Introduction & History
The Minolta Hi-Matic 9 fixed-lens 35mm rangefinder camera was made by the Minolta Camera Co., Ltd., of Tokyo, Japan, circa 1966 through 1969. It has a Rokkor PF f1.7/45mm 6-element (5 groups), with 5 aperture blades and f-stops ranging from f1.7 to f16. The shutter is a mechanical between-the-lens Seikosha-FLA with the modern speeds of B, 1, 1/2, 1/4th, 1/8th, 1/15th, 1/30th, 1/60th, 1/125th, 1/250th, and 1/500th of a second. McKeon's Price Guide to Antique and Classic Cameras, 2001-2002 lists the Hi-Matic 9 as having only having speeds between 1/15th and 1/250th of a second - I suspect a typo.
The Minolta Hi-Matic 9 was an update to the very famous and well-regarded Hi-Matic 7S and is similar in many ways. Both cameras have a CLC (Contrast Light Compensating) built-in light meter located over the lens inside the lens barrel. Both share the same body style and overall build quality. Both can be used in 'automatic' or 'manual' modes (setting the aperture and shutter speed manually, or letting the camera do it for you). The Hi-Matic 9 added an Easy-Flash method for using flash.
With this system, one has only to set the GN (Guide Number) of the flash you wish to use, and the camera takes care of everything else. According to the Minolta User's Group (MUG), the Hi-Matic 9 also has a slightly faster lens (f1.7 vs. f1.8) and the PC contact was moved from the lens barrel to the side of the camera (however, both cameras have a hot shoe), so a PC cord may be a moot point, unless you're Mister Gadget Boy. Like me.
The Hi-Matic 9 was superseded by the Hi-Matic 11 in 1969. According to McKeon's, the shutter was changed from a Seikosha-FLA to a Seikosha-ALA. Whoopee. According to MUG, the Hi-Matic 11 does not have a metered manual mode (boo!), but it gains the ability to read the f-stop and shutter speed through the viewfinder (yay!). However, the 11 has no aperture ring at all, and if the built-in meter fails or the battery dies, the camera will only take pictures at a wide-open aperture of f1.7. That takes it right off my Christmas list, ya know? Well, this was 1969. Everybody was taking drugs in those days, so I guess I can understand why it happened. Nixon was President of the USA, the Vietnam War was going full-blast, Skittles had not yet been invented (taste the rainbow), and Barney the Creepy Damned Dinosaur had not yet invaded my dreams.
Interestingly, according to MUG, and based on my own observations, the Minolta Hi-Matic 9 is a slightly better camera (on paper) than a Hi-Matic 7S. Assuming that I was presented with two cameras in identical condition, a 7S and a 9, I'd choose the 9. And yet, the 7S is a cult classic and the 9 is virtually ignored. There appear to have been more 7S models made than the 9, so the 9 is also more rare. Go figure.
Camera Specifics - Operating the Camera
This camera, like many others of the era, was designed to use the despised "LVS" settings, wherein one sets the EV (Exposure Value) based on a number from EV 1.5 to 17. When the EV is set, one merely has to rotate the aperture/speed rings at the front of the lens to adjust for either the speed or aperture desired, and any setting along that ring will (should) produce the correct exposure as well. Unlike some cameras of this time, the aperture and speed rings are not coupled to each other, you can rotate them independently. For example, if your internal meter indicates an EV of "10," and you want a shutter speed of 1/30th of a second, you would turn the shutter speed to 30 and the aperture setting to 5.6. This would show you the number '10' in the window marked 'EV' on the lens barrel. If you then grasp both the aperture and the speed rings together and move them to the right one click, you have a shutter speed of 1/60th of a second and an aperture of f4, but you still have the EV value of 10, so in theory, your exposure is the same. Get it?
This is the view you see upon looking through the viewfinder of the Hi-Matic 9. Well, you don't see my living room, but you get the idea. The bright-line frames move according to your focus adjustments, so in theory, the frame adjusts for parallax. I don't have parallax, I got an innoculation when I was in the Marines. On the right is the meter - notice that the readout is in EV numbers. You may also notice the little lightning-bolt symbol between EV 9 and 11. This is the auto-flash system. On the barrel of the lens, you can adjust the shutter speed or the aperture (or both) to a setting of A, which is for Automatic. If you do, you will have to press down on the little metal tab on the right-hand of the lens barrel at about 3 o'clock in order to move either setting off of "A".
If, on the other hand, you rotate the aperture ring to the right after the "A" you will be in "Easy Flash" territory. There are click-stops on the barrel that are not seen on the top of the lens barrel. You have to turn the camera over - there you will see a scale marked "GN" (Guide Number) with a distance in feet directly opposite each GN (each of which is a click-stop). The GN numbers go from 10 to 80 (meters) and opposite them, 32 to 260 (feet). The idea here is that you set your Guide Number for your flash unit and film speed, and the camera calculates the rest for you. In use, it's supposed to be pretty slick, but I have not really tried it yet. There is a link to information about calculating Guide Numbers at the end of this webpage, in case you feel inclined to rush out and ruin your mind with it. God knows I don't.
Note: This camera uses outlawed 625 mercury-cell batteries for metering. Fortunately, it will work in manual mode without any batteries at all, but you lose the metering capability, which I've tested to be quite good. However, you can use 625A Alkaline batteries, which are readily available. You may (or may not) find that the metering is not quite accurate - as the original battery produced a steady 1.35 volts over its lifespan, while the so-called equivalent alkaline cells produce 1.5 volts, and they drop considerably in voltage as they begin to die. Solutions? There aren't any really good ones - but I have found that for my purposes in this camera, an alkaline battery works fine, and I've resigned myself to replacing it fairly frequently. Also, I tend to use color-print film, which tolerates exposure error better than slide film does. And don't send me e-mail telling me where you can get your hands on some of the illegal mercury-cell batteries. You naughty little monkey, I don't want to know!
Additional Note: This camera does not have an 'on-off' switch for the meter. If you want to avoid running your battery down, you should turn the ASA dial (on the camera lens barrel, in the 6 o'clock position) to the "OFF" setting after every use. This also means that if you have a half-roll left in the camera, you have to remember what speed it is when you pick the camera up again to use it. Aggravating, isn't it?
Camera Specifics - Body and Fittings
The body is stamped steel, with a matte finish. The lens barrel also matte-finished, with the shutter speed and aperture rings in chrome. There is one large window in front: it is divided into two sections. On the left is the viewfinder, on the right is the combination brightline and rangefinder window (as you hold the camera facing away from you, like you would taking a picture). It has a coupled rangefinder; when you rotate the focusing ring on the lens barrel, the rangefinder patch (centered in the viewfinder) creates a co-incident image. You focus by moving the focusing ring until the co-incident rangefinder image is correctly overlapping the viewfinder image. If the rangefinder is properly adjusted, the lens is now in focus for the distance you have chosen.
Note: Please don't take this as a slam on this camera - as you'll see later on, I really like it a lot! But most of the cameras of this vintage (late 1960s, early 1970s) were made, in my opinion, like crap. They rattle, they feel cheap. The lens is often loose from the body such that it wiggles slightly back and forth. However, many of them are known (rightly) for having outstanding lenses - and in the end, that's what is really important - taking photographs. I much prefer the feel of a solid-steel camera from the 1950s or even earlier, but there is no disputing the fact that these cameras are better picture-takers in general.
The body is covered in what appears to be pebbled leather, but upon closer inspection, it could be vinyl. Whatever it is, at least it's not too nasty. The camera body has two strap eyelets, on either side of the front of the camera in the traditional manner. It has a frame counter on top, which counts in the normal manner (ie, from S to 1 to either 24 or 36). There is a flash shoe on top of the camera body, and it is hot, meaning that it has an electrical connection - it can fire your flash unit with no further connections necessary. If you wish to use a cord, there is a PC connection on the left side of the camera, directly above the release clip for the back of the camera.
The camera is wound in the standard lever-wind manner. The throw is rather long - but it does ratchet, so you can inch the winder along, bit by bit. The winding lever returns to its original (nearly) flush position with the camera body by itself. This makes rapid-fire and wind-on slightly harder than it has to be, in my opinion. The shutter release is standard, and it is threaded to take a modern remote shutter cable-release.
The rewind knob is in the traditional location, and it works in the normal way - one flips up the lever, revealing a handle to turn (there is an arrow indicating the proper direction to rewind the film). Most Japanese cameras of this vintage had a flip-open style back for loading film that is very similar to the method used today; with one exception. Instead of pulling up on the rewind knob to open the back, one opens a spring clip on the side of the camera, which causes the back to spring open. This clip is spring-loaded, and to close the camera, one merely has to push it closed, just like cameras of today. The back is slightly spring-loaded, so it wants to pop open! However, this is not difficult to control or master and at least one is sure that the back of the camera is secure - it is not likely to pop open at the wrong time! There is one other little trick to be aware of - when the back is open, the film can be removed or replaced through the indentation at the bottom of the camera. There is no need to lift up on the rewind knob - in fact, you can't do so. Unless you're the Incredible Hulk, and then you're going to break it. Argh, Hulk smash!
The Camera in Use & Test Results
I loaded this camera with Fujicolor Superia X-TRA 400 (consumer-grade color print film). For some reason, many of the classic cameras that I end up buying look as if they've never had a roll of film put through them before - this one is like that as well. However, although the camera is clean and new looking, there is a fingerprint on it that I can't remove - it is on the inside of the viewfinder glass! Irritating, that. I could take the top off, but I've never managed to do that without utterly destroying the poor camera.
Here's a photo of Fiona, one of our three cats. Taken hand-held, 1/60th @ f5.6. This just blows me away! I've tested a lot of ancient rangefinders, and most of them are good, some are great. This Minolta does not make one feel that it's going to produce great sharp photos - it rattles and feels somewhat cheap in the hand. When the shutter goes off, it makes a little springy sproing noise that I find annoying. But the results that this camera produces are awe-inspiring!
You really have to look closely - but here I've provided a 1-to-1 crop around Fiona's eyes. This is a scanned negative - I used a Minolta DiMage Scan Dual III at the highest resolution (2800+ dpi) and cropped in PhotoShop Elements 2.0. I did not do any other work to the scanned image - no sharpening, no manipulation. Just resized for the smaller picture, and cropped at full-size for the larger image you see here. Again, I am amazed - this is one sharp lens!
These are a few photographs of some objet d'art located in our apartment leasing office. I let the camera select the aperture and the shutter speed. It is quite apparent that it is pretty good at selecting the correct exposure if I let it do so. It was kind of fun, all I did was frame, focus, and shoot! "Wow, look maw, I've got one of them thar new-fangled automatic cameras!"
The images are also razor-sharp, although I've reduced these to the point where you probably can't tell. It is very clear to me that the rangefinder is adjusted properly, too. The point I focus on is always the point of sharpest focus in the scanned image.
These flowers were amazing as well - colors accurate and bold, great contrast, sharp as tacks! I can't say enough how pleased I am with this tack-sharp lens, as well as how well it seems to set the proper exposure if I let it do so. However, it is possible for it to misjudge the exposure...
In this case, the camera was unable to judge between the brightness outside of our apartment manager's window, and the relative darkness inside the office. In reality, she was not sitting in the dark - but relative to the outside, she was. The camera made a mistake, albeit an understandable one. In circumstances like this, you'd want to take an incident meter reading of the area you wanted exposed properly, using an external meter - or a spot meter would work as well. And since you can set the aperture and shutter speed manually on the Minolta Hi-Matic 9, in this case, you'd want to do so.
Links to Webpages that have something to do with the Minolta Hi-Matic 9 (or maybe I just like 'em)
Here are some links which you might find more entertaining than you did this sad excuse for a webpage:
RangefinderForum: This is my favorite place to hang out and read about rangefinder
cameras. Membership is free, and the people are nice. If you go there, don't screw it up, ok?
Calculating Guide Numbers: Using a classic camera?
Hi-Matic 9 Instruction Manual: You'll probably
need this.
Matt's Cameras: The Hi-Matic 9: Matt has a
lovely collection of cameras, this is one of them.
Minolta Users Group (MUG): These guys are fanatics. I love that.
A Japanese Fan-Page about the Hi-Matic 9: Do you read Japanese?
A French Fan-Page about the Hi-Matic 9: Do you read French?
Another Japanese Fan-Page: Wow! Lots of squiggles.
Steven Gandy's CameraQuest: The Main Man himself. This man's lovely web page started me
down the road to camera-collecting ruin. I blame him. You should, too.
Karen Nakamura's Photoethnography: Karen is also an amazing and prolific
collector and user of classic cameras. Like Steven Gandy, she has much to answer for - having lured me down the dark path of
rangefinder madness. Click on the 'Equipment' link to see her amazing collection.
All text & images, © 2004, Bill Mattocks. All rights reserved. All rites reversed. All wrongs righted. Do not make me come after you.
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