Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP Posting-Version: version B 2.10.2 9/18/84; site watcgl.UUCP Path: utzoo!linus!decvax!tektronix!uw-beaver!cornell!vax135!houxm!ihnp4!cbosgd!clyde!watmath!watnot!watcgl!dmmartindale From: dmmartindale@watcgl.UUCP (Dave Martindale) Newsgroups: net.rec.photo Subject: Re: \"Match-needle\" Message-ID: <1796@watcgl.UUCP> Date: Sat, 11-May-85 18:33:06 EDT Article-I.D.: watcgl.1796 Posted: Sat May 11 18:33:06 1985 Date-Received: Mon, 10-Jun-85 02:06:25 EDT References: <2029@decwrl.UUCP> <10473@brl-tgr.ARPA> <1909@tekig1.UUCP> Reply-To: dmmartindale@watcgl.UUCP (Dave Martindale) Organization: U of Waterloo, Ontario Lines: 70 In article <1909@tekig1.UUCP> briand@tekig1.UUCP (Brian Diehm) writes: > > I still use a Minolta SRT-101, a mid 60-s model. It was pretty advanced >in its day, it had a built-in meter. And stop-down preview. Wow. > I'll go up against any automatic in terms of reaction time, and I don't >even use the thing that much. Of course, if you pre-setup your automatic for >the "proper" mode of the given situation, you'll be ahead, but then I don't >have that overhead. > > Think about it before you buy your next auto-whiz-gizmo, then think about >how the camera makers push these extra features for THEIR benefit - not yours. >Then think about how hard it is to find a camera that does ONLY what the SRT- >101 did. Then think about how much you are paying for that auto-gee-whiz. >Markets CAN be manipulated, guys. > I'd like to make a partial defense of current-day photographic equipment. I do own a SRT-101; it was my first 35mm camera. And my only one until a year or two ago. Then I bought a Minolta X-570 body, and the SRT-101 is now mostly retired. Why do I use the newer body in preference to the old? Flexibility. If I decide I want auto-exposure (because I don't think I'll have time to set it manually, or manual setting isn't necessary) then I have that. I still have both aperture and shutter speed visible in the finder, so I can adjust the combination in use. On the other hand, if I have the time and inclination to use manual metering (and I do, probably 50% of the time) then I have "match-diode" metering, with the set shutter speed indicated by a flashing LED and the metered shutter speed indicated by a steady one. It DOES take longer to match the diodes than the purely mechanical needles of the SRT-101. But I have the aperture visible in the finder, which isn't available in the 101. And the LEDs are visible in dim light, which the needles are not. And the silicon cell meter in the X-570 works in dimmer light than the CdS cell of the 101, and does not suffer from slow readings in dim light or "blinding" effects of the CdS cell. And when it comes to electronic flash, the X-570 does off-the-film flash exposure control with an appropriately-coupled flash. Within its limits (it's automatic, so you get the camera's idea of a correct exposure, not yours) it is wonderful. How long does it take for you to set a flash exposure using a manual flash, where the procedure is focus, read distance scale on lens, read calculator dial on flash, set aperture? And ordinary automatic flashes, with their limited range of automatic aperture settings and sensor coverage that is independent of the lens in use, are less capable of good results. Now, I have no use for "program" cameras, and am not interested in a multi-mode automatic that doesn't work with my old lenses. But these are my own preferences, and I don't think that the world needs to agree with me. And I think that I've given an example of a "modern" camera that is a real improvement on the older one, and a somewhat better value if you consider relative prices and inflation in the intervening years. By the way, are the camera makers really manipulating the market? Or are they responding to technology that will let them do what they could not before, coupled with a changing market? When the SRT-101 was designed, SLR owners were "serious" photographers, willing to master the relative complexity of these cameras for the flexibility of interchangeable lenses, a reflex viewfinder, and fast handling. Now, I suspect, most are people who are less concerned with photography and just want to take higher-quality snapshots. And, of course, manufacturers will always indulge gadget freaks if they will pay for it. P.S. The lens I leave on my camera most of the time is a 28-85 f/3.5 zoom. It's slow (dim) compared to my fixed lenses, but awfully convenient. And being able to frame in the finder is something that I just can't do with the fixed lenses in the same way.