MD Lenses

[Speed Gray]

Hello to all:

This is my first posting! I am getting back into film photography after and absence of 30 years. Hey, some things have changed!

I have always been a Minolta fan since buying my first Autocord in 1963. Then I moved into 35mm and SLRs with a SR7 and SRT101.

I have been looking at the listings on E-Bay. I see MC lenses, all marked Rokkor. Then there are the newer MD lenses. Here is my question: Some are marked Rokkor and some are not. Is there a difference?

Thanks for the help.

Speed Gray
Grand Rapids, MI

 

[upnorthcyclist]

Hi Speed Gray - welcome to the group. Not much traffic here these days, but a lot of good archival stuff to look through.

Minolta lenses were called Rokkors (Rokkor-X in North America) until the era of the X-700 camera, which introduced programmed automatic exposure, in 1981. Minolta dropped the Rokkor name and began marketing the lenses using just the Minolta branding. Minolta collectors call these lenses "Plain MD". They have a switch that locks the aperture ring in the minimum f-stop position, part of the automatic exposure set-up of the camera. Here's a link to an interesting chronology of Minolta lenses:

http://thesybersite.com/minolta/historical/Minolta_Lens_Chronology.htm

I read somewhere that the reason Minolta dropped the Rokkor name was because third-party lensmakers began using similar-sounding names, like Rokinon and Rokinar, to try to piggyback on the well-respected Rokkor marque.

Mike

 

[Speed Gray]

Mike: thanks for your reply and explanation. The lens listing is quite impressive, and will be an excellent resource. Yesterday shot my first roll of B&W 35m film on my "new" X-700." My, we get pampered with our digital auto exposure, auto focusing, auto everything cameras or iPhones! Took some thinking to get back to "advance film, focus, set app and shutter speed" etc, etc,

As soon as my changing bag arrives I'll develop the film and see what I have. I am still designing my darkroom, so prints will have to wait a bit longer.

Thanks again for your reply. Looks like you may be a bicycle rider, I am too, but I'm just an old fart, but still riding daily at 68.

Speed

 

[Ralph Javins]

Good morning, Speed;

Mike is right about the Minolta MD series of their lenses being mainly for the Minolta X-700 with the "P" or "Program" mode and the "final check" exposure reading just before the X-700 lets the shutter run. The main difference from the earlier MC series ROKKOR lenses is the very light weight and thinner aperture or diaphragm leaves in the lens which allows the lens aperture to stop-down to the planned taking aperture more quickly to confirm that the X-700 silicon light metering system has the planned exposure correct, assuming that the world is all an 18% grey reflectance. Well, there is also the improved lens coatings, the drop to a 49mm filter size on several lenses from the earlier common 55mm filter size, the increasing use of plastic, and the changes in the lens engraving. And the Minolta X-700 is the only model Minolta built that really uses the MD lens capability and only in that one function. The MD lenses can all go onto and be used with the earlier Minolta SLR camera models, but the X-700 is the only one that really uses that feature.

The earlier MC lenses and others may not give the optimum results during the X-700 "final check" exposure reading under some conditions. They will probably work in that mode, but the accuracy may be different. Usually this is not a real problem, as the film exposure latitude will cover this. Kodachrome is no longer available, so it is usually not a problem.

And that one feature and the "P" mode is why the X-700 viewfinder display is slightly different in how it displays the exposure data in comparison with the X-570 and many other models. A lot of people will say that the X-570 viewfinder display is easier to use than the X-700, but the X-570 does not have the features that the X-700 does, and the X-570 (and others) should be used much more like an earlier fully manual camera. And that is what most people are more familiar with, so there are those opinions and comments. The X-700 was (and still is) rather revolutionary in that characteristic. The X-700 had a production run of just about 20 years; remarkable for a modern 35mm film camera. That alone is saying something about the revolutionary design of that camera. I still like mine.

Want to have some very digital camera like "point-and-shoot" fun with the X-700? Put it into the "Program" mode, put the MD-1 Motor Drive under it, and find one of the Vivitar Auto Focusing Minolta SR-MC mount lenses with the built-in batteries and auto-focusing mechanisms, or, if you can find one, the Tamron Type 47A 70-210mm f:4 Auto Focusing zoom lens on it. With this combination, the Minolta X-700 becomes a true "point-and-shoot" 35mm film SLR camera.

Enjoy; Ralph, Latte Land, Washington

 

[Speed Gray]

Hello Ralph:

I enjoyed reading your message and the information you provided. I feel the X-700 is a fine camera, and the are stacked up on E-bay like cordwood and first class ones are always available at extremely reasonable prices. I am using my X-700 in the manual mode, and am enjoying the repetitive tasks of taking pictures. I guess Im just returning to my roots; and trying to slow own and enjoy taking pictures again.

Certainly technology changes in the past 30 years have improved the reliability of cameras. As you mentioned, Ralph, the importance of things like lens coatings and lighter weight materials are just now becoming relative to my understanding. One of the first things I noticed was the weight difference between the f1.4 MC lens from my SRT-101 (stored in the camera footlocker for thirty years of so) and my "new" f1.4 MD on my X-700. Being from the school of, "heavier is better" your perspective makes me consider perhaps that not necessarily true. Thanks.

I purchased the X-700 Service Manual and a junk, non-functional X-700 off E-bay, and intend to disassemble the beast to see how its designed and engineered. Thats a good, quiet, winter project.

Also starting to rearrange the basement a bit to make room for a darkroom. I want to have everything completed in time to get into the next round of the postcard exchange, as I think that activity would appeal to me.

Life is good!

Thanks again for your comments.


Speed
Grand Rapids, MI

 

[upnorthcyclist]

Hi again, Speed. Just noticed you're from Grand Rapids - I live in Traverse City. And, yeah, I'm a bike nerd - daily commuter (in the summer - I live by the 45th parallel!).

Here's a few more sites that are sort of the bibles of Minoltaphiles:

Dead Link Removed

http://minolta.eazypix.de/

Enjoy!

Mike

 

[Speed Gray]

Mike: thanks!

TC; lucky you! Don't ever move!

Have you ever tried any winter biking? I set up an old junker last winter and did some riding in the snow; enjoyed it but you don't coast a lot; burns up mega calories.

best,

Speed

 

[upnorthcyclist]

Check out TC in, like, January to add a shot of reality to your idea of what it's like living here

I tried winter riding a few years back but now prefer spinning in a nice warm gym. Those new super-fat-tire bikes look kind of intriguing, I must say - very popular around here now. I like riding around the area on the bike with a camera, especially in the fall.

Mike