Alf in Colour
A little while ago, I wrote about my Minolta AL-F rangefinder in a blog on 35mmc and this is a follow up, after a fashion. The Minolta found its way into my collection when I decided I needed a vintage Japanese rangefinder. Who doesn't? I wasn’t looking for a Minolta, so perhaps this one found me. Described as untested but good condition with the original box, it had to be worth a go.
AL-F BoxThe AL-F's original box
My Choice
Decades ago, Minolta was my main brand for 35mm cameras. Eventually my Minoltas were sold as I stumbled into a photographic desert for some years. When I came back, the world was digital. The only Minolta to come my way since had been the brash 1980s plastic AF Z. Despite the period looks, the AF Z is another camera with a pretty good lens and I have now sent that one to my niece to use. The AL-F is a much older machine with a more refined look about it. Its quite metallic and shiny, with a quality feel. The lens is a 38mm 4 element Rokkor. It doesn’t sound exciting, but Minolta knew what they were doing with glass.
AL-F needs some work.
On arrival it was clear the AL-F needed some work, light seals and similar. The case was in very good condition and it did seem that the box was the original one for this camera.
There were some possible signs of the beginning of fungus, but actually only on reasonably accessible lens elements. There was however a blemish on the surface of the rear element that didn’t appear to be fungus or a scratch. Almost like a little bit of missing coating, but not really de-lamination. This led to the notion that the images would be flawed… possibly fatally so. With only one sure fire way to find out, the camera duly received a roll of Kentmere 100.
For much of the time this film was in the camera, the weather was generally miserable, wet, in fact very wet. I took the little camera out whenever there was much of a break in the rain and it took a little while to work through the roll. The film was processed in Atomal 49 following my own routine. Negatives can look okay whilst you are drying and cutting them; scanning is the real test. Off to the scanner then and there was something of a surprise. Not the blurry or marked results I had thought I might see. Given the conditions, here was a set of images that were reasonably sharp, generally correctly exposed and most of them quite well focused.
AL-F with Kentmere Pan 100AL-F with Kentmere Pan 100
AL-F output on Kentmere 100
It seemed that the camera’s rangefinder had functioned pretty well and so had the metering. The shutter button had been something of a challenge on the first roll. The shutter was firing right at the end of quite a long button stroke. There seemed to be scope for movement of the camera, after the moment of framing. With many cameras, the user becomes attuned to the precise point of firing with the shutter button. I told myself I would investigate at some point. There is probably an adjustment there somewhere. Alf, as I had come to know this camera, had performed better than expected. Rather than putting the little rangefinder up for sale, I decided I needed to see what it could do with a roll of colour film.
Impatience
After a brief turn on the shelf, a roll of Kodak Gold 200 came Alf’s way. I hadn’t got around to investigating the shutter button adjustment on account of impatience to see the results in colour.
Armed with a colour film, the little Minolta didn’t disappoint. No outstanding photographs in this set, but then the photographer must look inwardly and also accept that not every image will be a stunner.
Minolta AL-F first colour shotsAlf at the National Bird Reserve
Alf at the new national bird reserve.
Alf in action
AL-F's knob for the focus ring sometimes seems to hide itself.
Locating the small knob on the focus ring is somehow not quite as easy as it ought to be, but then I would say the same of my gorgeous Kodak Retina iic. Once your fingers have found the focus ring knob on the underside of the lens, or you have turned the camera upwards to see where it is, the rangefinder is easy to use. It adjusts for horizontal parallax as you focus.
On your marksThe rangefinder diamond is easy to see
Rangefinder uses a simple yellowish diamond with double image, it's bright and easy.
I focused with spectacles on for some shots (I don’t need them close up) and it seemed to work well enough. The AL-F has a bright viewfinder that is easy to live with.
Once the image is composed, you’ll need a shutter speed. The AL-F is a shutter priority system, select your speed and the metering will set an aperture, as shown in the clear needle display down the right side of the viewfinder. This is fed from a CdS cell, with a window just above the front lens element. Back in the day Minolta and others called this metering ‘Electric Eye’. With the meter window positioned where it is, if you screw a filter in, the metering is through the filter and therefore compensated.
Minolta AL-F Kodak GoldAL-F with a touch of fill in flash
Late evening and a touch of fill in flash
Easy Alf
The AL-F was described as having an Easy Flash system. Of course this was back when flash actually wasn’t so easy; many flashguns didn’t quench the tube having metered through the lens. Some just flashed. Often you needed to account for your film speed, the distance to subject and then from the table usually printed somewhere on your flash gun, set the appropriate aperture, or move. Flash guns had a guide number… well they still have of course, but you needed to know it back then. The AL-F made all this a little easier by having a flash setting.
AL-F Easy FlashAL-F's flash setting with guide numbers selection, linked to the focus.
Guide numbers. A forgotten skill?
Once selected you can then set a guide number on the camera and once you have focused, it will find the right aperture for that distance. Clever? It was then of course. If you want to change flash settings for creative purposes, a little more thought will be required. My vintage Sunpak electronic flash is probably about the right age for the AL-F, maybe a couple of years younger. The camera does have a hot shoe where the Sunpak flash only has a cold shoe mount. Minolta had a couple of flash units the AL-F was designed to work with at the time, so you wouldn't have needed the sync cable. You can of course guess what's needed with analogue flash, but you can't just delete that frame and shoot again. I only used flash on this roll as fill in and in fact the first flash shot was just to ensure the sync actually worked.
AL-F Easy FlashA Little bit of overkill, but it proved the flash worked.
Flash overkill... there was actually enough daylight, but I changed the ISO.
Alf in the collection
The little Minolta rangefinder has proved its worth. I have since acquired a second one that needs a little work and new shutter button (missing when it arrived). The AL-F isn't quite pocket sized and the smart leather case adds a little bulk. With battery installed, Alf weighs 502g without film and the case. That's a little on the heavy side compared to my recently acquired Olympus µ (mju). The Olympus weighs in at 191g with batteries and without film and case. The Olympus is a very capable camera and despite being less than half the weight, it is slim, will go in a reasonable sized pocket and it has built in flash. I can imagine situations where that could be really handy. I do need to manage the size of the camera collection. So which to sell on? Well you probably guessed it. I am some how more inclined to sell the Olympus.
Here is a little more of the Kodak Gold output from the AL-F.
Thank you for taking the time to read about the Minolta AL-F. Do please leave comments, or get in touch if you want to share any experiences of similar cameras.
