Minolta Freedom Zoom Traveller

The Minolta Freedom Zoom Traveller is a point-and-shoot camera from the 1990s. It was manufactured by Minolta in Japan and offered to the North American market. Similar variants were also placed on the market under the names “Minolta Freedom Action Zoom 90” and “Minolta Riva Zoom 90“. The cameras were aimed at beginners and casual users. Therefore, they were not particularly expensive and easy to use, even without an instruction manual.

The photo camera is equipped with a fixed zoom lens. 38 mm to 90 mm is the possible zoom range. The maximum aperture ranges from f/4.8 (wide angle) to f/10.8 (telephoto), depending on the zoom level. However, this is not particularly important since you cannot set the aperture manually anyway. With the 35mm camera, you don’t have to focus manually because it has an automatic autofocus system. The closest focusing distance for this lens is given as 100 cm. It consists of four elements in four lens groups.

The 35 mm camera has a built-in light meter. It is designed for film with an ISO value of ISO 100, ISO 200 and ISO 400. The film speed is read via the DX code on the film cartridge. If this code is not present, the camera always selects a value of ISO 100. You cannot change the exposure settings yourself. There is also no exposure compensation on the camera.

The built-in flash provides sufficient light in the dark. The flash range is up to 4.5 meters at ISO 100 in the wide-angle range. The camera is equipped with an automatic to prevent red-eye. Additionally, there is a fill-in flash for backlit shots and a mode for portraits at night. The flash can also be turned off completely if desired. The charging time is about eight seconds.

The dimensions of the Minolta Freedom Zoom Traveller are 12 x 7.1 x 4.8 cm, according to the manual. At this size, it weighs 225 grams. A normal CR123A battery (eBay / Amazon*) is responsible for the power supply. One battery lasts for about 300 pictures. The charge level is indicated via a display on the top. The price for a battery is a few euros.

There is a thread for a tripod on the bottom of the camera. On the side, there is an eyelet for attaching a wrist strap. It also comes with the ability to imprint the date of recording into the images. The control unit for this is located on the back. Additional batteries are not needed for this. The calendar lasts until the year 2049.

There is a self-timer for group pictures. The self-timer has a lead time of ten seconds. If that’s a bit too short, you can use the separately available infrared shutter release. This allows the camera to be triggered from a distance of up to five meters.

Films for the Minolta Freedom Zoom Traveller

35mm film is exposed in the Minolta Freedom Zoom Traveller. During this process, the film is transported automatically. After the film is loaded into the camera, the motor does the rest of the work. The display shows the number of photos taken. If it shows “0”, the film has not been loaded correctly. Under no circumstances should the camera be opened when there is still film in the camera. The manual rewind button on the top can also be used to rewind the film before it is actually finished.

This type of film is still made and can be developed by almost any photo lab. A 35mm film for color photography is the Kodak Gold 200*. A possible black and white film is the Ilford Delta 400*. There are other manufacturers of film stock specifically for 35mm format.