Minolta slr's

[Marvin]

I am also a Minolta user X700 X370 in the MD line and two of the 9xi Maxxums.

 

[Nokton48]

That sr-m is gorgeous!

Thanks! Frankly it was very exciting to fire it up yesterday, after re-doing the interior body foam. Amazing how this Minolta stuff just goes and goes and goes.
Next I need to clean the interior gears as they tend to stick intermittently. Tap it lightly on a table and it finishes cycling. Needs a good interior cleaning.

Whole thing is built like a tank!

 

[Chan Tran]

Thanks! Frankly it was very exciting to fire it up yesterday, after re-doing the interior body foam. Amazing how this Minolta stuff just goes and goes and goes.
Next I need to clean the interior gears as they tend to stick intermittently. Tap it lightly on a table and it finishes cycling. Needs a good interior cleaning.

Whole thing is built like a tank!

The XD-11 is a very nice camera but built like a tank? I definitely don't think so. You do need to treat it with tender loving care.

 

[1L6E6VHF]

Yep, long time ago - Minolta and Yashica (Tomioka Optical Co. Ltd.) initially, then other joiners.

Is this to say that Nippon Kogaku (Nikon) and Tokyo Kogaku (Topcon) weren't? Interesting.

My first SLR was my SRT-101. I shot 56 rolls in it 1995-2001, before I crossed over to Pentax to get both AF capability and access to cheap MF lenses.

This summer, when a Stereo Colorist died mid-roll, I finished the roll by taking my SRT down Memory Lane.

 

[z a n e]

I just recently got a Minokta XK and its one of my favorite cameras ever. They came out with a camera Canon and Nikon couldn't match till about 10 years later. Aperture priority in a professional grade camera w interchangeable viewfinders is amazing. And the exposure compensation is one of the easiest to use in any camera I've ever used.

If you have the money for it (which honestly isn't much considering it was like $800 in 1972... which is almost $5,000 in 2015) it is totally worth it.

 

[Lench]

Got given an srt101 over a year ago and only now just cleaned it up enough to use it (prism was full of decayed foam) looks and handles almost mint now! Unfortunately 2 out of the 3 lenses have fungus and helical issues so that's a project for another day.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

 

[Sirius Glass]

Got given an srt101 over a year ago and only now just cleaned it up enough to use it (prism was full of decayed foam) looks and handles almost mint now! Unfortunately 2 out of the 3 lenses have fungus and helical issues so that's a project for another day.

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

You can pick up used MC and MD lenses for a song now. I liked the f/2.8 21mm, 28mm, f1.4 58mm and the f/1.8 50mm lenses. The Vivitar Series 1 70mm to 205mm did not have have the contrast of the other lenses.

 

[hoffy]

You can pick up used MC and MD lenses for a song now. I liked the f/2.8 21mm, 28mm, f1.4 58mm and the f/1.8 50mm lenses. The Vivitar Series 1 70mm to 205mm did not have have the contrast of the other lenses.

Unless you are after the 58/50 F1.2

One day I'll walk into a pawn store and find one for $50.... On day

(Actually, I nearly thought I had hit the Jackpot - Someone had one listed a 50 F1.2 for sale on a local Facebook group for around $50. I asked them to send me pictures of the lens before I committed. They had mistaken the front markings of "50mm 1:2" as the max aperture. Oh well, it did give me a giddy thrill for 15 minutes)

 

[Nokton48]

This is an old photo. MC/MD lenses.

DSC04450 (1) by Nokton48, on Flickr

 

[Nokton48]

I sold off my Leicas, and went back to Minolta SLRs. No regrets whatsoever.

001 by Nokton48, on Flickr

 

[pentaxpete]

I have just been given three Minolta film cameras to add to my collection -- they all needed a good clean up !! One was bought in 1985 -- a SRT-100X ( never heard of that before ) ,X-700 and the 7000 autofocus onewith lots of f]different lenses -- a very heavy 200mm f3.5 MC Tele Rokkor - QF, 28mm 35mm, zooms etc etc flashes , one which is all seized up with battery corrosion so I cannot get it open -- made a start on cleaning cameras and lenses, today going to replace rotten foam seals in the X-700 and put in new battery and fire it up !!

 

[Theo Sulphate]

The SRT-100X (international name) was called SRT-200 in the U.S. and Canada. Just as the SRT-100 was a reduced-feature -101, the -200 was a reduced-feature -201:

Dead Link Removed

 

[pentaxpete]

Thanks for that link - I bookmarked it after reading !

 

[Theo Sulphate]

Nokton48: very nice lenses and cameras you have there.

My only Minolta MC lenses are a 58/1.2 and newly acquired but not yet used 35/1.8.

 

[Nokton48]

Nokton48: very nice lenses and cameras you have there.

My only Minolta MC lenses are a 58/1.2 and newly acquired but not yet used 35/1.8.

I have both of those in MC and they are GREAT, both of them.

 

[Marvin]

Only from the mind of Minolta!

 

[Nokton48]

I have this one. One of my favorite Minolta lenses.

ROKKOR BROCHURE 400MM by rokkor777, on Flickr

 

[Trask]

Zane: re: your XK: how do you like that vertical meter switch/bar on the front? Every time I pick up an XK, my fingers want to use that bar as a mini-grip to hang onto the body, and I have the impression I'll rip the bar off the camera in so doing 'cause the XK w/finder and lens is not a lightweight camera.

Nokton48: you've got the MLU 21mm lens with viewfinder, I see. Nice to see that the finder fits on an SRT. How do you like the lens?

 

[randyB]

minolta

I find it hard to believe it.

Back in the 70's Minolta ran full page ads in the photo magazines touting that they made their own glass for their lenses. The main point of the ad was to show that they had the expertise to make a high quality lens, which they did. Other lens makers outsourced their raw glass but ground/polished the elements to their specs. Minolta has many fine lenses that match any other brand for sharpness, color, contrast. I didn't use Minolta because back in the 70's it seems that they brought out a new model every 6 months which had only a minor change in features but a big jump in price.

 

[Sirius Glass]

Rokkor lenses were hard to beat for their optics including contrast and their cost. They were so much better than the Vivitar lenses prior to Series I that that I was willing to spend a little more for the Minolta lenses than the knock offs.

 

[Nokton48]

You've got the MLU 21mm lens with viewfinder, I see. Nice to see that the finder fits on an SRT. How do you like the lens?

I really do like the lens, mine is everything I would expect in terms of performance.
I also have the 21mm F2.8 MC Rokkor, but the 21mm F4 feels a lot like a rangefinder lens in operation.
Really I am glad I have both of them, but I would recommend the 21mm F4
The 20mm F4.5 Pentax Takumar hood on mine has been replaced by the hood for the 20mm F2.8 MD Rokkor
Here it is on one of my Minolta SRM's

001 by Nokton48, on Flickr

 

[Cycler]

I have owned a pile of manual focus Minoltas and they have all been fine camera. The best feature: Minolta focusing screens are exceptional -- very bright with excellent microprisms.

That's due to the Laser-Matte focussing screen. While other makes offered them as options, Minolta had them as standard!

 

[Trask]

I really do like the lens, mine is everything I would expect in terms of performance.
I also have the 21mm F2.8 MC Rokkor, but the 21mm F4 feels a lot like a rangefinder lens in operation.
Really I am glad I have both of them, but I would recommend the 21mm F4

Do you have any reason to believe the f/4.5 version is less of a lens?

 

[Andrew K]

I have a massive soft spot for Minolta cameras as my first "real" camera was a ST 100X, and over the years I've owned many of the cameras discussed here (various SRT's, SR 1,2,3 & 7, XK, XE-5, XG1, XG9, XD7, SR-M), plus a few autofocus cameras like the Maxxum 7000 and 9000, plus for some reason I can't work out I really like the Dynax 7...

When I was at school we had a couple of Nikon cameras (a F and F2), and I wanted one because it would make me a "real" photographer. However when I was in Form 4 I did work experience in a photographic studio and the photographer there used Minolta cameras, because, as he said, they did the job, and could I see a difference in the results between his photos and those taken by others using a Nikon?

Well I couldn't, and when I was given the choice between a new Minolta SRT and a second hand Nikon I chose the new camera, and took some great shots with that camera fitted with the "economy" 45mm f2 lens.

Over the years I've owned some wonderful Minolta lenses including a f2.5/100mm MC, a f4.5/300mm MC, and the wonderful f9.5/18mm fisheye lens. I've even owned 3 different f1.2/58mm MC PG lenses (but none of them were all that sharp..). I'd still like to buy a 250mm mirror or a f2.8/40-80 zoom..but they are still worth good money....

Now I use a Dynax 7 with 28mm, 50mm and 135mm lenses......

Funny thing is after I stopped using Minoltas I changed over to Canon FD and used those for over 10 years....

 

[Nokton48]

Do you have any reason to believe the f/4.5 version is less of a lens?

Earlier version is F4.5, Make sure the finder is for the SRT. Some are for the SR-7, etc and won't fit the SRT.
I've never used the F4.5 but a lot of people think Minolta never made a bad lens. Not sure?
I also bought a 21mm Yashica SLR finder (from a Leica guy) and I like it a lot on the SRTs and my XK.
The Minolta finder does have some noticable barrel distortion (bendies)

Here is how you put the 21mm MLU on an XK

001 by Nokton48, on Flickr