MINICORD User manual

Camera opened:
                 film magazine placed in cap            29  -
           30  :  red orientation mark on
                 magazine
         3L -  red orientation mark on film                   guide





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Rea,d the fol,lowing
       Description
                                                                 exposures.                      carefully before you urake !orul'first                    Practice the_ manipulation of the canlera. Yotr
                      wi.ll then derive greater pleasure from yotlr
                   Minicord and you u'ill be the rnore successfull.
                Below we are explaining the fol'lowing points
                  which are important for the use o'f y,our Minicord:
   O Loading the Minicord with a film.
   O  Hol,din,g the Minicord
        t   Setting the viewfinder
   O  Selection of the i,mage area
   O The exposur,e
   O The flash exposrure.
   O  Unrloading the Minicord


6

Loac{ing the Minicord
                              Fir,st a'nd  f oremost rule : The 'magazine ma y
                     be p,ut in the cam'era or taken fro'rn it only in
                      dre shade and never in bri'ght sun light.
                 a) How to open the camera
                   The camera is held in th,e left hand sil,d with
                  knobs (zo, 21) gripped by  fore,fin ger and
                        thurnb of the right hanrd, the upper knob (zo)     r__l      is prel;se'd hand by the forefin'ger. The catchE                                         i's the,reby rel,eased an'd cap (tg) can be pulledLA*)       but of the c'amera the upper knob always
                                                                                                                                       i:'.'                          lreing kep,t pre]ssed.
                         lr) Replacing the magazine
               When the cap is taken off the camer'a, a
troadetl magazine (a) is put in that half of the cap whieh is n o t markod
                                                                          serveswith the red dot. The other hal,f, indicateal with a red 'dot (c),                                             pushed into theto receive an empty magazine (b). F,llm end (r) is
                                                                                   poi'ntvelvet covered slit (2) of the empty magazine until the thr'ee
mark is about halfway befween the two rragazines.
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The samera can now again be closed ,  that is: cap (tg) is pushe,d info the carmera. The
 upper kno,b (zo) is hereby pr,essed rd,own and
 is re'lea,sed when the cap js ,pushed in.  it
 s,houl,d be chec,ke,d wh,ether the catch hol,ds
 fast. whenever the rnagazine i,s changed care
 has to be taken that th,e pressure paI in the
c?p and the fil,m guides in the iamera are
 cl ean to avoi,d scratches on the fil,rn.
The expo:sure coiunti'ng disc (o) is  norv
rotaterd by its knurl,e,d ring (z) in the direction
o,f the arrow unti,l the rLd mark is opposite
the inrd,ex m,a,rk.
The knurlerd ring to set the durati,on of
expo'sure (z) i's then rotaterd until, e. g. 1oo
(:  1/roo of a s,econd) is indica ted by the
index mark.

I

Th,e fore'fin g,er of the right hand presseslthe
winding lever (l)  ,down  to  its stop; the
 I'ev,e'r i,s then  reil,e,a,s,e,d and  e)$p,osrur,e release
                                      prrbs,se.d. This isbutton (f ), next to tt  is ('rspeated ttwice, when  o"   wilil  appear
oppos,ite the index mark on the exposure
counting di'sc. The ca,mera  is then loaded.
lt  shou,l,d be pointed,out at this place that
by operating lever (s), the fi'lm is trans,ported
and rhe shutter woun d. Without releasing
the shu tter the winding 'lever remains
Ioc'ked. Thus tra,ns,port of unexp,osgd film
is avoi'de,d biut it follows also rhar winding
lever (l) nl,ust not be pre's's,ed with 'exceptional
force when in l,ocke,d position as thi inner
locking rspring may be                                  'd,efor,me,d.


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Film
A Lo rnm,double 4rerforated fiilm is ,used for ,the "Minicord". T,he use
 of the right film of finest gnain is neces,sary if you want to ,be able
to e'nlarge atrl exposures, rnade with your l-6 m,m fikn ca,rnera, fo
 the usrual ;sizes. AII films of,ferod by us are wel'l tried in that respecf
 an'd we recommend to use such well tried fikns.
The following f,il,ms are obtainable:
   A - Adox KB i.4 t4floo DIN   B : Adox KB i.T L7 f roo DIN   C : Agfa color reverse colour film
                              f or daylight B /t"oo DIN
                            DIN  D - Kodak Micro-File i/loo
The  lef ter  correspond.ing to   th e
make of a fil'rn li,sted above, is
st'encille'd into both en,ds of the
f ilm so that the film with which
a magazine has been loaded can
al'ways be recogn ized. Each lilagcr-
zine holds enough fil,rn rnateri'al for 25 expos,ures. We ar'e al'so ofifering
twin irnagazines for specia,l prurposes which are a little more' com-
ptricated to us,e. Thits magazine i,s descrlbed in the folllowing chapter:
L0

The ,twin ,rrrd,gdzine in a protecting
                                    fin may be orbtained from the
                                       deal,er eith,er elnpty or Ioaded. It
                                   is a magazine ,f,or permanent use
                            and ,designed for 40 expo,sur,es. It
                        can be loa'derd dt any photo-
                                     grapher's o,r by the u6rer hi,msel,f in
                             a ,dark,roo,m. For troa'ding, a film of
                              correct length, wotrn d  to  the
                                 correct diamet'er an,d packe,d in  a
are ar..the                 or deailer                   .Xrff[JT           4isposalthis fil'mpack only since otherwise", "r'Jr1tff'?lt"otii#flfaultless work cannot be assured'll:
and the makers cannot underfake any guarantee. rf more than 40 ex-
posur'es rir'€ to be m-ade the magazin;idh  rtt.' ."p"tJ  iii*         tr.easily- taken fro,m the camera and exchanged against rnoth.t,"rnpr.-viously loailed.
E-rnpty or- Ioaded rnagazines should be k_ept in their protecting tinsif not le,ft rn the cimera. T,he white pilate fltted r"';h.  magazinesenves f-or pencil                                   . notes conoerning the ,content of the m,a,{,izine,
Now a few rnore ihints concerning t-he use of tlr,e twin mngarine.
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Loading the twin magazine
                      This must b,e ,done in the ,dark roo,m at, dark
                          gre,en light. The loa,d,in'g c_o'mpnrtment of the
                                twi,tt ,miga zine which can b,e necognized, even
                                                                         pro'                    in co'rnpl,ete darknes,s by feeling for a
                          jection ltamped on its sover i's ope'ned by re-
                     moving thi's cover. When the filmm'ake,r's paper
                         strip iI remove,d from the fitm storage tin
                            the- tin can be opened by turning the trid and
                    the fil,m can be take,n out. Without letting                       'the                           film unwinrd itself a free end 'o,f about
15 mm is rolled off and in this position the filrtr toll is placod in
the l,oailing compartment of the migazine whil,e the free end is pu,shad
into the slit between the velv,et pads.
When this h,as b,een d,one caroful,ly the cover is placeil on the loadi-ng
                                                                            pro'perly.compartment ,and by touc,h it  ii checked whether it sits



L2

work in the darkroom is 4,ow enrded. The films has yet to be pusherd       &
between the velve_t pads o,f                              _the other half of the m'agazin,'frorntut ttir             Fcan b,e done at daylight. The e_nd of the fiilm iproj.e-cting     the                      frloadirnig                    is taken befw,een trr,',rnb      rotiringl;                                      tr        -compartmentia pushed into the clothed slit o,f th,e magazine until""j the thr,ei points";d           tmarke'd on the fikn are between the ffio ;ilits.                                      $
                                                                                                                 $
Trhe twin magazine is n,ow l,oade'd and can be inserted, wherby care         *
has to b'e taken that. rhe. red .poinr on the twi,n magazine (eo) coin-                   trcid,es with the r,od poinr on the cap (re).                                                H
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Taking the exposed film from the magazine
                When all exposures ,are ,made (after 25 or,
                        respectively after 4A exporsures) ailid when
                      the tr,ansport of the film ihas been contin'ued
                       to 27 (or 42) ?,r,d after the rrLa,gazine has be,el:
                                re,m,ov,e,d fro,nr the camera, the      is drawn                                                                                'fil,m                         fro,m ies winding compartment (in the dark-
                            roorm I) and is rea,dy for ,d'evelopment. This is
                             pnefier'ably done in a d,eve,lopnnent tank. De -
                           ve'lo,pment irs Left to the profe,ssionratl by many
                            Mini,cor,d  us,e,rs.
Since t'he development of the film is followed by e'nlargernent to a
large scale it is irnrportant fo prep,are fine anrd well definerd negatives.
One shoui]rd rather make the expo,srure a littl,e lo,n'ger and the d,evelop-
ing ,ti,rne corresp,ondingly shorter. Finest grai'n fii,kn and developer
specia,Ily suit*brle for 'finest grains should be ursed onily.




1^.Ll

Holding the camera
The camena is taken in the right han,d,nnd
finger rest (z+) is opened'fro,m ifs recess in
f,he'bottonr of     camera. The gr,ooved pa,rt                 'fheof the cap (rg) is norM place'd in the arch
between thumb and forefin'ger with  th e
rrr ictrdl'ef,inger on the grooverd fi'nger rest. The
cameila ,is thus 'he,lrd fast rvhil,e the for'efinger
s f ill  mraintains its  fr,eedoln o,f lnovemen,t.
Winding lever (i)  and exposure release
b,rr,fton (l ) can nolv be altern,ativelv operated
hv fhe forefinger without changing the
pors,ition of the ho'I,ding fing.rc.



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Setting the viewfinder
                   [n the attitiude jus't descri'bp,d the c,amera i's now
                  taken to the eye so thaf one can look con-
                      fortably into the eyepi eoe o,f the fin'der. Apart
                from the s'u,bj ect, n thin black ring can no\t/
              be se,en on t'he ,square gr'ound s,creen in the
                      centre of the field of the vieurfind,er. One looks
                     chr,ough the viewfin'der to'wands a neutral ob-
                          j,ect e. g. the sky or ,a walil a,nd rotates knurled
                   ring (t t; wi,th thum,b and forfinger of the left
                hand un,til the thin circl,e appears sharp,ly. In
                        case- of a normal sighted ey,e tlie white rnark on
                the a,d,iustment ring wil'l appe,ar opposite the
                  red mark on the body of the camera, in case
of short si'ghtod or far sighte,d eyes the white mark will be res.p,ectively
to rhe right or to the left o,f this mark.
T'his adi'ustment (callerd diopter adjustment) has to be dome by the
us,er only once, but should be checked now and then. Wearers of
glasses san tlrus work with or widhout ,!trassas. The aclj,ustment ispossiNe insiitre * + diopters.

L6

Selection of image area and focussing of image
The camera is hel'cl as des,cri,bed on page 15; it is o,f advantage to
,s,et the distance at oo (i. e. at the stop) by turninrg knurled ring (f s)
for setting the distance. The samera is now taken to tke eye and a
distant object is vi'ewed. This      noj\r a,ppear in th,e viEw finder                                      'willshanpJy foc'ussed.
The iare(a insi'de the circ,le only i,s to b,e cor-
sird'ere,d for determination of  foc,us. For
reasons of 'd'esign the image will appear a
little Iess str,ar,p towards'the e,dges. The
ima'ge atea is now selected; it m,ust b,e note,d
that the pictur,e ais seren in,the view find,er
will be 1o% rs,maller than that w,hich the
syrp,osure wil,l actually cover i. e. the a,ngle
                                            angleof ,expo,sure is                       'l,ar,ger by Lo% than theof vi,err ,of the view fin'der. I,t is thenefore
,de'finit'oly  fle c,e,ss aty to br,eak with the cust,o,m

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",to hav,e rather imo,re in the view firader to b,e sruro to get evetytlhing
on" and to ruse to uhe 6ul'l the picture as it appears in the Minicord
view finder. Or, in other words, one shoul,d be as n'ea{r to the main
o,bject as possible
Ihe image in the view finder will now appear out o,f focus when
near,er objects are viewad. By turninig knrurle,d ring (ts) for foous.sing
it is possib,le to adj'ust the sharpness w,hereby to repraf,f only
the ,sharpness inside the black cir'cle is of acc,ount. With this last
manipulation the correrct adjustrnent for distance is eff'ected an'd
after rsetting the aperture anrd the dura,tion of exposure the camera
is r'eady for use.
Two points can be seen in the fieild orf view of the view finder. They
ar.e of assirstance in order to erlimin'ate the view fin'der parallax in
case orf orbject distances less ghan 1 m in fha,t way that the horizontal
line ,detenmined by t,he two points id,eter:mines also ,th,e upper bor,der
of the pi'cture. That means: detail,s in the field of vi,ew of the view
finder a,bove the two poin,ts will not be incil'u,derl


L8

Depth of focus indicator
The ,distance scrale (rs) on the photognaphic
l,ens in combirnation with the depth of focus
scale ftZ) iserves also as ,depth of focus
inrdicator. It is therefor,e possible to reard the
depth of focus ,for e'very s,etting of the lens.
For instance, if the diisgxn.. scarle is setto 2 m, then with stop 5'6 the sharpness
wiil',I reach from '1"'5 m to infinite 3 rn (see
fig.). I,f at this ,di,stance the srto,p is s,et at 4,
then the de,pth of focu,s will reach only fronr
L'6 to 2'8 m.





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The exposur€
                   Holding the c,amera as de'scribed  irr
                                                             rseri'es of exposures can                        paragrap,h 10    a
                 be taken without having to s,€t the camera
                   down, u,nder tlr,e condition ,fhat the l,engt'h
                   of exposru,r,e and the stop r,emain the same.
                                                                                        as                The c,amera sho,ul'd be held as rigiid,ly
                        possible. It  ,shoul,d also be pressod against
                   the cheekbone, an'd the back o,f the low'er                                                                               pness,ed    t                    m,ember o,f the thunr,b sho'ul'd be
                         against the c'hin,                                     I
                                                                                             trheWinding and re,leasi'ng che shutter are ,done al,tennately with                                                              *forefinger. In order not to "j,etk" the exposure the release brutton (l)
shoul,d be pr,esse,d dow,n slowly whi,le the camera is being held steardily
and s.ecurely. Winrding  l,ever (l) ,shoiu'l,d be pres'sed do,wn to the stop




20

Bm,d then release,d. The release button (l) releases the ;shutter during
      the second half of its illovenlerrt. When in position B the shutter
        r,emalns open as long as the release button is pressed down. The same
       manipulation applies to the wire r'e'lease which can be screwe,d into
      the reloase button, and is use,d when exposures are m,ade on the
          tri'pod.
     The s,crcw thre'ad iril the bottom oif the camera fo take the tripod
r       is as usual t/a,".
      25 or 40 ,ex'posures can be made s,[,d the nrumber of exposures m:ade
        is rea'd off the exposer counting disc (o).
t





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Flashlight exposure
      The ,use o'f synchroniz,ed fla,sh exposure technique enables the photo-
        grapher to make exposures even at lowes,t illu'mination in a convenient
       ird quick w\ay. For the purpose of ,synchron'ization, the shu,tter of         II
        the Minicord is so connected to contacts that the ignition of the flash                          I       bulb coinci,des with the action of the s'hutter.
       This method of synchronization adopterd in th,e Minicord is g!'mple
       and yet reliable, and there exirsts a great nuntber of builbrs of dif'ferent                                                                            tr       makes, varying in irntensity and in d,uration of the filash. The bulbs
                                                                                      ro         listed below rtt possess 'that characteristi'c which is b,est suited
        the shutter of the Minicord.                                                                                                                           frr                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                         ryIrl





        22
t

The following points should be noted:
      The ,shutter i,s set to tlz; second for all flash expos,ur,es.
      The illurmination is a'dj,usted by means of the storp only. The se,tting
       of ,the stop is ideterminerd by the filnr sensitivity and the distance
     and it is calcu,lated fronr rhe inrdexnumbers which ar,e attached to
      i     each b,ulb. (Index number divi,de,d by di,s,tance _ aperrure of stop.)     Any bul'bs with a peak perio,d ,of 20 mrsec. (t msec. i;s f/tooo second)
 tt    may be em,prloyerd for the Minicor'd camena. Some of these bulbs
       are listed in the tab,l,e 'b'e,l'ow giving ,d,ata from the nrafers catalogues.
      The foll,o,wing rule applies:.                    u S                                       fir#US.
     The dura,tion orf the exposure is not determined by the ti,lne to
      which the cam'era is set (t/zs sec.) when mal<ing flash exposures inft      the dark or at noder,ate artificial light, ,but by the effective 6tash
       time. Therefore even rmod,erately moving objects, depenrding on the
        druration of the flarsh, may be photographecl withou,t lols of Jhutp,ness.
     At rbright 'day'lig,ht, however, when flash exposure is enploved to
       brightern the shadows, the full shutter speed 0/25 sec.) determines
      the exposure.
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Bracket (;o) which is specially designed
        for u,se ryith the Minicond  i's scr'ewed into
      the tripo,d thread in the base o,f the
      camera (vid,e illus,trati'on) by merans of
         knurl,e,d screvr (sr).The flas,h I'armp is                                                                                                   t,                                                             ,on        p'ushed into the stanrdard ,shoe (sz)
       the up,per end of bracket (so) anid leads
       with pl,ug (5 3) are connected to socket
       Gz). A flash bulb is screwed in,to the
        lamp'hol,der o'f the flash,la'mp and the
         shutter ,srpeed i,s set exacfily to 1125.





        24
tl