I bought my Minolta 500Si SLR camera for 325.00 USD. For me it was a big amount, and I had been thinking of buying an SLR camera for a long time. When I bought one, Digital Cameras were too costly, and therefore I did not even give them a consideration. Now that Digital ones are so affordable - and also advanced - its worthwhile to consider and make a wise decision of buying a digital, or a film camera. The advantage of digital being you save a lot later on film and developing costs. But one can go in for digital only if one has a home PC. And then to preserve digital pics, a CD writer becomes essential!! Also, you can share your pics only with the ’Digitally Connected’ population - you wont have an album to show off!
OK, now let me analyse the Minolta 500Si. For those of you new to the concept of SLR - SLR means SINGLE LENS REFLEX. This means that the lens through which you see is the same as the one through which you shoot. In most Fixed Focus cameras, the viewfinder is a different lens, and you shoot through a different lens. But this is not all that differentiates an SLR from a Point and Shoot (Fixed Focus) camera. An SLR camera also has features to control the Aperture (how much the shutter opens to expose your film), Shutter Speed (for how long does the shutter remain open when exposing the film) and a light meter which lets you know the perfect balance between these two. One more feature that the SLR offers is the focusing capability.
Many a times, fixed focus cameras are called AUTOFOCUS cameras - and this is not true. Fixed Focus means the focus is fixed (at infinity) and therefore everything is in focus - always. Whereas an AUTO FOCUS camera means it has the capability of adjusting its lens itself so it focuses on the nearest object in the frame. To a novice FIXED FOCUS might sound more appealing - but the capability of Focusing gives pictures more depth of field.
Now the Minolta 500Si. Its truely an SLR beginners perfect choice. It has five different modes of shooting.
Programmable Mode - this has 5 preset settings: Portrait, Landscape, CloseUp, Sports and Night.
Manual Mode - In this mode, you would decide all your settings - aperture, shutter speed, flash, exposure correction - yourself.
Aperture Priority - In this mode, you set the aperture, and the camera decides the shutter speed for you.
Shutter Priority - Here, you decide the shutter speed, and the camera decides the aperture for you.
Automatic Mode - This is for use by people who are not used to the concept of an SLR. Here, the camera decides
everything for you. You just aim, focus and shoot.
One hard fact though: The more you let the camera decide for you, the more your results will be mechanised. No personal touches, no full use of the camera. The best pic can be taken only when you decide every aspect of the shot.
Plus:
There is an inbuilt popup flash. Though the camera might tell you when flash is required, the flash does not popup on its own. You have to manually pop it up.
Exposure Correction - upto +/- 3.0
Single Shot, Double Shot (twice on the same frame), Journalist Mode (here the camera clicks frame after frame as long as you keep the button pressed) and the Timer Mode.
It has a socket for Cable Release. Cable Release though has be bought separately.
Auto Focus (motorised) as well as manual focussing.
Spot Metering
Film Loading is easy. Just insert the film and stretch the film. The camera loads the film - if the film is not loaded correctly, the Frame Display on the LCD does not show: ’’1’’.
Socket for the Tripod.
All LCD display.
Autofocus - the camera moves the lens and decides when the object is in focus. If the object is not in focus, it does not let you shoot.
It also has focus locking mechanism.
Needless to say - lens is interchangeable, and any AF (Autofocus) lens made for Minolta would fit.
A shoe for attaching additional Flash - pl. note here that most of the in built flash in cameras are low powered, and for professional flash photography one would need an externally attached flash.
I have been using the Standard 50mm Lens, no Zoom.
OK- I should throw some light on lens as well. Lenses of FOCAL LENGTH 50mm are considered standard for 35mm film cameras.
Lenses that have Focal Length greater than 50mm are TELE LENS. Lenses lesser than 50 mm are called WIDE ANGLE LENS. Lenses that offer multiple focal lengths are called ZOOM LENS. So say a ZOOM LENS of 70-200mm offers varying focal lengths between 70mm and 200mm.
Minolta 500Si runs on a CR (dont remember the exact code) battery. This one is easily available in any store, but it costs around Rs.500.00 and runs for approx. 30 film roles - though it also depends on usage. Because battery is consumed also in autofocussing, flash and film advancing.
Mine does not have a date-time stamp system - one in which you can have a date-time stamp on all your snaps.
Results: Results have been excellent. I am fully satisfied with the camera - three years of use and I havent still felt the need of having a different camera. Of course one does feel like upgrading....thats because of more features, or to a digital one.
Though, if brands are to be compared, even Canon and Nikon are excellent. Many would claim Canon is the best. Minolta is no less either!