Hello to all.

[Gerry M]

I have just given in to the mf Minolta urge. I have accumulated, so far( ), SR-T102, 201, 202(x2); XE7,XE5, XD11 bodies. Multiple MC and MD lenses, 28, 35 and 50. Some more gear on the way. Amazing what a small amount of dollars will get a quality product. It looks like a couple of the SRT's are going to be donor bodies, but the rest are in excellent condition. Have replaced some light seals and mirror bumpers. Now waiting for the weather to clear up (Oregon coast...stormy!) to burn up some film.
Gerry

 

[dormantdemon]

Hi Gerry, I have the fever as well. I picked up a pristine Black XD11 with an MD Rokkor-X f1.4 earlier in the month. Since then I have acquired a MD Zoom 28-85mm, a 24mm f/2.8, and a 200mm f2.8 all minty. Better than that though is that I have shot 6 rolls of Tri-X that I need to develop. The XD11 was my first camera (1977) and i have never had a better one since. Decided to go back to my roots and have had a smile on my face for about a month now.

 

[Joe O'Brien]

I happened to be gifted a minolta SRT 101 with an MD 50mm 1.7 lens on it. Two and a half years later the batteries have yet to fail me and so long as I keep it's regular appointments with a camera repair guy I know it shoots beautifully! Needless to say, after that first tast of minolta I've been growing. SR-t101(x2) XD-11 and a minolta 85 mm 1.7 rokkor-x... All amazing! I'm looking for something sharp and wider than 28mm, Also, I'm on a high school/college budget, any ideas? I must admit that I was quite unimpressed with a vivitar 28mm 2.8

 

[hoffy]

Thought I'd pop in as well and say high. After an aborted leap into Minolta MF (I am a long time Minolta AF user) last year with a DOA SRT303, I have finally shot some film with my newly acquired XE-1 and 50 F1.4...... now I am on the lookout for some interesting bits and pieces. Looking forward to getting out and about with it!

 

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning, Hoffy;

Welcome to the Minolta Manual Focus Group. You will notice that there are quite a few people here who also appreciate the cameras that use the Minolta SR mount and its variants; the MC and MD, but the lenses and things all will fit onto almost every body made in the manual focus SLR camera series Minolta made. There can be a minor problem with MD lenses and the old SR-7.

For your SR-T 303, am I curious about your comment that it arrived last year "DOA." What did it have? How were you able to fix it? What did you do? And, for your bits and pieces for it, that was the European label that Minolta used for the SR-T 102. Watch for things for the SR-T 100/200 Series. You will find that there are quite a few things that will work with it that are still available on the used equipment market. It was not until the later "X" camera range that electronics really became popular and there might be some conversion or adapters required with some pieces to work between the mechanical works of the SR-T cameras and the electronics works of the "X" cameras.

And, while it is not discussed very often, yes, there are also people here who have cameras with the Minolta "A" mount, the Automatic Focusing mount. While there is no physical compatibility between the SR mount and the A mount, at least some of the ROKKOR lens optical systems were ported over to the A mount for use on the AF cameras. I wish the combination of the lens mount diameter and the lens to focal plane registration distance would allow me to use my old ROKKOR glass with the Minolta Maxxum 9 or Dynax 9 also.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

 

[hoffy]

Cheers for the welcome Ralph.

OK, maybe I was a bit over dramatic with my 303. The camera was a impulse ebay buy (Auction was an "as is, but working", no bids, minutes left type of buy). When I got it, the lens would come off way to easy (it came off in my hands while handling the camera). I found that in the end, the screw that holds the retaining latch had come loose. Never shirking at a mechanical challenge (but not normally THIS small!!!!) I decided to see if I could tighten it up. I started pulling it down and before long, I had a box full of camera and a sore back from hunching over and concentrating! I realised that since it was this far stripped down I might as well get a seal kit and do the seals in the top.....and thats where it was left. I had vowed to not buy one until I had at least attempted to fix the 303, but the XE-1 came as a free bee.

This has not been completely devoid of issues. As you may have see on the main part of the forum, it appeared to have a bit of fungus in the interior (but strangely, the lens that was attached to it was completely spotless!). I had it looked at by a local camera repairer, who checked it out under the microscope, cleaned it up, painted the mirror chamber and gave it a clean bill of health. I did have another slight issue, where the mirror wouldn't return completely back to the normal position, but this appears to be clearing up the more I use it (the camera had not been used for the last 10 years at least).

As for the AF to MC/MD debate, yes it is a shame. I believe that you can get an adaptor, but it needs a lens, which I have heard are of dubious quality. It is interesting to note, that the lenses are getting a "Second Life" in the digital world for those who use the Olympus 4/3rds system.

Anyhow, thanks for the welcome. Looking forward to the occasional chat!

 

[Cork]

My return to manual focus occurred a several years ago. I'd been using a Minolta 7xi virtually since it came out, while my wife had a Minolta MD system built around an X-700. I started playing with her camera and loved the light, compact feel; the 7xi was a monster in comparison. I'd first played with SLR's with my father's XG-7, so the X-700 was a natural. But I'd always wanted an XD-11, so when I decided to move into manual focus I picked up 5 or 6 XD-11 bodies and began replacing light seals and performing triage. I still have some repairs to perform (one stuck shutter and two electrical leaks), but I have several fully functional bodies, a whole raft of lenses, a 360PX (thinking about getting a 320X), and a couple winders. The XD-11 is a better camera for action photography because the shutter fires immediately when tripped; with the AF there's always some shutter lag. Both the camera and the lenses are smaller and lighter than my Maxxum equivalents and the satisfaction I get from taking my time with manual exposure/manual focus is only outweighed by the sensory hedonism of handling the XD-11 and the Rokkor lenses. That shutter mechanism is a joy, and the film advance is incredibly smooth. I shot a roll today of my daughter's new puppy using the 50-135mm zoom; even though I'm not a zoom person I love the results that one provides.

I looked at eBay for the first time in several years a few days ago, and it looks like prices on lenses are going up. Bodies are still reasonable; if my kids end up taking off with the photography lessons I've been giving them, I may need to parcel out my spare bodies with 50mm's to get them going. That could be really fun!