seiko FLA shutter of that watch manufacturer.
The lens was a Rokkor-PF 45mm f/1.7. Silver on the outside of the lens was rare and quite stylish.
And it is massive, with a hefty weight of about 800g.
I got this camera as a junk.
I hope it will be movable in the future.
I can’t believe that the camera is 57 years old now, but it remains so solid.
It’s almost a miracle, isn’t it?
It’s amazing that it’s the same age as yours!
Those old Japanese industrial products are truly amazing!
I hope to see more like it in the future.
I will continue to introduce vintage cameras like this one, so please look forward to it!
Writer T.Okumura