OK I tried the Kiev 30 / Kiev 303 film casette in a couple of Minoltas this morning.

The kiev casettes which are available from Ukraine E-bay dealers will NOT fit in Minolta cameras. The casettes has a slightly larger diametre in the fim reception spool, and is maybe a tiny fraction to small betwwen the spools, so it will NOT fit in a Minolta.

I tested in a Minolta 16-II and a Minolta QT, it did not fit in either.

The Minolta casette might fit the other way round, but this was not tested, since I had no Minolta casette at hand.

The Minolta casette will fit some other japanese manufacturers, just like the Minox casette will fit som others as well.

It might be a good idea to set up a chart or a matrix showing what works and what does not work.

Erik

You are correct. The Kiev has a smaller hole in the take-up side and the capstan is smaller accordingly. You can get more film into a Kiev cassette. Try for the earlier Vega cassettes - they are the same as the Minolta, but a bit harder to come by.
An alternative is to buy the cheapest Kiev (usually the 30M) and swap the capstans. Then your Minolta 16-II will accept either kind of cassette! It's held in place by the screw in the center but be careful to align all the little rings underneath before tightening it all up. Also IIRC the screw threads are particular to the brand even tho they look alike. Haven't tried it with the QT or MGS
The Kiev can be sacrificed, which is probably the best thing to do with it.
Keep all the bits - you may want to go back for some reason.
Murray

Okay I'll dig out one of myVega's and check it against both the Kiev and the Minolta, had'nt noticed that difference between my russkies!

Actually the Kiev 30 is a pretty decent camera, the Vega seems a little rougher around the gills in my book and the Kiev 303 is more plastic-like.

Thinking about the Kiev/Minolta cassette difference the other day and came to the realisation that you can load up all your cheap Kiev cassettes and if you want to run one thru a Minolta all you need is the take-up spool cap and hub. You can even change over in the light if you aren't using microfilm which light-pipes and ruins the first 2-3 frames if it's too bright. (I load in the dark or very dim light). You can put a tiny hole in the Minolta lid so's it clips down firmly, like the ruskie lid, on the little bump they so thoughtfully added.
You can even use the spring clip to keep the film on the hub!
So, if you can get one or two minolta cassettes you can unload and reuse for next time just having the lid/hub combo at hand.
Murray

Good morning, Murray;

Thank you for the suggestions. Now if I can just find a couple of Minolta 16mm cassettes, I could use my three or four 16 II that are here, along with the 16 PS cameras and a couple of others.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Ralph, have you actually got any Kiev cassettes?
Murray

Good morning, Murray;

No, sir, I do not at this time. I have just begun to look at trying to get a Kiev 30 or 303 or similar hoping that there might be some cassettes included with the purchase so that I would have something to play with. This is turning out to be a real challenge. It is very similar to trying to find Polaroid film. Not just the instant self-developing kind. They also had 35mm slide film that you processed at home with their black plastic home processing box. Each film roll came with its chemical processing packet in the box. And, yes, finding 116 type film is a challenge now. We can do 620 type film with a salvaged 620 spool and rewind 120 film onto it, perhaps with opaque paper with frame spacing numbers or lines on the paper. Getting the cassettes for these old cameras is turning to be the real problem in finding something to feed them. We can find film or we can slit existing film types to get down to the size needed, but putting that prepared film into the spool or cassette that goes inside is the real problem.

I carried my old Minolta 16 II in my right front pocket for many years. It sat right on top of my wallet. I was never without a camera of some kind. I did not envision this kind of an end.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Ralph, have a look at Alex-photo on e-bay.
Item # 350276842256 in particular. These are Kiev cassettes for a buck each plus postage and they come in a 'coffin' to protect them as well. It is pretty light tight in there. Way better than the Minolta cardboard boxes. Get some and I can let you have a lid and hub from a Minolta That will get you moving, anyway.
Alexii is very reliable, and I have dealt with him several times.
PM me when you are ready to go.
Murray

Good morning; Courtesy of Murray Kelly and Roland Harriston, it is time for an update of the Minolta 16 film cassette situation here:

Guys, I am feeling delighted. The weekend, a box arrived from Arizona where Roland lives. I have enough Minolta 16 film cassettes to load up a little over one for each of the cameras here. Now I can go back to carrying one of my Minolta 16 II cameras in my pocket all the time. Well, maybe.

Yes, I do have casettes, and even some film now, but I do not yet have a reel truly suitable for developing a short length of 16mm film. I might need to look at the adjustable reel systems to see if one of them can slide down to 16mm width. The Nikor 16mm reels are about as scarce as the Nikor 4 inch by 5 inch film developing tanks; perhaps more scarce. The 35mm and 6 x 6 film developing situation is quite good right now. The availability and cost of chemicals is noticed, but it can be done.

There is also a Kiev 30 here now, and it has a spare cassette also. Murray, thank you for the offer. I think that it has been resolved now. Not quite in the way I originally thought, but it has been resolved. And, thank you also for the suggestion for Alexi Ostapenko. I have become a customer also.

Several things have changed since I was actively developing film and enlarging for prints. Finding enlargers is easy. Finding the accessories for enlargers that make them really usable is a challenge. Many of the developers I liked are gone. Most of the packages of developing chemicals are quite large now. Finding a 1 quart package is not easy. Most of them seem to be for 1 gallon (3.8 liters) or even 5 gallons. Well, I guess one of the advantages of having such large quantities of chemicals is that it does encourage you to go out and shoot more film before the chemicals expire and must be thrown away.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

Deleted

Ralph, that sounds like a most satisfactory ending to your plea! You can use the Minolta cassette in either Minolta or Kiev so you're set for that aspect.
Fiddling with films is the next adventure, then developers, as you know. I am presently loaded up with some Copex Rapid (Bluefire) in the MGS and have one for the Kiev with Shanghai split from 120. The Imagelink can sit in the background for a while until I'm ready to do more penance exploring developers for that. I think the problem with microfilm is the lack of tolerance to exposure. Seems to me to be no 'near enough'.
I adapted a reel permanently in one tank and came by another tank that went down to 16mm. Both plastic.
My wet time in printing is very little and scanning is, as everyone is saying, a pain with 16mm. I am gathering the bits to make a copier stand for my G-11 Canon digital which focuses down to 1cm and at that I can pretty nearly fill the frame. Getting it all flat and backlit I think I can do. Handheld experiments shows it can fly.
I acquired 2 one gallon packs of Dektol and keep it in a wine cask bladder. As I take some out the bag collapses and no air gets in. Been going longer than I dared to hope.
Also, Pat Gainer has described some developers, as you're aware, but amongst his ramblings he points out you can cobble together a satisfactory dev for paper from all the usual suspects - ascorbic acid, sod. carbonate (pool pH raiser), and according to taste, HQ, metol and/or phenidone kept in a stock solution in alcohol. I like the last because I'm a bit messy but there were no household repercussions from any stains left on the laundry bench when I did a batch.

Sounds like you're going to have fun. Cheers.
Murray