Minolta Bodies

CMoore · Sep 23, 2016

You bastards are like F'ing drug dealers.
OK....I'll try one...probably will not be able to stop though.
My Parents warned me...They Warned Me...!!
I can still hear my Father saying....."A Minolta SRT is just a gate-way camera. Next thing you know you are hooked, and the SRT no longer does it for you like it did before. You'll find yourself roaming a back alley, at midnight, robbing old ladies and hoping they have an XD, or maybe an XK...or maybe you will string together a few 570's that you smash and grab from a car, just to get you through the night. It's a dead end son. Don't be stupid."
Pssst...hey you.
Me.?
Yeah you. Know where to get any good Minolta.?

Theo Sulphate · Sep 23, 2016

I love the SRT-101, but the Maxxum 7 is just amazing. Lots of info on the net...

BadBoyBill · Sep 23, 2016

Oh yeah I also have a good amount of classic Minolta parts cameras if anyone needs anything off of them. SRT 303, 201, 101, X-700 X-370, XG-M. Just cameras that have bad meters or bad shutters through my thrifting.

Dennis S · Sep 23, 2016

Since I have been reading this thread I got a bad case of GAS for Minolta. Bought ANOTHER one today. Has a large Tamron lens on it too. Never had any bad luck with Tamrons but I do have a few Rokkors just in case.
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Zach-MLT-MD · Sep 23, 2016

I have an SRT 201 - It is quite a lot of fun to shoot with.

Les Sarile · Sep 24, 2016

Rule of thumb is don't leave any stone unturned. I saw a local CL ad listing "miscellaneous camera items free to pickup" with a small picture of a box of the usual "junk". I thought (or hoped?) I saw a couple of Minolta viewfinder boxes (empty or full?) and figure the price was right. When I got there there were three full boxes with unused - in plastic wraps, the AE-S, High Magnification and Waist Level finders to add to the XK system.

Adding another system like the Minolta is a great deal these days as it is very underrated.

CMoore · Sep 24, 2016

Yeah.....i am thinking XD/11/7 or maybe a X-570...or both.
Did Minolta "do it" more than others...change the nomenclature of their cameras based on what part of the world they were sold in.?
Thank You
great score btw.....

Theo Sulphate · Sep 24, 2016

CMoore said:
...
Did Minolta "do it" more than others...change the nomenclature of their cameras based on what part of the world they were sold in?

Canon seems to have the most variety in nomenclature. If you go to this link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Canon_EOS

and scroll to the "EOS cameras", then "Film cameras", then look at the two tables. For example, you'll see Elan 7NE for the U.S. market, EOS 30V for Europe, and EOS 7s for Japan.

My Minolta Maxxum 7 in the U.S. is known as the Dynax 7 elsewhere.

CMoore · Sep 24, 2016

OK...I See.
I am completely ignorant of Canon after the T-90.
So, why is that done.? Why is an ABC in one country called an XYZ in another.?

Theo Sulphate · Sep 24, 2016

CMoore said:
OK...I See.
I am completely ignorant of Canon after the T-90.
So, why is that done.? Why is an ABC in one country called an XYZ in another.?

I think it's because if you took an EOS 500N, Nikon F-801, or Dynax 7 to a U.S. service center for repair, they'd know you bought it grey market rather than through an authorized distributor. Likely they'd not service it. Same for other regions.

Now, why they have different distribution markets is the question. Probably involves currency exchange rates when the cameras are being sold.

benjiboy · Sep 24, 2016

CMoore said:
Yeah...its hard, isn't it.?
Somebody mentioned trying to "buy my way into being a better photographer"...and it has Nothing To Do with that.
It is mostly two things:
1. A general Love/Appreciation/Affinity for (35mm) cameras.
2. A desire to "save" these old masters that are no longer made...a matter of pride almost.
I am sure many share my situation.....cameras we could never afford as younger Men/Women are now affordable, like we could never have imagined. Some of you probably poured over photo mags in the 70's and 80's, dreaming about these same cameras.
I may yet break-down and invest in a Minolta system some day. I just hate to see these old these old tools get tossed and/or fall into decay.
At this point, they just about qualify as Mechanical Works Of Art in my book.

It was me Chip who posted something to the effect that you would be better served being new to photography to learn how use the equipment you have more effectively rather than dissipate your time effort and money acquiring more and more stuff, and I still maintain that's good advice if you intend to become a good photographer, and not a museum curator.

benjiboy · Sep 24, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
I think it's because if you took an EOS 500N, Nikon F-801, or Dynax 7 to a U.S. service center for repair, they'd know you bought it grey market rather than through an authorized distributor. Likely they'd not service it. Same for other regions.

Now, why they have different distribution markets is the question. Probably involves currency exchange rates when the cameras are being sold.

Importers have all the serial numbers of the equipment they have imported on their computers and they check them against their records when repairs are sent to them, and as you write if they are "grey imports" many of them won't service them whether warranty or even chargeable repairs, which is one of the reasons one should be careful about buying stuff from another country on vacation or on auction sites.

CMoore · Sep 24, 2016

benjiboy said:
It was me Chip who posted something to the effect that you would be better served being new to photography to learn how use the equipment you have more effectively rather than dissipate your time effort and money acquiring more and more stuff, and I still maintain that's good advice if you intend to become a good photographer, and not a museum curator.

Are you into guns.?
There is an Old Saying.......Beware the man who owns (just) one gun, he probably knows how to use it.

benjiboy · Sep 24, 2016

CMoore said:
Are you into guns.?
There is an Old Saying.......Beware the man who owns (just) one gun, he probably knows how to use it.

Chip, in the dim and distant past I was a Royal Marines small arms instructor, but my interest in them these days is purely academic, I have no desire to own one .

CMoore · Sep 24, 2016

Oh Wow...OK.
I was into everything, but my real love was Cowboy Guns (single action revolvers and lever action rifles) and Black Powder.
Your comments about the cameras are not (completely) lost on me.

BMbikerider · Sep 25, 2016

Huss said:
FYI I just compared my ancient Minolta 35-70 3.5 zoom to my brand spankin' new gee whiz Nikon 24-120 VRII IS AF etc lens. And the Minolta blows it into the weeds. Yeah it is a shorter zoom range, but it is much much older tech etc. And waaaay cheaper. The Minolta lens is sharp like a fixed focal length, the Nikkor disappoints like zooms tend to do.
Shot both on film - one with the XK, the other with an F6.

I will agree with your assessment of the F3.5 35/70 zoom. Sharp at all appertures, a beautiful lens. Good enough to be included in the Leitz line up as their version of the same lens. There were two editions of the same lens, one made in Japan and one made elsewhere. The Japanese version has the better reputation and costs more even now.

The only difference between the Minolta original and the Lietz offering being a lot more metal used in the mount and an odd 60mm filter thread!

fstop · Sep 25, 2016

CMoore said:
OK...I See.
I am completely ignorant of Canon after the T-90.
So, why is that done.? Why is an ABC in one country called an XYZ in another.?

Warrenty work. The practice continues to this day.

benjiboy · Sep 25, 2016

BMbikerider said:
The XK/XM/X1 models were neer great sellers here in UK and consequently as rare as hens teeth. Whilst Nikon is my main system, I have an XE1 and a SRT100b. The XE1 is almost unmarked and silky smooth to operate despite being around 40 years old. The lever wind is the smoothest of any camera I have ever used. The simple exposure metering has never let me down and all I have to do is to remember to focus. (Too many AF camera years!)

The SRT100 is a basic match needle all metal camera and as tough as old boots. You are supposed to have a 1.35V cell for the meter but a common 1.5v appears to work just as well and like the XE1 the exposure is pretty well dead on. I have had worse from my Nikons with multi pattern metering.

I have two of the saught after MD lenses which cover most of my work, a 24/35 F3.5 constant apperture zoom and a 28/85 F3.5/4.5 which is outstanding! I am on the lookout for a 20mm F2.8 which are also very rare but one will turn up - eventually.

The demise of Minolta was a sad day for photography. (They were good enough for Leitz to use and copy some of their products)

The reason most of the pro Minolta models didn't sell was they had no ability to fit a power winder or motor drive, when the Canon and Nikon pro cameras did, I worked at a professional camera Dealers in the days when these cameras were current and as far as I remember we had a couple in stock for a few years and we never sold them, however they were high quality well built, rugged and reliable machines.

Nokton48 · Sep 25, 2016

The XK Motor camera is rarer than the XK bodies.
Apparently Minolta felt that an add-on motor drive just wouldn't cut it for pro use.
Hence the XK with integrated Motor Drive.
I own two SRM's that I use and they are tough as nails.

I worked in three different camera stores while working my way through college.
Never saw an XK Motor camera anywhere in the lot. Even when I worked at Columbus Camera Group.
Recently I went in there, and they actually had one! But the plastic battery packs were broken :/

benjiboy · Sep 25, 2016

Nokton48 said:
The XK Motor camera is rarer than the XK bodies.
Apparently Minolta felt that an add-on motor drive just wouldn't cut it for pro use.
Hence the XK with integrated Motor Drive.
I own two SRM's that I use and they are tough as nails.

I worked in three different camera stores while working my way through college.
Never saw an XK Motor camera anywhere in the lot. Even when I worked at Columbus Camera Group.
Recently I went in there, and they actually had one! But the plastic battery packs were broken :/

The X K Motor camera with the built in motor drive weighed a ton and took 10 AA batteries, the Canon F1 motor drive also weighs a ton with 12 AA batteries as does the Nikon F2, but at least you can remove the drive on the Canon and Nikon cameras if they are not required, another reason that the Minolta pro. cameras laid an egg was that Nikon and Canon lenses are much more common to be stocked by professional dealers hire departments, I don't think I ever saw a Minolta lens in the hire department of the company I worked for they were all Nikon and Canon because that's what the customers used.

Les Sarile · Sep 25, 2016

The Minolta XK was so far ahead of its time - maybe too far ahead . . .

Of the horizontal shutter types, it still has the fastest sync speed. And of course it was first with aperture priority mode amongst the interchangeable viewfinder pro models by quite a few years.

CMoore · Sep 25, 2016

fstop said:
Warrenty work. The practice continues to this day.

Are they all that way...isn't a Canon AE-1 called an AE-1 everywhere.?
How come some models change, and others do not.?

Theo Sulphate · Sep 25, 2016

Nikon F2 needs only 10 AA's, not 12 like Canon

benjiboy · Sep 25, 2016

Theo Sulphate said:
Nikon F2 needs only 10 AA's, not 12 like Canon

View attachment 164189

View attachment 164190

I couldn't remember how many batteries the F2 took Theo, I have a Canon Motor Drive FN and it's like lugging about an anvil especially with a 300mm lens attached to my F1, so I only tend to use it when I really need it.

Theo Sulphate · Sep 25, 2016

That's an SRT-101 with a 35/1.8 MC W-Rokkor-HH lens. The SRT-101 in front has a 58/1.2 MC Rokkor-PG lens. The AF 50/1.7 is for a Maxxum 7.

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Minolta Bodies

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