Minolta 9 DOF preview behaviour

Theo Sulphate said:

Since mirror flipping accomplishes nothing useful after the DOF preview operation, I suspect this is either a flaw in the camera's firmware or there is something about aperture actuation in the Minolta 9 that requires a mirror flip cycle. Since no other cameras, nor later Minoltas have this mirror flip, I suspect that Minolta wanted to correct this useless distraction.

It certainly should be mentioned in the manual because it's unexpected behaviour (hence the origin of this thread). I cannot think of any other camera where mirror flipping is a consequence of a DOF preview operation.

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Please read my reply to you in post 22 .
It is not just the Dynax 9 that behaves this way .
In all the years I've owned and used these cameras , I've never given it a second thought , let alone it being a distraction .
On reading the O.P I had to check my cameras to see if they also did it , and yes , it's a normal function on most Minolta auto focus cameras with a DOF preview button .

neilt3 said:

Please read my reply to you in post 22 .
It is not just the Dynax 9 that behaves this way .
In all the years I've owned and used these cameras , I've never given it a second thought , let alone it being a distraction .
On reading the O.P I had to check my cameras to see if they also did it , and yes , it's a normal function on most Minolta auto focus cameras with a DOF preview button .

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I realize it's not just the Minolta 9. I suspect Minolta used the same firmware / same DOF design in those other models as well.

That this behaviour exists in other Minolta bodies doesn't mean it's the proper thing to do for the camera user. It can be a distraction to others if one is making several DOF readings and they keep hearing the mirror flip.

No other SLR has this "feature" and Minolta eliminated it later. I suspects many would consider this behaviour as a "quirk", if not an outright flaw.

I stand corrected. The mirror flips on a Dynax 9 after DOF button release, as noted above.

AgX said:

Well, most of the concern has been raised by the word "released".
A storm in a water glass...
A shutter is released just when the release button is pushed in. For a non-native speaker the term release then gets a different meaning in context with a button.

This is not about the mirror going up when the DOF button is pressed, but when this button is let free again.

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Maybe my fault. Not native speaker here, my first description of the problem may be somewhat unclear.

Reading it now it is clear. But somehow I got astray and as the second post somehow confirmed what I thought...

Theo Sulphate said:

I realize it's not just the Minolta 9. I suspect Minolta used the same firmware / same DOF design in those other models as well.

That this behaviour exists in other Minolta bodies doesn't mean it's the proper thing to do for the camera user. It can be a distraction to others if one is making several DOF readings and they keep hearing the mirror flip.

No other SLR has this "feature" and Minolta eliminated it later. I suspects many would consider this behaviour as a "quirk", if not an outright flaw.

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This does seem to be confusing things .
The OP was trying to find out if his new (to him) camera was operating in the way that the manufacturer intended or if the camera he bought was broken .
His Camera is functioning exactly as intended by Minolta .

The cameras that were released from 1993 with the Dynax 700si to the Dynax 9Ti released in 1999 all operated the same way , that's models that were for sale for over a decade all worked the same way . As intended .

The last three cameras they released didn't do this , so what ? it doesn't mean it's a fault .
It's good that there are so many film cameras to chose from now , so if you don't like the way one works , you can get another one .

If you don't like one brand you can get another , it would be very boring if you could only shoot Canon or Nikon , there's a lot of nice stuff out there that isn't just the run of the mill stuff . Where would we be without choices ?

Shoot what you want , enjoy what you have .

neilt3 said:

This does seem to be confusing things .
The OP was trying to find out if his new (to him) camera was operating in the way that the manufacturer intended or if the camera he bought was broken .
His Camera is functioning exactly as intended by Minolta .
...
Shoot what you want , enjoy what you have .

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Yes, the thread has had a bit more than the usual confusion - but I think it's been for the overall good - both I and others now know something about the Minolta Maxxum / Dynax 9 we didn't know before and this thread and information can be found later by others.

Early on you did reassure the OP that this behavior was a feature of the Dynax 9 (among others) and my research confirmed it to me later (as I mentioned in post #17). So, I hope the OP was reassured and no longer has concerns about the camera.

The tangential aspect of the discussion - why Minolta had these cameras do this - probably cannot be answered by anyone other the Minolta design team. I see this as one of the interesting quirks of the devices we have in our little hobby.

Indeed it's good to make this information clear to anyone looking for it at a later date .
There's a wealth of knowledge on these forums for those doing a search , I've got a load of posts in old threads bookmarked for future reference on an assortment of topics , especially darkroom and developing threads .

The OP now knows all is well and can enjoy his camera as I do mine ( it;s a lovely camera to use ) .

Funnily enough after all the years I've been using Minolta cameras I use the Dynax 7 as my main one when traveling or the Dynax 9 if the extra weight isn't an issue , and either the Dynax 5 (and AA battery pack) or Maxxum 70 with a small prime lens on when I need a compact lightweight camera , and I'd never noticed the difference between them with the DOF preview action and the extra mirror flip up .
It's certainly not distracting , but understandable that the first time you use one that works like this you could think there's something wrong .
I though it sounded strange when the OP started the thread , but had to check mine before I replied to check if it was normal .

Regards , Neil .

The Minolta system is new to me. I have just sold all my CANON equipment that I have been using for more than 20 years (650, 50E, 5, 1N, 3, 300D, 10D, 5D MII) and all of them just close and open the diaphragm when the DOP is used, so the Minolta "way" was strange to me.