The Original Hi-Matic. The Hi-Matic cameras sold in the United States all had viewfinders separate from the lens (i.e. not through-the-lens reflex) and some form of automatic exposure. (Wikipedia - Minolta Hi-Matic.) The Hi-Matic/Autoset had a Selenium meter. All the others sold in the United States has a CdS meter. While the Hi-Matic/Autoset had only automatic exposure, many of the later Hi-Matic cameras also had manual exposure. The original Hi-Matic and many of the later Hi-Matic models had coupled rangefinder focusing. A few of the later Hi-Matic models had zone focusing. The final Hi-Matic sold in the United States, the High Hi-Matic AF, had autofocusing. (Technically, the last Hi-Matic was the Hi-Matic GF of 1984. It was not sold in the United States and had only had three manual apertures with no automatic exposure and no exposure meter. It therefore differed from all other Hi-Matic cameras.)

The original Hi-Matic was supplied with either a 45mm f2 or 45mm f2.8 lens four-element coated Rokkor lens. (The Hi-Matic That Started It All.) The Ansco Autoset version came with only the f2.8 lens. Close focus is 3 feet. Shutter speeds are from 1/30 to 1/800 second. Apertures extend to f16. The ASA (ISO) is set by the dial on the back of the camera. There is a one stroke film advance which automatically cocks the shutter and prevents double exposures. I know of two instruction manuals for the Autoset, a 1961 version at cameramanuals.org and a 1962 version which includes promotional information about the Friendship 7 mission. I could not find a published online version of the manual for the Hi-Matic.

For exposures without flash you simply turn the "exposure control ring" to "Auto" marked by a red arrow. Then just press the shutter release down on the front of camera. The "built-in computer" automatically sets the correct shutter speed and aperture. (1962 Autoset manual at page 9.) Like the earlier Anscoset camera, this is an early form of programmed automatic exposure. With the Anscoset you had to move an Exposure Set ring until the red pointer lined up with the meter needle on top of the camera. The Hi-Matic/Autoset eliminates this step. The Hi-Matic/Autoset does have a meter needle visible in the viewfinder. It simply shows whether there is sufficient light to take a photo without a flash, however. The "built-in computer" is purely mechanical. The Hi-Matic/Autoset has no electronics apart from the Selenium meter. Selenium is an element that naturally emits electrons when exposed to light. No battery is required. Unfortunately, there is only the programmed automatic exposure. Except for the flash mode or manual mode, there is no way for the photographer to set the shutter speed or aperture. If the meter is not working, there is no practical way to get correct exposure. You can set the aperture in flash mode or manual mode. Unfortunately, the shutter speed is then set to 1/30 second. You therefore cannot use this for aperture preferred automatic exposure. There is also a B (bulb) setting where the shutter will stay open as long as you continue pressing the shutter release. The aperture is automatically set at f2.8, however, and cannot be changed.

America's First World-Orbiting Automatic Hand Camera. On February 20, 1962 John Glenn became the third American astronaut in space, the first American astronaut to orbit the earth, and the first American astronaut to carry a camera with him. Alan Shepherd was the first American in space with a suborbital flight slightly over 15 minutes long on May 5, 1961. Second, was Gus Grissom with another suborbital flight on July 21, 1961. Neither Shepherd nor Grisson brought a camera with them. In John Glenn, A Memoir (Bantam Books 1999), Glenn writes at page 250: "At that stage of Project Mercury, cameras were considered too great a distraction to an astronaut. They would keep him from performing his array of scientific tasks. I would have a [Leica] camera aboard, but it was an ultraviolet spectrograph with only a single roll of film for taking pictures of the sun and stars." Glenn saw "the value of photographs that would help translate an astronaut's experience for anyone who saw them." (Id.) At Glenn's urging NASA started looking for a camera that would "be small enough to operate with one hand, and adaptable so that I could advance the film with my thumb and snap the shutter with my forefinger while wearing a pressure glove." (Id. at 251.) They tried various "contraptions, but nothing worked very well." (Id.) Then Glenn discovered the Autoset/Hi-Matic.

"One day I was down in Cocoa Beach getting a haircut, one of my rare trips off the Cape. I went into the drugstore next door to pick up some things, and saw a little Minolta camera in a display case. It was called a Hi-Matic. I picked it up and thought, 'Jeez, it's got automatic exposure.' That was brand-new at the time. Nobody had ever heard of that. You didn't have to fiddle with light meters and f-stops. I bought it on the spot for $45. When I took it back to the Cape, it turned out to be more readily adaptable than any of the others. Once they had it rigged, I laid all the cameras out on my bunk, put on my pressure glove, and tried them. The Minolta was the easiest to use." (Id.)

The camera is now housed at the Smithsonian's National Air and Space Museum. (Another Journey for John Glenn's Ansco Camera) The Smithsonian states: "With this camera, an Ansco Autoset model, astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., took the first human-captured, color still photographs of the Earth during his three-orbit mission on February 20, 1962. Glenn's pictures paved the way for future Earth photography experiments on American human spaceflight missions." (Id.) "For ease of use by Glenn, NASA technicians attached a pistol grip handle and trigger to this commercial 35-mm camera, which is upside down from its normal orientation. Because Glenn was wearing a spacesuit helmet and could not get his eye close to a built-in viewfinder, NASA engineers attached a larger viewfinder on top." (Id. See also How John Glenn's $40 Camera Forced NASA to Rethink Space Missions.)

Ansco used the mission for marketing purposes. The cover of the instruction manuals after the mission stated: "America's first world-orbiting automatic hand camera." The back of the manual states:

AROUND THE WORLD IN .0625 DAYS. In America's first manned orbital flight, the astronaut used an Ansco Autoset 35mm camera to take 'snapshots' while in orbit. The Autoset used was hand-held and modified only to fit in the gloved hand of the astronaut and permit sighting through his space helmet. The lens, shutter, exposure mechanism and other basic picture-taking features of the camera are all identical to the camera you now own.

As indicated above, the Autoset was not the only camera onboard Friendship 7. Glenn also had a Leica 1g.

With this camera, a Leica 1g model, astronaut John H. Glenn, Jr., carried out the first human-operated, astronomical experiment in space during his pioneering mission on February 20, 1962. On his first orbit, in darkness over the Pacific, Glenn took six ultraviolet spectrographic photos of stars in the constellation Orion with this camera. Equipped with a quartz lens and prism to form the star images into spectra, the camera imaged ultraviolet light that is blocked from view on Earth by the atmosphere.

The Autoset was not the first camera in space and Glenn was not the first photographer in space. That title goes to Soviet cosmonaut Gherman Titov. Titov "on 6 August 1961, became the second human to orbit the Earth, aboard Vostok 2, preceded by Yuri Gagarin on Vostok 1. He was the fourth person in space, counting suborbital voyages of US astronauts Alan Shepard and Gus Grissom." (Gherman Titov - Wikipedia.) However, "[n]either Yuri Gagarin, Alan Shepard, nor 'Gus' Grissom brought cameras into space. The astronauts themselves were filmed while in orbit in order to monitor their behavior, but there wasn’t any thought given to aiming cameras out their windows towards the heavens." (FStoppers.com - First Cameras in Space.) Titov did carry a camera with him. He thus became "the first human photographer in space: he made the first manual photographs from orbit, thus setting a record for modern first photos of Earth from space by a human (the first picture of the planet from space was shot by a V-2 rocket in 1946, launched from New Mexico). He also was the first person to film the Earth using a professional quality Konvas-Avtomat movie camera, which he used for ten minutes." (Gherman Titov - Wikipedia.) (See generally Soviet Cameras in Space.) While he used a movie camera, color photographs were made from the movie frames. (FStoppers.com - First Cameras in Space.) The exposure dial on Titov's movie camera broke due to the G forces on launch and he had to estimate the exposures. (Id.) Thus the claim that Glenn had the first photos from a still automatic camera apparently still stands.

The Autoset made only the single voyage aboard Friendship 7. The automatic consumer camera bought by Glenn at a drug store was replaced on Walter Schirra's October 3, 1962 Mercury mission with an upscale medium format Hasselblad 500C like the one in Mr. Martin's Camera Museum. Mr. Schirra was himself a photography enthusiast who owned a Hasselblad 500C with 80mm lens and encouraged NASA to use a Hasselblad. NASA purchased and modified several Hasselblads. (Hasselblad's First Mission in 1962; Sinoff.nasa.gov - Historic Partnership Captures Our Imagination.) A Hasselblad was also used to take the photos from the first manned moon landing. (The Camera that Went to the Moon and Changed How We See It, npr.ogr; Astronaut Still Photography During Apollo, nasa.gov.) There was even a Hasselblad Instruction Manual for Astronauts. (www.getdpi.com, Hasselblad Photography Manual for NASA Astronauts; PDF Copy of Manual at Hasselblad.com.)

Back to Earth in 1962 and 2025. Back on earth in 1962 the Hi-Matic/Autoset was an excellent camera for those wanting something more than fixed focus camera, but didn't want to think about shutter speeds and apertures. The camera had a quality lens, easy to use rangefinder focusing, and automatic exposure for a wide range of lighting conditions. The Ansco Autoset was not cheap with an original price of "less than" $90 with the case "less than" $10 according to a November 1961 Popular Photography ad on Camera-Wiki. (See also HistoricCamera.com.) $90 in November 1961 has a buying power equivalent to over $950 in January 2025. Curiously, John Glenn in his memoir states he bought his camera for $45. If he did, he got a good deal. Then again John Glenn would have been well known in Cocoa Beach in 1961-1962 and a merchant may have been happy to give one of the Mercury 7 astronauts a deal. Bottom line was that the Hi-Matic/Autoset was a quality, no-fuss camera in 1961-62 for those who could afford it. It wasn't cheap, but it was a lot less expensive than a Leica or Hasselblad.

I purchased one original Hi-Matic and two Autoset cameras in February 2025 on eBay. I purchased the Hi-Matic with case for a total of $25.89. It was advertised for parts since the shutter was clicking but not opening. I removed the front element with a spanner and lightly rubbed small amounts of Rosinol lighter fluid over the shutter leaves. I was able to open them temporarily but they then returned to the closed position. I then tried the shutter the next day and it worked! Next step - try it with film. The light meter is appropriately reacting to light, but I do not know if it is accurate. That's crucial for this automatic camera with no manual settings. The camera is in excellent cosmetic condition and the rangefinder seems accurate. My next camera was an Autoset sold as untested for a total of $17.35, an excellent deal considering shipping alone is sometimes that much. It came with the original box, manual and the bottom half of the leather case. The camera is in very good cosmetic condition. The shutter was firing, but the aperture was always wide open. The meter wasn't working. I sat it out in the bright sun for about 20 minutes. The meter and shutter started working fine! I then tried it with film in Balboa Park in San Diego. I have some samples below. It worked! I probably should have stopped there, but on the same day I purchased a second Autoset with a full case, a couple dozen flash bulbs and some other miscellaneous items for a total of $32.60. Houston, we have a problem with this camera. The shutter release is loose. The shutter and aperture are both wide open and won't move. The meter is not reacting to light. Finally, the focus ring stops at 7 feet. The inner lining on the case was coming undone in places. I glued it back. One of the folding hinges of the top case was hanging on with just the inner fabric. I glued it with leather glue and patched it with leather repair tape. Finally, the leather circle on front of the case was gone. I replaced it with a circle of leather repair tape. I will use this top case for the better Autoset camera.

The photos below were taken with the better Autoset camera with AristaEDU 100 film and digitalized using a Nikon D600 with 100mm macro lens. The second photo of the Botanical Garden building was colorized using the automatic feature in Photoshop Elements.

So is the Autoset/Hi-Matic a good film camera to get in 2025? It depends. It's a nice camera for a collection being the first Hi-Matic model and "America's first world-orbiting automatic hand camera." It has a super cool early 1960s space age vibe. It's history doesn't appear to make it particularly valuable although sometimes you see it advertised at a slight premium on eBay noting its space background. If you simply want a film rangefinder to use in 2025 I would probably get something else with the option of manual exposure. That gives you more control while taking photos. Further, it the meter fails you can still use the camera calculating exposure using a hand-held lightmeter, a lightmeter app on your phone, the Sunny 16 rule, suggestions with your film, or your intuition.