Old Camera x2

[Bleys]

HI folks , we just moved after 50 years in the same house and in cleaning out the old house I found two old cameras. The

Yashica I bought in Saigon Viet Nam in 70-71 it seems to be in perfect working order.
The Minolta I bought in the early 80's looks like it is in good shape however I have not put new batteries in it to check. Just would like some idea if these are worth anything .
Thanks in advance
Vin King

 

[Paul Howell]

Not a lot, The Yashica if it is the 45mm 1.4 lens might be worth more, you can check Ebay for a ball park idea of value.

 

[koraks]

Welcome aboard! The Minolta is a nice user camera. I have a closely related one; it's quite pleasurable to use. Some of the Minolta lenses are quote good, too, especially for the time they were made. I have no experience with the Yashica.

What these cameras are worth depends strongly on where and how you sell them, and how patient you are. Currently there's strong demand for film cameras, which helps your case. I'm not sufficiently aware of the dynamics of the market where you live to put a price tag to those, but I expect the Minolta kit should fetch $100-$150 assuming it's in good working order. The camera + 50mm lens is the core of the deal; the flash and the zoom can be thrown in for good measure. You might try selling those separately but they won't fetch a particularly high price and it may take a long time to move them.

A far more appealing scenario of course is to get a couple of rolls of film and enjoy the magic of film photography - it's very much alive and hasn't lost much of its former glory. Probably even the opposite.

 

[dynachrome]

Most XG series cameras no longer function. They contain diodes which dry up over time and stop working. Can they be repaired? Possibly but you are still left with a camera with plastic gears and many other weak parts. An XG camera might work properly tomorrow morning and not at all tomorrow night. The standard 50mm lens, whether an f/2, f/1.7 or f/1.4 is worth a little something if in good condition. The larger lens does not look like a zoom. It looks like an off-brand 135. The Yashica camera is interesting because some people have removed the lenses and fitted them to mirrorless digital cameras.

 

[koraks]

They contain diodes which dry up over time and stop working. Can they be repaired?

The XG series are notorious for containing electrolytic capacitors in the power supply rail that start to leak and thus lose their capacitance. This causes a typical malfunction pattern where the camera usually seems to turn on OK, but firing the shutter fails. Replacement of the capacitors is an easy job for anyone who has basic experience handling a soldering iron. Cost of parts is $0.20 or so and the job takes less than half an hour if you've done it once, and as little as a couple of minutes if you're experienced. It's one of the easiest fixes in the camera repair domain.

The larger lens does not look like a zoom.

You're right, I was mistaken.

 

[Don_ih]

Interesting write-up about the Minolta capacitor issues at this site.

Looks like sold price for a similarly outfitted XG1 is about $40-80. The Yashica sells for about the same but you may get twice as much if you test it with film.

 

[dynachrome]

Sorry about that. I meant capacitors. I have a fleet of X700 cameras and they are some of my favorites. A number of them did need capacitors over time and worked properly after they were replaced. I also have other X series cameras. The X-9 is similar in many respects to the X700 and is also reasonably reliable. The XG cameras, in my experience, are not nearly as reliable. A possible exception may be the last version of the XG-M. Where do the XD series cameras fall? Somewhere in the middle. Getting back to the X700, the reasons I like it are the size and weight, the bright viewfinder, an accurate meter, TTL flash meteting, winder and motor availability and interchangeable focusing screens. Changing screens can be a little fiddle and screens other than the standard one can be hard to find. I keep a grid screen in one, a plain matte in one and the standard screen in all of the others. If I think I will want to change screens "in the field" I will use one of my many Canon F-1 cameras. After all this, I can still say that I have a large SRT collection and I enjoy using them too.