Minolta xg-1 automatic?

[imarobot]

my teacher just gave me the camera
i have 125 speed film in it
he has it set to automatic...but that thing where it says automatic shows 400
does that make a difference if it is set to auto?

 

[Mike Wilde]

the ASA dial tells the Auto what to do

Auto is only as smart as the camera. You have to tell this camera what film is in it. Later cameras read the 'DX codes' off the film canister to set this information, but not yours.

Thus you are presently automatically underexposing the film, giving only about 40% of the amount of light that your film wants to get to form a good image. Change the film speed setting to match the film, and auto will give you a start on geeting better pictures.

With time, as you learn, you will not curse doing your own film speed setting. You may find, for example, that some 400asa B&W films with certian developers really work better when exposed with the camer set the 250.

You are also likely to learn with time that Auto is not always right in all lighting situations, or with all subjects, and will likely move on to shooting more of your pictures with the camera on manual

Take a moment to introduce yourself to APUG, so we have better idea of what your experience with film cameras is. There is a forum category to do this.

And happy shooting.

 

[imarobot]

Auto is only as smart as the camera. You have to tell this camera what film is in it. Later cameras read the 'DX codes' off the film canister to set this information, but not yours.

Thus you are presently automatically underexposing the film, giving only about 40% of the amount of light that your film wants to get to form a good image. Change the film speed setting to match the film, and auto will give you a start on geeting better pictures.

With time, as you learn, you will not curse doing your own film speed setting. You may find, for example, that some 400asa B&W films with certian developers really work better when exposed with the camer set the 250.

You are also likely to learn with time that Auto is not always right in all lighting situations, or with all subjects, and will likely move on to shooting more of your pictures with the camera on manual

Take a moment to introduce yourself to APUG, so we have better idea of what your experience with film cameras is. There is a forum category to do this.

And happy shooting.

200 ' ' 100
thats what the film speed looks like
which one should i set it too?

and it is on auto so all i have to do is focus it?
when i look in i see a red light and numbers does it matter what number it is on?

thanks for all the help already

 

[Mike Wilde]

the use the tick closest to 100

think of the ticks in between 100 and 200 as something like 133, 166. The first tick up is closest to 125. Film speed is not an exact science for most photographers.

The numbers you see you may want to make note of. If you are shooting handheld (no tripod or other sort of camera stabilizer) then usaually the slowest shutter speed that you can use without recording the shake of your hands as a part of the scene is the recoprocal of the focal length of the lens. For example, a camera using a 50mm lens can usually be held steadily by most people down to 1/50 actually the closest is usaully 1/60" so a little 60 or higher number. I note from the site www.therokkorfiles.com (an excellent reference for older minolta gear) that there is not a lot of info on shutter speeds slower than what you would handhold.

The other info you will see is usaully a small window at the top of the viewfinder that lets you see the aperture that you have selected. This will allow you to get a feeling of what depth of field you can expect to encounter. The XG-A is pretty no-frills, so I am not sure if there is a depth of field preview button available on it.

We are all pleased to help you learn, but I would suggest that a trip to a library where your are likely to find a few books on photography will aid you in your pursuit of the knowledge of this craft. If something in the book makes no sense to you , then we are all happy to help you along.

 

[mjs]

You can download the manual for the XG-1 (or other Minolta cameras,) here:

Dead Link Removed

Enjoy your camera: it's a pretty good one!

mjs