The Minolta Autocord

Manassas National Battlefield Walk, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord TLR

 

I'm really having a case of "too many cameras, not enough time" recently.

 

I was just looking at a new post by one of my favorite photographers, Evan Leavitt, a really cool color shot of a window with blood red curtains. Made with an Autocord, it's a wonderful image. (Click Here) to see Evan's post.

 

This got me thinking about my own Autocord, which I've used very little. Similar to my Rolleiflex T, the Autocord is a very special camera.

 

I've been considering a new theme or project for this blog. Maybe my TLRs, including the Autocord, will play a part in that.

 

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Not All TLRs Are Rolleiflexes

 

Seafood Market, Super Ricohflex TLR

 

Well, of course not all twin lens reflex (TLR) cameras are Rolleiflexes. There are also Rolleicords! But, all jokes aside, there were many, many respectable TLR cameras by makers other than Rollei. I've owned a Yashica TLR that was quite capable. I still have a Minolta Autocord, which rivals any of my f3.5 Rolleis. I also have a couple of Ricoh TLRs, including the Super Ricohflex that I used to make the picture above.

 

Most of the other brands are less expensive than Rolleis, as well. My first TLR was a Chinese camera, made by Seagull. Not as robust as the Japanese or German makes, but it worked quite well.

 

(Click Here) to check out a post by Rick Schuster on the blog "shot on film." Rick uses a Super Ricohflex himself, and shares some nice color shots. However, Rick also mentions a strange phenomenon of the area of focus being somewhat unpredictable on his camera, toward the edges of the frame. I've never experienced anything like this with my Super Ricohflex. If forced to speculate, I'd say that Rick's camera has suffered an impact that misaligned the lens axis with the film plane. That said, Rick's still making great pictures with his camera, and by all appearances enjoying the process.

 

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I Like Tea - and Found a Nice New Place to Drink It

I've been on a bit of a tea kick lately. There's so much variety in tea - green, black, fermented (Puerh), and from so many interesting locations. And, I'll admit, I like the more subtle caffeine boost, as compared to coffee (which I still love, too).

 

I also believe that social networking is not the only thing killing real socialization, at least not directly. Where I live (Northern Virginia), now that book, camera, and music stores are a thing of the past, there is a dearth of places for people to meet in person, especially any not associated with drinking alcohol. Well, I found such a place. It's called Ching Ching Cha, and it's located in the Georgetown section of Washington, DC.

 

(Click Here) to go to Ching Ching Cha's website.

 

My wife is from Japan, where public places to meet and have a hot beverage with friends are not rare at all. So, I didn't have a hard time convincing her to go have tea with me. I brought along one of my favorite cameras from the "Skeletons From The Closet" series of last year, the Minolta Autocord medium format TLR. Here are a few images I made there.

 

 

Ching Ching Cha Tea House, by Reed A. George

Minolta Automat, Kodak Porta 400 Film

 

For all but the second image, I used my Rolleinar 1 closeup lenses, which mount to the front of the Autocord lenses perfectly, as the Minolta shares the bayonet filter mount with Rollei Bay 1 cameras. The Rolleinars significantly reduce depth of field, which I must admit was a challenge for me. I didn't exactly nail the focus on the shots of my wife. But, it's pretty close. The big medium format negative is pretty forgiving.

 

I'm glad to know about Ching Ching Cha, and will certainly be a repeat customer.

 

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Outstanding Multiple Exposure by Evan Leavitt, Using Minolta Autocord

I've shown Evan's work here a few times before. He uses classic equipment, and adds a real artistic touch to his compositions. Here's one he made with one of my favorites, a Minolta Autocord twin lens reflex (TLR).

 

Recollection, by Evan Leavitt

Image Source: http://evanleavittphotography.wordpress.com/2014/04/21/recollection/

 

(Click Here) to visit Evan's blog.

 

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Easy Post Today - Inspiration - Thanks to Evan Leavitt

I've been struggling for a subject today. Tired of reading about new digital gadgets, I wanted something with feeling. Here it is:

Image Source: http://evanleavittphotography.wordpress.com/2013/08/01/in-tune/

 

Man, I LOVE this. Just look at it for thirty seconds.

 

And shot with a Minolta Autocord, too!

 

(Click Here) to go to Evan's blog.

 

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Skeletons From The Closet - More Results From May's Autocord TLR in the Studio

I had a roll of film in the Autocord since May. I finished it up, and share some results today. These shots were made during my studio session with musician friend Melissa Wright.

 

(Click Here) to see the images I made of Melissa with the Nikon D700.

 

Near the end of our session, I asked Melissa if she minded being patient with me, long enough to shoot some pictures with my old film camera. She agreed. This entailed connecting up my sync cord to the studio wireless transponder (what a combination of technologies, huh?), putting my Rolleinar closeup lens on, and transferring exposure info from the D700 at iso200 to the Autocord, where I was shooting Portra 160 film. Here's the result.

 

Melissa Wright, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord, Kodak Porta 160 Color Print Film

 

I think I did okay on exposure and focus. This was at the end of our session, so Melissa was undoubtedly tired of being photographed, but she hung in there. The old Autocord did a pretty good job.

 

Here's a shot that I've rendered in both color and monochrome. Which do you prefer?

 

Monochrome or Color?, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord, Kodak Porta 160 Color Print Film

 

It really was pretty hard to see through the Autocord finder to focus, even though this camera has the brightest finder of any Twin Lens Reflex (TLR) I've used, including several Rolleiflexes. I have trouble imagining shooting the whole session with this camera, but it sure added to the fun. I suppose brighter modeling lights, or hot lights (instead of strobes) would make focusing easier.

 

That said, the Autocord is a joy to shoot, especially in good ambient light. It's one of the cameras I have trouble putting back in the closet after its month in the sun.

 

Avedon did the bulk of his shooting with a TLR in the studio. He must've figured it out.

 

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Skeletons From The Closet - May Results - Minolta Autocord TLR

I've been shooting the Minolta Autocord in the month of May.

 

(Click Here) to see and read about the camera.

 

I don't like to admit it, but I had a hard time getting used to shooting this camera. The twin lens reflex (TLR) design is somewhat challenging to shoot, but I've always enjoyed shootiing with my Rolleiflexes. When I first received my Autocord, which is in really great condition, I was impressed with the brightness and sharpness of the focusing screen. I thought I would get a lot more use out of the camera than I did this month.

 

I did take it several places, to try different applications. Here's a shot from a bluegrass festival, from a jam inside a livestock barn.

 

Barngrass, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord, Fuji Reala 100 Film

 

In an upcoming post, you'll see a lot more pictures from this event, taken with my Leica M3. I really used the M3 a lot more than the Autocord at this event. However, I do like the color in the shot above.

 

I also took the Autocord ot one of my local haunts, the Manassas National Battlefield. There I met Madison (below) and her parents, who were kind enough to let me take her picture on the front porch of the Henry House.

 

Madison, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord, Fuji Reala 100 Film

 

Perhaps part of my trouble finding the opportunity to shoot the Autocord had to do with the fact that I kept it loaded with Reala, which is iso 100 film. That, coupled with a relatively small maximum aperture of f3.5 meant that shooting in anything but bright light was a challenge.

 

I also noticed that some of my images from the Autocord are not super sharp, while others are very sharp. Now, that may very well be related to the slow film, again. I may not be holdiing the camera still enough for slow shutter speeds. At this size of the computer screen the images look plenty sharp; up close (pixel peeping), not so much. Again, probably more related to my technique than the camera or lens.

 

Another thing I need to keep in mind is that depth of field is shallower with medium format than with 35mm. So, at a given f-stop, with the longer "normal" lens of the TLR, and the larger film format, I may just need to be a little more careful in setting exact focus, or stop down to increase depth of field.

 

Into The Future, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord, Fuji Reala 100 Film, Rolleinar Closeup Lenses

 

Above is an example where I got a nice sharp image. For this shot, I used a Rolleinar close up lens set. I'm pretty sure mine is a Rolleinar 1. This is a pair of attachments that go on the front of the camera lens, which in the Autocord has the same bayonet filter mount as the f3.5 Rolleiflexes. One closeup lens (the thin one) goes on the taking lens, the other with a thicker attachment to provide parallax correction, goes on the viewing lens. The Rolleinar is a must for portraits with a TLR. I've always gotten great results using the Rolleinar on my Rolleiflexes. It does fine on the Autocord as well. The other factor in this shot above is that I set the camera on the handrail you see in the picture. So, I knew that camera motion would not be an issue. I think that strongly contributed to the sharpness of the image. I guess I need to load up some iso 400 film in the Autocord, shoot at higher shutter speeds, and pay more attention to holding the camera steady.

 

I used the Rolleinar closeup lenses for the next two shots as well.

Manassas Cannon, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord, Fuji Reala 100 Film, Rolleinar Closeup Lenses

 

No problem with sharpness here, either.

 

Here's a portrait using the Rolleinar, window light, and a reflector (to bring up the dark side of my friend's face).

 

Lifelong Friend, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord, Fuji Reala 100 Film, Rolleinar Closeup Lenses

 

I set this shot up to show some Autocord bokeh (out of focus areas). That's me in a mirror in the background, standing on a bed, peering down into the Autocord. This shot would have been impossible without the Rolleinar, which allowed me to focus close enough, and reduced depth of field to highlight the bokeh effect.

 

Here are a couple more shots, from my wandering around the Northern Virginia, West Virginia area.

 

Harpers Ferry Roofline, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord, Fuji Reala 100 Film

 

Evening Walk, by Reed A. George

Minolta Autocord, Fuji Reala 100 Film

 

In this final shot, I focused on the grass at the front of the picture. I like the way the focus drops off with distance in this shot.

 

So, yes, I do need to keep trying to perfect my technique with the Autocord. It produces lovely color and bokeh. I just need to learn to feel natural shooting a TLR again - I used to use them quite a lot. Overall, I'm pleased with the results from the Autocord, but I'm not selling off my Rolleiflex.

 

Meanwhile, I'll be shooting a completely different camera in June for SFTC - the Konica Auto S1.6 rangefinder.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Skeletons From The Closet Supplement - Inspiring Blog About Minolta Autocord

 

Image Source: http://www.autocord.com/about/

 

While searching for some inspiration for getting out to shoot my Skeletons From The Closet camera for May, the Minolta Autocord, I came across an interesting blog by Agust Olafsson, specifically focused on using the Autocord.

 

(Click Here) to see my post introducing my Autocord.

 

 

 

Agust has a couple of interesting features on his blog.

 

(Click Here) to read about why he's chosen to commit a lot of time to using an Autocord.

 

Agust has also started a series of interviews with other photographers who use the Minolta Autocord.

 

(Click Here) to read the Autocord Interviews.

 

The last interview seems to have been posted back at the end of 2010. I wonder if I can revive Agust's series by offering to do an interview with him once I've produced some nice images with my Autocord? I may just have to give it a try.

 

DMC-365.blogspot.com

 

 

Skeletons From The Closet Camera For May: The Minolta Autocord TLR!

 

Minolta Autocord, May's SFTC Camera

This month's camera actually isn't coming out of the closet - it's never been in there yet. It's a Minolta Autocord, with 75mm f3.5 Rokkor lens. This is a twin lens reflex (TLR) camera that shoots twelve square images on a roll of 120 medium format film. It's very similar in design to the Rolleiflex.

This is my first Minolta TLR. In fact, I have not used much Minolta equipment at all, other than the awesome Rokkor 40mm f2 that I shoot on my Leica CL. I also have a Minolta 45mm f3.5 lens in Leica Thread Mount (LTM), which I'll be shooting for my Whole Lotta Leica series sometime soon. Other than that, I don't have much experience with Minolta equipment.

I ended up with this Autocord after seeing it posted on a forum for a very good price. Once I'd agreed and paid, the seller nicely informed me that he just realized the shutter button was intermittently sticking. So, I decided that I would cancel my order; who wants a camera that may or may not expose an image when you press the shutter release? Well, the seller went one step further, and sent the camera off to Karl Bryan, a highly respected repairman in Oregon who specializes in Autocords. Then, he offered me the fully CLA'd camera for only $75 more than the original asking price. So, I got a fully refurbished camera for a great deal!

Let me tell you that almost everyone considers Rollei to be the top of the line in TLRs, and I agree. I have a couple of nice 3.5 Rolleis (have always wanted but never sprung for a Rolleiflex with f2.8 lens), and they are spectacular. HOWEVER, the view on the ground glass of this Autocord is brighter and prettier than any of my Rolleis. If the taking lens is similar, this is going to be one awesome picture taking machine, and the Autocord lenses have a great reputation. So, I'm really looking forward to seeing some results with this camera.

So, wish me luck! May is a great month to get to know such a gorgeous new/old camera.

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