From: philiph@kean.ucs.mun.ca
Subject: Hit Camera collectors - no Minex!
Organization: Memorial University. St.John's Nfld, Canada
Date: Sun, 22 Nov 1992 16:37:37 GMT

My apologies to HIT camera collectors:  last week I announced the existence 
of a Minex camera.  But the Minex does not exist.   That was my poor 
memory between the store and home. The camera I saw was a Minetta.  
The Minetta is among the "Hit" cameras listed in McKeown's, so no 
need to update the lists. :) ahem.
	My thanks to the various people who responded to my plea for 
information, and for putting me on to the fact that this was a Hit camera.
	McKeown's gives no information about any of the "Hit" cameras, 
so I thought it might be useful to post a description of this Minetta.  
There are no Hit pictures in McKeown's entry, but in the middle of their front 
cover  (7th edition) is a sibling Hit camera;  I can't read its name in the 
picture, but I think it is a Lucky.  In any case it isn't a Minetta, and is 
a premium piece, being in gold and chrome.  The Minetta is in chrome and 
black leatherette, with a leather case.
	McKeown gives a range of prices between $10 and $20 US;  in the 
shop, this camera was priced at $26.50 Can.  I bought it for just under 
$24 Can.;  this would be about $19 US.  It was in good shape, very 
little deterioration, no bings or bangs.  It had a roll of film in it, 
and a very neat, yellow leather case & strap.  The inside of the leather 
had a kind of red plush lining, some of which had deteriorated a little, 
with one corner folded down.  It was basically in a good working condition 
so I didn't mind paying the price I did.
	The aperture is about 2 mm, no adjustments possible.  The focal 
distance is about 20 mm, so the effective speed is about f/10.   The 
negative size is 20 mm on the diagonal, or about 14 x 14 mm square.  THe 
film does not lie in a flat field;  rather it is curved so that the corners 
are close to the same distance from the aperture as is the centre of the 
negative.
	The shutter does have two settings:  B and I, the latter being 
about 1/25 or 1/50.  (My guess is based on comparison with another 
shutter, and is completely subjective.)  An f/10 lens at 1/25 is not bad, I 
would think, for ISO 50 film outdoors, or 400 film indoors on a bright day. 
I don't know what kinds of film have been available for Hit cameras.  The B 
setting would be useful for experienced users who are able to hold the 
camera steady for longer exposures.  On a camera this size (it is only 
about 55 or 60 mm long) there is no tripod socket! But it will sit flat on 
a flat surface.
	The film spool is about 18 mm on its inside dimension; the film 
itself is 17 mm wide.  There is a red window at the back in order to read 
the numbers off the film backing.  The film that was in the camera still 
had a little of its sticky end-flap left there.  It was a blue label with 
the letters "HBO"  (could be "HRO", too) and "FILM".  Any connoisseurs know 
what this might be?
	By putting a bit of "clear" scotch tape (the white hazy stuff) over 
the negative mask inside the camera (to project an image from the lens), I 
was able to judge the angle of view of the camera.  There is heavy vignetting, 
so that only about 50 percent of the image area is bright.  Taking into 
account the vignetted bits, the angle of view seems to be about 20 to 30 
degrees, in other words a little better than half a right angle.  The 
bright area is about 15 to 20 degrees. (Again, these are guesses made 
by eye, not by protractor.)
	I took the film out and developed it.  This was not easy:  it is 17 
mm wide and only 20 cm long.  I didn't have a spool to mount it in.  I 
didn't want to use up an entire 500 mm batch of developer, so I developed 
it in an old metal 35 mm film cannister.  It worked quite well, but I am 
sure there are better methods.  It was half dip-and-dunk (though this was 
difficult because of the thickness of the film) and half roll-it-and-shake-
it.  Six minutes in some once-used stock ID-11 gave a not bad negative that 
showed severe light leaks from the red window.  In other words I have a strip 
which is quite black at both ends, quite clear most of the middle section,
and with a series of circles, same size as the window, all along 
in between the black ends.  No "real" images are visible anywhere along the 
strip.
	The Minetta is obviously a usable camera, as long as I can find 
film for it.  If anyone has an interest in odd working cameras, this is 
definitely one such animal.  It is obvious you have to keep a piece of 
foil, or some other light blocker, over the red window while film is in it. 
 	 I'd appreciate hearing from other collectors or (!) users.  For 
instance, has anyone tried respooling 110 film? - It's about the right 
size, isn't it?  

					-Philip Hiscock
philiph@kean.ucs.mun.ca