Camera for all weathers

Press, 13 July 1988, Page 33

Camera for all weathers

By

ROY SINCLAIR

I have always been a little suspicious of camera instruction books. The reason is that English translations can come up with some unusual situations.

When I started reading the first page of instructions for the new Minolta Weathermatic 35 DL, I could hardly believe my eyes. I read, “Always clean and dry the camera before opening.” To make sure the reader gets it right, there is a drawing of a camera being taken

out of a bucket of water. On another page I read, “Do not jump or dive into the water while holding the camera.” This was followed by special instructions for using the camera above water. By this stage I started to realise that the writer

of the instruction book had not lost his senses. As the name “Weathermatic” suggests, this is a camera that is somewhat different. The Weathermatic DL (DL indicates a dual lens sytem) can indeed be put into a bucket of water. In fact, it can be taken to

five metres underwater. First appearances suggest the camera is a normal, but sturdy, “goof proof” compact camera. It has auto exposure, auto focusing, DX coding, builtin flash and an ingenious dual lens system. A light press on a button changes the 35mm lens to a longer focal length of 50mm. Closer inspection reveals additional interesting features. The front of the lens is sealed with a piece of tough glass and, inside the back cover there is a rubber “O” ring to keep the camera watertight. A similar “O” ring prevents water from entering the battery chamber. This means that providing the back of the camera and battery chamber are closed, the camera is watertight to a depth of five metres. Care must be taken, however, to ensure that there is no grit in the “O” ring seals. If there is, the inside of the camera, which is not impervious to water, could flood and the camera will be damaged. Obviously, the only way to judge the worth of a camera is to run a film through. The Weathermatic was loaded with Fujicolor HRIOO and taken around Cathedral Square. Exposures were consistently good and proved that the camera was ideal for normal photography. Some minor problems were experienced in one or two shots with the autofocus. The camera was possibly working on a

faster shutter speed and wider f-stop restricting the depth of focus. I am confident that these problems would be solved if a faster film with an ISO rating of 200 was used. The camera was then taken to Millners Underwater Centre where diving instructor Brent McFadden took it to the bottom of the diving pool which is about four metres deep. The instruction book suggests that ISO 400 film should be used underwater. However the slower film gave good results. Underwater the Weathermatic locks on to a fixed focus position and this worked very well. The flash automatically fired for all the underwater shots. When Brent finished the film he let the camera go and it quickly floated to the top. By the time I had retrieved it, the film had automatically rewound. The Minolta Weather'■matic is more than just an underwater camera. It will be very popular with those going to the skifields or to the beach. In fact, it is ideal for any situation where a conventional camera might be damaged by water, sand or snow. Selling for less than $4OO, the Weathermatic is only slightly higher in price than many compact cameras, yet it has a number of attractive additional features. Finished in yellow, it is stylish too.