Minolta Uniomat III

The Minolta Uniomat III is a rangefinder camera. It was introduced by Minolta in the 1960s and built in a factory in Japan. It is the successor of the Minolta Uniomat II and part of the Uniomat series. It is the last model in the series. The 35mm photo camera was also sold in the USA under the name “Ansco Anscoset III”.

A fixed Minolta Rokkor lens is installed in the 35mm camera. The focal length is 45 mm. The largest aperture is f/2.8. The camera has no autofocus. The lens is focused manually. The coupled rangefinder helps with this. The minimum distance to the subject must be 91 cm.

The Minolta Uniomat III comes with a selenium exposure meter. Unlike the other two models in the Uniomat series, the metering cells are not located in a window next to the viewfinder, but are mounted around the lens. The light meter works without batteries. However, it can lose accuracy over the years.

When it comes to exposure settings, the Japanese company relies on a kind of program mode for this model. Shutter speed and aperture value cannot be selected directly. Instead, the system used EV numbers printed around the lens ring.

The light meter controlled a needle in a window on the top that moved according to the amount of light detected, and the photographer only needed to turn the EV ring to adjust the exposure needle. When the red and green needles matched, the correct combination of shutter speed and aperture size was set.

The use of an external flash is possible via the PC flash socket. The flash can be attached to the hot shoe on the top. A thread for a tripod is built into the 35mm camera. There is also a connection for a cable release and a self-timer is not missing either.

Films for the Minolta Uniomat III

The Minolta Uniomat III is loaded with 35mm films. These films are still manufactured and can be specified by almost any developing vendor. The camera’s exposure meter is designed for films from ISO 6 to ISO 1600. The Kodak Portra 400* is a possible color film for the model, while black and white images are possible with the Ilford Delta 100*. According to various reviews, they are good for everyday shooting and produce solid results. Foma, Adox, Rollei and co. also offer films for this format, of course.