Minolta Riva Panorama – A Fun Intermezzo – by Aukje

By Aukje

My first year of shooting film Part 6

(Read Part 5 here)

I have a confession to make. I am starting to feel a bit like I am cheating, and slowly it is making me feel more uncomfortable. A couple of months ago I replied to a request from Hamish for guest posts, but I only shot digital. Hamish suggested that I could write about my first film camera, and I said yes. At that time I should have come clean immediately, but somehow I told myself that it was ok, but there has been a little voice in my head this whole time. And now I have decided that it is time to come clean about my photography and the Minolta Riva Panorama.

Landscape photographed with Minolta Riva Panorama on Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400

This is not my first film camera experience. The Minolta I wrote about in my first guest post was not my first film camera. The truth is that I am old enough to remember a time when there were no digital cameras at all. Frankly, I remember a whole life of analogue just about anything. To give an example: my first reports in college were written with pen on paper. I got my first email account after I finished college. My first digital appointment book was a PALM m500, and I was already in my second job. And I was an early adopter (no kidding), I remember discussions with coworkers about the need or value of an electronic appointment book. When my boyfriend bought a digital camera it was a novelty and he was the first among my friends and family. At that time I was about 28 years old. I know there were photos in my life before the age of 28, so they must have been on film…

Landscape photographed with Minolta Riva Panorama on Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200

So why did I agree to write about my first film camera? Because I can hardly remember anything about shooting film. I do remember bringing rolls of film to a local lab when we got home from a vacation, I vaguely remember that my dad used to own a Pentax, and that he took ages to take a photograph of us. But I don’t remember the cameras I have shot with. I don’t remember anything of the process of taking photos. I don’t remember paying any attention to the process, I do not remember making a deliberate choice about film type, exposure, composition, etc. I guess I was taking photos like most young people nowadays take photos with their smartphone, I was just shooting away to have something to remember my life.

Landscape with trees photographed with Minolta Riva Panorama on Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200

So why did I choose this moment for my confession? Because somehow, through the convincing world of twitter, I bought a Minolta Riva Panorama. And shooting with this camera resembles photography from my youth much more than shooting with the Minolta or M2 that I currently own. I realised that what I meant by ‘My First Film Camera’, is actually ‘My First Manual Film Camera’. Since I own a digital Leica M (the 240) I have entered the world of deliberate photography, making deliberate choices about lens-choice, aperture and composition. The step towards film photography was a step towards even less automated photography, with cameras that don’t have a light meter, and don’t give you a preview so you can take a next attempt if the result is not what you expected.

But now in comes the Riva Panorama, and this is a little automatic camera that even has automatic rewind of the film. So this is a sidestep from my venture in film photography where I try to learn about exposure, and where I am thinking (over-thinking?) about every step. With this camera it is just relaxed point and shoot. With the one extra feature that it only shoots in panorama. And that is so much fun that I wanted to share some results I got with this camera. You can click on a photo to view a screen-sized version, which might be particularly handy with the portrait photos…

Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200

I won’t try to write a camera-review, Hamish is much better at that and has already written about this camera here. In short: it crops the 35mm film into a panorama format, and the viewfinder is also in panorama form-factor. There are not much manual settings, you can choose to block the use of a flash, but everything else is automatic. The lens is pretty slow (f/4.5), but with 24mm wider than any lens I own, which makes it a nice feature for me. With the largest aperture of f/4.5, the Minolta Riva Panorama is not really suited for darker situations, but that didn’t stop me from trying. It is just for fun right. And I do like some of the results, although there is the expected extra grain.

Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200, a bit of vibrance was added in post process
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200

Except from the limited use when it is rather dark outside, the Minolta Riva Panorama also appears to be extreme flare-prone. With some really interesting and unexpected results. The next photos were made early in the morning when the street lights were still on. These light sources appeared to be a more dominant feature than I had imagined 🙂 (at least that is what I think causes the smudges and spots):

Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400
Dim landscape photographed with Minolta Riva Panorama on Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400

As you might have guessed, so far I have shot two rolls with Minolta Riva Panorama, one Kodak Gold 200 and one Tri-X. I thought that shooting panorama would teach me something, but it was only half-way the second roll that I realised what it was: with panorama view you have to pay more attention to context, because it is rare that you can fill the frame with just the main subject. So for me, this is the little bit of extra that I get, apart from fun, from shooting with this camera.

Here are a few more colour photos:

Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200
Kodak Gold 200

And a couple of more results with Tri-X and the Minolta Riva Panorama. Most of the photos received a bit of post processing (contrast, clarity).

Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400
Landscape with trees photographed with Minolta Riva Panorama on Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400
interior photographed with Minolta Riva Panorama on Kodak Tri-X 400
Kodak Tri-X 400

All photos taken in this review of the Minolta Riva Panorama were developed and scanned by AG-photolab.

Thanks for reading, and Hamish, thanks for having me!

If you’re interested, you can find my digital photos on www.whataukjesees.com

Read Part 7 of my journey into film here.

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About The Author

By Aukje
Amateur photographer from the Netherlands, trying to figure it all out. I mainly shoot landscapes, but as I love taking photos I shoot other things when there is no landscape available.
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Comments

Dallas Dina on Minolta Riva Panorama – A Fun Intermezzo – by Aukje

Comment posted: 24/02/2016

THIS IS AWESOME!
I love it...
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Aukje replied:

Comment posted: 24/02/2016

Thanks so much, Dallas!

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Dexter on Minolta Riva Panorama – A Fun Intermezzo – by Aukje

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

Love these! Especially the sunrise/sunset lake shot. Tempted to have a look on ebay now...
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Aukje replied:

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

Thanks Dexter. It is a sunrise by the way :-)

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Augen Tier on Minolta Riva Panorama – A Fun Intermezzo – by Aukje

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

Hi Aukje,
You did pretty weel with this panoramic camera... Congratulations.
That's a fact, you know I prefer dark moods, that's why I agree completely with Hamish when he writes that your foggy river's pictures are excellent. They are my favorites of the whole set. I also love the last two pictures on TriX. The contrejour on the canal is really sublime.
Thank you for sharing...
JP
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Aukje replied:

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

Thank you JP. I normally do pretty colours, so it is a bit different. But every now and then I stumble across moody pictures and I like them too.

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Eddy on Minolta Riva Panorama – A Fun Intermezzo – by Aukje

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

Great post full of excellent photos aukje. I love that foggy river shot too! Have never shot a panoramic camera and must say I'm intrigued. The portrait shots work especially well on mobile. In fact got me thinking about how mobile photographers and videographers, especially youngsters, are more at home shooting wide format portrait even for landscapes. Maybe that's why these shots feel sort of old and new in a very cool way for me. Keep posting, am enjoying following your journey (back) into film.
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Aukje replied:

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

Thank you very much, Eddy! That is a very nice evaluation. It is always a pleasure to read how others perceive my pictures, so thanks for the comment.

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Urban Hafner on Minolta Riva Panorama – A Fun Intermezzo – by Aukje

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

Great images Aukje! I almost regret selling that camera to you. But then I wouldn't have used it anyway. Oh, and I remember my dad taking ages to take pictures of us as well. :D
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Aukje replied:

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

Hi Urban, thanks! I am happy you sold it to me, as it is such an interesting form factor. But if you want to borrow it for a month or so, than we can arrange something :-) .

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Hamish Gill replied:

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

haha, I wondered if it might have been you that sold it to her... :)

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Urban Hafner replied:

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

Thanks for the offer Aukje, but I think I have enough cameras to play with. :)

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Urban Hafner replied:

Comment posted: 23/02/2016

I remember telling you that I would never sell it, didn't I? ;)

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Hamish Gill on Minolta Riva Panorama – A Fun Intermezzo – by Aukje

Comment posted: 22/02/2016

Some really great photography here - the one of the foggy river is really quite wonderful!
Thank you (as always) for posting! :)
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aukje replied:

Comment posted: 22/02/2016

Thanks Hamish. And of course, you are welcome!

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Matthew replied:

Comment posted: 22/02/2016

Yes, the foggy river with he droplets! Moody!

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Aukje replied:

Comment posted: 22/02/2016

I wish I could say that I planned it, and that I knew it was going to turn out like this. But a lucky accident is nice too :-)

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Frank Lehnen on Minolta Riva Panorama – A Fun Intermezzo – by Aukje

Comment posted: 22/02/2016

Thank you for this post, Aukje, and above all for those great pictures. I just love the panorama format and you kindled my GAS affliction for this camera.

Well done!
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aukje replied:

Comment posted: 22/02/2016

Hi Frank, thanks! And it is a nice little camera.

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