How I Use The Minolta Flash System

by Gary Walts

The Hoopla

Hello, this is Gary Walts. I love the Minolta Maxxum camera system. The fine folks at Minolta have nothing to do with this site or my opinions. This is not an ad. I am putting this site here to share with others my enthusiasm for the Minolta System. In particular, to give some insight about how I use the Minolta Flash System with their Maxxum cameras. All information here comes directly from me and is based upon my actual experiences with this equipment. I am a professional photographer and have been using the Minolta system for several happy years now. Most pros are familiar with Minolta meters. They are legendary in the industry. However, A lot of them are not familiar with what a great flash system Minolta has created. Now then, take their legendary meter and place it inside a camera body, combine it with some terrific autofocusing lenses and their unique Wireless Flash system and you have a dynamite, pro system. Here I want to concentrate on the Flash System and how I use it.

The 9xi and the Flash

The first two photos are examples of how I use the flash mounted on the camera. This is the simplest, yet least professional way to use flash. For a variety of reasons, mostly aesthetic, it is best to use flash OFF the camera. Thanks to Minolta it has never been easier to use off camera flash. We will explore that later. The Minolta Maxxum 9xi camera body is my favorite. It is the probably the finest camera Minolta has ever made. It is rugged, versatile and advanced. In the Program mode with a flash attatched the camera fires the flash whenever it determines it is required. Or, you can force fire the flash at any time by depressing the flash button located on the left front of the camera body. In either situation the camera exposes the subject with the flash so that the background is one stop under exposed. This is no simple feat! What does it mean for you? Well, Saturation City! Talk about intense, saturated colors. When you place your subject against a bright, full sun sky and force fire the flash you get a very saturated background.

The Scarecrow

For this photo I was using the 9xi camera body with a shoe mounted 5400xi flash, and a 28mm lens. The camera was set in the P Program mode. I simply let the camera do the work. It was late afternoon on very clear Fall day. My assignment was to photograph a display of scarecrows at an elementary school that were made by the school students. This particular one was adorned with an anti drugs message. I selected a low angle that positioned the sun directly behind the scarecrows head. Note the halo created by the backlight. For sure the camera would automatically fire the flash in this situation, however, as is my habit, I depressed the flash button anyway that would force fire the flash should the camera choose not to do so. In the P mode the camera selected a 1/300th sec. shuter speed and a small aperature (I believe it was f22). As you can see in the resulting photo the scarecrow is beautifully exposed and the background is a stop under. Notice the dark area in the lower left of the photo. That is the school building. See how dark it is? See how rich & saturated the sky is? Look at the halo on either side of the scarecrows head from the Sun. Awesome. I love it!

Time To Use Your Head

The Scarecrow photo illustrates what you will get from the 9xi when set in the P program mode. It is the no-brainer method of dealing with fill flash. You will get great results every time. No matter what film you use. But, what if you want fill flash but also want the background to show up normally? What do you do? Well, you must switch from the No-Brainer mode to the Brainer mode.

The Brainer mode is what helps seperate the pro's from the amatuers. The Minolta flash & camera manuals do not cover everything in minute detail that is possible to achieve with their equipment. The Brainer mode is one of them. At any rate, here is what you do to maintain a balanced background with a subject illuminated by the flash.

  • STEP ONE meter the scene in Program mode with the flash OFF. Make a mental note of it.
  • STEP TWO Set the shutter speed & aperture manually (in the Manual mode)
  • STEP THREE Turn on the flash and take the picture.

    • Botanist Studies Ecology

    The above method is exactly what I used for the photo at left. The sun overhead was casting a shadow across the man's face from his hat. Note how his face and the backgrounds are similarly exposed. Look at the shadow of the plant leaves on the mans shirt. It is cast from the shoe mounted 5400xi flash unit.

    NOTE: When you set the 9xi exposure manually the meter index scale appears in the viewfinder. The proper exposure for your scene is when the indicator is in the middle between the over & under exposure areas of the scale. Watch this scale as you turn the flash on. It will suddenly indicate that you are over exposed one stop. That is because the camera is trying to trick you into exposing the scene with your flash the same as if you were in the P mode. However, you do not want this. Simply ignore the indicator when the flash is turned on and fire away. The results will be perfect, as in the example of the man with the plant leaves.

    So, to reiterate, It is important to meter the scene with the flash TURNED OFF, otherwise you will get a reading based on the P mode with flash turned on. Practice metering any scene in manual mode and keep an eye on the meter index scale. Turn the flash on and off and notice how the exposure indicator changes accordingly.

    Pay attention to this. Notice that when you turn the flash on with the camera in manuel mode the meter index scale will indicate that your exposure is one stop over. Watch the meter index as you shut the flash off. The meter index scale drops back to indicate a correct exposure.

    About The Botanist photo. This is Dr. Donald Cox, Oswego, NY. (USA). He has published a book about the ecology along the Seaway Trail. (The Seaway Trail runs along the the St. Lawrence River on the NY-Canada border from the Atlantic Ocean through the Great Lakes seaway system.) he is standing on the shore of Lake Ontario near oswego. The plant he is examining is commonly known as Mexican Bamboo. It is a plant species native to Japan that was introduced here. It is considered a nuisance plant because it offers nothing to the local ecology. No animals or insects feed upon it. It grows rampantly unchecked, choking out native species. It's scientific name is Poygonum cuspidatum.

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    Minolta Users Group-Australia For Minolta users or those that would like to know more about Minolta equipment this is a GREAT site. Tons of good, solid information. You must check it out. Using a 14.4 modem I found this site to load FAST, all the way from Australia. North American Mirror Site

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    Gary Walts Photography
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    Phone: 315-649-4174

    Created 6/15/96. Modified 11/12/96 and 11/19/96
    ©1996 Gary Walts, All Rights Reserved