Finder Brightness

I had every intention of taking one of my Minolta SRT cameras with me to the farmers market this morning. A 50/3.5 MD Rokkor was attached. I tested the meter, replaced the battery and tested it again. The readings seemed too low compared to one of my Canon F-1n cameras so I left it at home. I grabbed a black Pentax Spotmatic II and put in a roll of Fuji (Kodak) 200 speed color print film. The lens attached to it was a Quantaray 55mm f/3 macro. This is the same as the Vivitar and Panagor 55/2.8s. Then I thought I should take the smaller 50/4 SMCT, which I did. I forgot how dim the finder was with a lens that slow. The microprism focusing aid was not usable. I used the other parts of the screen to focus.

Later in the day my grandson came over and I put the Quantaray lens back on for some outdoor photos. Focusing was much easier. With adapters, the 50/4 is much easier to focus on a Canon F-1 (any of them) or a Minolta X700 but then there is no auto diaphragm operation. I think I will try the 50/4 on a Mamiya Auto XTL with the P adapter. I will have stop down metering and auto diaphragm operation and maybe a slightly brighter finder. The 50/4 is small and light but the Auto XTL is heavy.