Minolta Auto Meter F

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This page is not to be confused with the Minolta Flash Meter series of meters.

The Minolta Auto Meter series was able to measure flash starting with a revision of the Auto Meter III.

After Minolta exited the photo market, Kenko started releasing the final three Minolta meters under their own brand name.

Auto Meter III

Auto Meter III is a digital electronic exposure meter with a silicon photo cell. The previous Auto Meter line were Cds meters, with a calculator dial. This meter is powered by 4LR44 or equivalent batteries. The meter does not have a power button, the screen will automacally deactivate after two minutes of inactivity. Pressing the recall button awakens the screen, and your previous measurement will be displayed. The display will blink if the battery is too low. There is a measuremnt lock switch to prevent taking of measurements.

Auto Meter III F

The Auto Meter III F is a modified version of the regular Auto Meter III. The primary added feature was the ability to measure flash.

limitations and issues

  • Display. The third and fourth digit of ASA and shutter speeds can only display zeros. eg shutter speed of 125 will display 120.
  • Power consumption. Many people complain about a high rate of battery consumsuion. This is in fact caused by not having a power switch. The buttons on the face of the unit is raised enough to trigger the meter to power on from an inacvtive mode. Minolta did provide a keygaurd that did improve this somewhat. The best thing to do is remove the battery when not in use.

Accessories

  • Viewfinder 10°: for reflective light measurement with a 10°.
  • 40° reflected light attachment
  • Flat diffuser: to measure flat subjects, illuminance, brightness ratio of light sources.
  • Mini Receptor: for close ups and macro photography
  • Booster II: for measuring from camera eye pieces and ground glass. Also useful for reflected light measurement at 60°
  • Spot Mask: for calculating exposures of enlargements in a darkroom.
  • 4x and 8x spherical ND filter: used when light is too bright to measure.

Auto Meter IV F

The Auto Meter IV F was released in 1992. It has a newly designed body, with expanded metering sensitivity. This meter has a power button unlike the previous model solving many complains and battery usage problems. The battery consumption has also been reduced to a single inexpensive 1.5v AA/ LR6 battery. There is a calibration screw in the battery compartment to adjust the exposure reading levels. This is helpful when working with multiple meters and want to sync them for similar exposures. It can also be used if you like to frequently under or over expose your images.

Like the previous model there is a memory feature available to store a previous settings. This model can store up to the last three readings. To use this feature, take a measurement reading. You should see on the top LCD analog scale a marker. To store this reading press the M button. When you take an additional measurement from this point, the analog marker remains, but an additional marker appears and the main display changes to the new reading. To average a reading just press the A button after you store two markers. A third marker will appear between the original two.

Auto Meter V F

Auto Meter V F was released in 2002 and is nearly identical to the older Auto Meter IV F. This model was also released as the Kenko KFM-1100 after Minolta exited the photo market.

The meter does have some changes compared the the older IV F. It has the ability to measure the proportions of flash and ambient light making it easier to modify different types of lighting. The ability to make many more changes in custom settings in alt mode, while the previous only had a screw exposure correcting setting in the battery compartment. Exposure correction value can be changed ±10 EV, shutter at full, half or a third. F no. can be changed to full or half stop display.

Accessories

  • Flat Diffuser
  • 40° reflected light attachment
  • Mini Receptor
  • Viewfinder 5°


Specs

Auto Meter III F Auto Meter IV F Auto Meter V F
Year 1981 1992 2002
Measuring system incident and reflected
Measuring element Silicon Photo Diode
Measuring range incident -2.4 to 19.1 EV -2 to 19.9
Measuring range reflected 1 to 22.5 EV 1.2 to 23.1 EV
Measuring range viewfinder ? vf 5°: 2.5 to 24.4 EV
vf 10°: 1.2 to 23.1 EV
vf 5°: 2.5 to 24.4 EV
ASA 12 to 6400 ASA 3 to 8000 ASA
Shutter 30min to 1/2000 30min to 1/8000
Shutter flash ? 1s to 1/500
Aperture digital: f0.7 to 64
analog: f1 to 45
f1 to 90
EV -5.4 to 28.5 EV -7.8 to 31.5 EV -17 to 40.8 EV
Cine 8 to 128 fps
Power 1× 6v alkaline 4LR44
1× 6v silver oxide 4SR44
1× 6v PX28
1x 1.5v AA / LR6
Dimensions 132 × 69 × 31 147 × 59 × 26
Weight 150g wo batt 125g wo batt

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