Week 31 - Minolta 24 Rapid

Minolta 24 Rapid, originally uploaded by pho-Tony.

This was my first "proper" camera. It was passed on to me by my aunt when I was about 14. The "Rapid" system uses 35mm film in spool-less cassettes which are long since obsolete. The only way to use these cameras now (unless you can find an old time-expired film) is to load an empty cassette yourself. With no spindle or spool, the system relies on pushing the film from one cassette to the other, so only relatively short lengths of fim could be used, early Rapid cameras only took 12 or so photos and 18 was fairly standard for later models. The format is square, the negatives being 24mm x 24mm.
This camera had a fully automatic mode, but the meter on this one no longer works, so I will be manually setting the apertures and shutter speeds. I've loaded an old cassette with Rollei Retro 100 black and white film, and am looking forward to using it again after a gap of 35 years!