The Minolta Hi-Matic G2 is a 35mm camera. It was introduced in the early 1980s and is part of the Hi-Matic series. It was produced in a factory in Minolta's home country. It was marketed with an emphasis on ease of use and low price.
It is equipped with a standard 38 mm lens. This is composed of four lenses. The largest available aperture is f/2.8, the smallest aperture is f/22. Focusing is manual. There is no rangefinder. Therefore, there are four pictograms for important distances to make things a bit easier for the photographer. In order for the subject to be in focus, a minimum distance of 90 cm must be maintained.
A rangefinder is missing, but the camera technology can measure the exposure. For this, you set the distance of the inserted film, values from ISO 25 to ISO 400 are supported, and the camera selects aperture and shutter speed. The camera indicates which aperture has been selected with a pointer in the viewfinder. There is no real manual mode with settings for shutter speed and aperture.
An external flash can be connected via hot shoe. Here, the power of the flash can be adjusted on the camera so that this can set appropriate exposure values for correctly exposed photos.
According to the manual, the camera weighs 285 grams and measures 11.1 x 7.2 x 5.3 cm. There is a thread for a tripod on the bottom. A 1.35 V mercury battery is responsible for the power supply.
Films for the Minolta Hi-Matic G2
The Minolta Hi-Matic G2 requires 35mm film. This type of film is still in production and can be handled by most photo labs without issue. Great films for this specimen that are still around today are the Kodak Portra 160* for color images and the Kodak TRI-X 400* for B&W images. Of course, there are a variety of other 35mm films for this camera. Important, the film should be in the range of ISO 25 to ISO 400 with its sensitivity.
The camera does not have a motor for film transport. For this, there is a quick release lever. This must be operated after each photo to transport the film to the next free spot. The counter for the number of photos taken also jumps forward. When the end is reached, after about 36 pictures, the film must be wound back into the cartridge, which protects the light-sensitive material from light, with a crank. Then the back can be opened and the film taken for development.
