Minolta 3000i in Los Angeles

I travel to Los Angeles regularly to do agency & fashion photography on the digital / studio side of my photography life.  When I'm there I try to take time to shoot film as well! I was there this summer and took a simple film SLR, a Minolta 3000i with a 50mm f/1.7mm lens. I did both street photography and general snapshots when not in the studio. 

This time I took a number of film stocks. I took Cinestill 50D, Cinestill 800T, Ilford Delta 100, Ilford HP5 & Fujicolor Superia X-Tra 400. Call me eclectic.  All films were shot in auto program mode which happens to be the only mode this camera has. All film was developed at home using either Ilfosol3 or Unicolor C-41 color kit. 

A few images:

Cinestill 50D (shot during super bright day)

Cinestill 800T (shot at night)

Ilford Delta 100 (very bright day)

Ilford HP5 400 (shot on very bright days)

Fujicolor Superia XTRA 400

Street Photography in Chicago Using Fomapan Action 400

I recently visited Chicago to do some street photography. This time I took my Canon L2 & Minolta 3000i. Both had 50mm lenses. I wanted to use a manual rangefinder and a basic point & shoot SLR for flexibility.  I shot different film stocks during the visit, but here are shots of Fomapan Action 400. 

I like this film for general purpose uses. The grain is reasonable but obviously can be effected by the developer. This time I developed one roll in Ilfosol3 & one in Rodinal. Also, Fomapan is reasonably prices, especially when you bulk roll it like I've done. 

Minolta 3000i a Super Simple SLR

I recently purchased a Minolta Maxxum 3000i body from Used Photo Pro in Indianapolis. I was looking for a very simple SLR & this is it. I mounted it with a Minolta AF 50mm lens which is my preferred focal length for street photography.

The Minolta 3000i is essentially a point & shoot in an SLR body. There is only a Lock/On switch, shutter release, P/H (program / program hi-speed), self-timer button, & a focus mode switch. That’s it.  P (automatic) mode only. The high-speed mode is simply when you photograph fast moving objects. The camera uses DX coded film. ISO range from 32 to 3200. ISO is set at 100 when using film without DX coding.

I’ve used the camera a few times and it’s efficient. Just point & shoot. Like I said, nothing to it. Personally, I like more control (i.e. aperture priority, manual mode, ability to push film, etc.) on a camera. I would use it when I just want to run & gun. It’s a really nice starter camera for someone who is just getting into film.

Here are a few photos using Fomapan Action 400