The Model 16 II was designed from the first to be a system camera with a complete range of accessories; some of the more well known ones are described here:

Case: Minolta cameras were packaged and sold in a variety of combinations, but invariably all of them included a sturdy, glove leather zipper case for the camera. The case came in several colours of which I know of grey, brown and black. The case is large enough to actually hold the camera with the tripod/flash adapter bracket fitted in place without bulging or straining the seams. A very thoughtful detail was the inclusion inside of two small sewn, open ended pockets precisely sized to hold a distance lens or filtre. In practice, this allows you to carry all three distance lenses by mounting one on the camera and storing the other two in the internal pockets. With these and the tripod/flash adapter bracket cased and in one pocket, and with a flash gun and miniature tripod in another pocket, the photographer has a perfect little day kit close at hand.

Supplemental distance lenses: A set of three supplemental distance lenses (#0, #1 and #2) were made for the 16 II; these are often packaged in a very nice little circular plastic dispenser with four slots in it to hold the lenses and either a Y-48 Yellow or UV (ultraviolet) filtre. By turning the top of the case (it doesn't come off) as if unscrewing it, you would align a cutout with the appropriate storage slot, allowing the lens to fall out in your hand, ready to mount on the camera. The # 0 lens basically allows you to achieve focus out to great distances, often to Infinity, over the full range of apertures. Conversely, the # 1 and # 2 lenses allowed you to focus closer than 6.6 feet at wider apertures. While the camera can easily be used quite satisfactorily without the lenses, they greatly enhance the flexibility of your photography with the 16 II. While it is fairly easy to track down the # 1 and # 2 lenses (they often are listed with the camera when sold) it appears to be much harder to find the # 0 distance lens.

Filtres: Five filtres were made for the Model 16 II (remember, neither the filtres or the supplemental lenses for the 16 II will fit on a 16 I or vice versa: their design was completely different). These filtres were UV Ultraviolet, Y-48 Yellow, 1A Skylight, 80A Tungsten and 81B Daylight colour conversion filtres. These are most often found packaged in a circular plastic dispenser just like the one described above for supplemental distance lenses, but with three storage slots rather than four. The 1A, 80A and 81B were included in that set. The filtres mounted and dismounted from the camera in exactly the same way as the distance lenses did, i.e., by sliding the to the left to dismount them, and sliding them on to the right to mount them. Spring clips built into the frame hold them in place when mounted.

Handheld illuminated slide & negative viewer: A very useful accessory was the hand held slide viewer. This was a small, battery operated slide viewer that illuminated the slide from behind, while the photographer looked through a magnifying lens built into the front. A very simplistic design, it uses two AA batteries and the flashlight bulb inside can be easily replaced by unsoldering the two leads connected to it. A really complete viewer will have a small, aluminum plate with two guide slots on one side, about the same size as a mounted 16mm slide. This is a negative adapter, and when slid into place it allows you to take a film strip of either unmounted slides or negatives and feed them into the guide slots. You can then examine your film strip by pulling the strip, one frame at a time, through the bottom of the viewer. The viewer includes a spring loaded power switch (press and hold) to light the bulb and an ejection bar for slides and/or negative viewer adapter on the bottom of the unit.

Tripod/Flash Adapter Bracket: This very handy and popular little accessory was many times the first thing a new Model 16 II owner would buy, and was often packaged together with the camera itself. A well machined, hinged aluminum bracket, it would fold around the camera body between the lens and viewfinder, and lock into place at that front. The bottom deck then provided a sturdy tripod mounting socket, while the top deck offered a cold flash gun mounting foot. Many people purchased these and left them permanently in place, so effectively did they increase the flexibility of the little cameras.

Duofit S Flashbulb gun: The Duofit S flash gun, taking the AG-1 series of "peanut" flash bulbs, was often packaged with the Model 16 II, and was one of a variety of flash bulb guns that Minolta provided for their subminiature cameras. This tiny little flash gun had a built in, fixed reflector, and very thoughtful design that even allowed for internal storage of the PC synch cord when not in use. When the two halves of the flash gun were gently pried apart with a fingernail, you could lift the PC cord connector straight up, off of a little post where it was fitted for storage, and then thread it through a slot in the casing for use. The AG-1 bulbs have not been made in years, but it is still possible to buy them from camera clubs and swap meets, as well as some camera stores who still have quantities in stock. A small flash table was printed on the back of the flash gun for easy flash distance calculations.

These are just brief descriptions of some of the more popular accessories made for the Model 16 II camera; as mentioned previously, a daylight film developing tank and a dedicated print enlarger for up to 5" x 7" prints and a series of electric slide projectors were also made available over the years.

Back to Index

© February, 2002 by D. Scott Young