Minolta x 700

[tantrikelo]

Today bought my first analog camera i am so exited!!
Any suggestions for a color film and b/w ?
I can't wait to "play" !!

 

[Alan Gales]

Asking what film to buy is like asking which camera to buy, everyone has an opinion!

Try different films and experiment. Have fun and learn what you like.

Congratulations on your X700. It's a great camera. I sold tons of them back in the 80's!

 

[pbromaghin]

Congratulations. In no particular order - tri-x, tmax, velvia, provia, delta, portra all work great. Others will have their own favorites for different reasons. Some will say pick one and stick to it. Others will say try lots of different films. They're all right. Just get out and start shooting.

Btw, I really like my X-700, but prefer the X-570 by a smidgeon.

 

[arealitystudios]

Excellent! The X-700 is a great little work horse and should serve you well. I still own mine and have had it since about 1995.

As stated above, film choice is one of those things where everyone has an opinion and quite frankly everyone is both right and wrong. My best advice, find one or two films you know you can optain easily like Kodak Tri-X or Ilford HP5. Maybe make one an ISO 100 film and the other an ISO 400. Then practice with only those two films for quite a while. You will learn a lot faster if you keep your film stock consistant. Once you gain some experience you can then branch out and try new things.

 

[perkeleellinen]

Buy cheap colour film from a local store to practice on. This is your first go with film, no need to buy anything expensive or exotic. Get it developed and check to see the camera is working and that you know how to work it!

Later, when you're confident, choose one film and stick with it. Learn to develop yourself and have fun!

 

[Les Sarile]

Congratulations on your acquisition as it is a very capable camera and won the European Camera of the Year in 1981 - year of it's introduction. Good luck and learn it's characteristics as well as that of some films!

 

[tantrikelo]

thank you all for your advises!
I had heard about this camera only good things,and when i shown it at the store and hold it to my hands i ve got the feeling ,that camera is handy and its what i was wanted!i felt it like my arm's extention!
I will try some types of film,but as a begginer i have no idea of the types!
I ve seen some color images that look so vintage and i like them but don't know the tipe of film! The same with b/w i ve seen images that i like the contrast the tonal range but i don't know where to look!!you know the type!

 

[Nick Merritt]

If you are new to film, keep in mind that if you want to take pictures like the one you have posted just above, you will need to use filters -- most usually yellow, orange and red for black and white film, and a polarizing filter for color. There is plenty of information on the internet about the use of filters. Have fun -- you made a good choice with the X-700.

 

[Ric Trexell]

Great camera that X-700

I have two X-700's, one I bought new back in '85 I think it was or perhaps '82. It has been in the shop once in all these years. I bought the other one several years ago and had some things fixed on it. That one I bought from ebay. I like the fact that the camera has both an electronic cable release, and a manual cable release. I have an 8ft I think it is electronic release and can take self portraits without having to wait for a timer to release. Also, it has a PC flash connection that I can use with portrait lights with umbrellas. A lot of the new digitals don't even have those two connections. Also, it has stopped down metering which is something a lot of them don't have be they digital or film. I picked up a 100-200 zoom lense (Celtic) for $5.00 from a thrift shop, and have a 500 mm cat lense plus a 135, two 50mm and a 28mm wide angle. I get great shots from all but the 500 really needs a good tripod. I get a kick out of using the 500mm because I have photographed people 100 feet away and they look like I was 10 feet away. I will miss them when they go belly up, but it doesn't pay to put much in them now as you can get them pretty cheap. Have fun with yours whatever type of film you use. Ric.

 

[fstop]

Buy cheap colour film from a local store to practice on. This is your first go with film, no need to buy anything expensive or exotic. Get it developed and check to see the camera is working and that you know how to work it!

Later, when you're confident, choose one film and stick with it. Learn to develop yourself and have fun!

I disagree.


Start with good quality film. Fuji or Kodak Color print film.

Cheap film may give poor results and mislead you into thinking you are off base.

 

[Excalibur2]

I disagree.


Start with good quality film. Fuji or Kodak Color print film.

Cheap film may give poor results and mislead you into thinking you are off base.

....but in the UK, cheap colour neg film (Agfa Vista made by Fuji) from Poundland supermarket, is good at £1 for 36 exp. Well I don't know about China, but I would say only Fuji and Kodak make colour neg film now although you can get Ferrania Solaris at Poundland (two rolls for £1), sadly even Ferrania film is not made anymore.

 

[PentaxBronica]

The cheap branded stuff is usually ok. I've been buying cheap Kodak and Fuji 200ASA film whenever I find it to build up a stock in the freezer. Can't really argue with under £3 per roll.

You will get better results with more expensive film but the cheap stuff is absolutely fine for testing cameras and general photos.

 

[tantrikelo]

Damn....so much information i think my head is gonna blow up! lolol
Thank you very much,you really are awesome,i feel happy for my choise by hearing that is a good camera!
@(there was a url link here which no longer exists) thanks for the help,i had that in my mind but now you verifed my thought!
@(there was a url link here which no longer exists) lol that means that it really rocks dude!
@(there was a url link here which no longer exists) i also think that is better to start with good guality for the same reason.I am thinking Ilford delta or fuji neopan for b/w, for color im still searching!

 

[Peltigera]

If moving from digital, film can seem expensive, but if you are using 35mm, you are still only talking pence per frame. So try ALL the various films that are available and see which suits you most. I agree with the idea that you should start with cheap film - I use Poundland £1.00 Agfa colour film which is certainly more than OK. You can start paying £5.00 per roll when your skills merit it.

 

[tantrikelo]

@(there was a url link here which no longer exists) i don't find your thoult to be wrong,yes i am from digital cameras but also with digital i prefer the manual way!I think i have some experience of taking photos.
i will also try agfa cause the cheapest is the better choise sometimes!!

 

[EKDobbs]

Mine survived multiple long falls, beaches, and inclement weather before the aperture indexing ring finally gave up. Have fun, and don't be afraid to get a little risky with it; another can be picked up for a song and dance.

 

[dynachrome]

I have six of these . The X-700 stayed in production for nearly 20 years. Its best feature is the bright viewfinder. You can but the original Minolta 280PX and 360PX flash units for very reasonable prices. The last 35-70mm f/3.5, the MD, is quite good. The manual focus mount lenses do not work with digital cameras except with adapters so they are available at good proces.

 

[tantrikelo]

i have a 50mm 1,7 lense but i am finding hard to understand the focus when i am in 1.7 aperature! i can understand what is on focus 100 % if it is little far.Is there any trick i should know?

 

[perkeleellinen]

I disagree.


Start with good quality film. Fuji or Kodak Color print film.

Cheap film may give poor results and mislead you into thinking you are off base.

Fuji and Kodak make cheap film that's of good quality: Superia and Gold. They're prefect for trying out a new camera and can be had easily in local stores.

 

[Excalibur2]

Examples of Agfa Vista here:-

http://forum.mflenses.com/open-topi...-photos-per-post-t55300,highlight,+vista.html

 

[Matthew Wagg]

Recommendations are tough for all the reasons the posters above have said. What I'd do now is type in a film name into Flickr's search and it'll come back with results from them.

I'd stay away from reversal film to begin with as its a bit tougher to learn than colour negative films. Black and white, if that's your bag, all you need to do is ask if you the same, flickr will give you hundreds of results.

I'd guess you're not heading into processing the films yourself yet but when you do you can use the Flickr search with the developer type to get an idea of what the film and developer will look like together.

If you're not sure what's out there, look on Kodak's site, Fuji, Ilford, Foma, Adox, and so on.

 

[leicarfcam]

Buy cheap colour film from a local store to practice on. This is your first go with film, no need to buy anything expensive or exotic. Get it developed and check to see the camera is working and that you know how to work it!

I would have to disagree. Most "cheap" films I've come across suffer from color shifts and some come scratched..

Go to http://www.freestylephoto.biz/index.php?sc=23017 for good film..

Later, when you're confident, choose one film and stick with it. Learn to develop yourself and have fun!

Again I would have to disagree. You should use different films for different situations as well as using both color and b&w films..

 

[perkeleellinen]

By cheap I don't mean substandard. Superia and Gold are cheap and are very good films.

 

[Les Sarile]

IMO, Kodak Gold 100 at about $2 for a roll of 36exp is an exceptional value and a very good all around film.

 

[PentaxBronica]

If you want to use B&W I would say either Ilford HP5 or FP4 (400 or 125 ASA respectively). I've tried Delta 400 and it never seems to work as well for me, HP5 gives me crisp low-grain negatives and is very easy to develop at home - just follow the instructions on the film and the chemicals and you can't really go wrong. If you can make instant noodles then you can develop a film.

I also like Pan F and SFX but those are a bit more specialist - Pan F is very high resolution but also rather slow, SFX is a bit of a trick film - use it with an infra-red filter and it becomes a quasi IR film. I will be trying a plain red filter on HP5 when the weather improves a bit as I suspect it might produce a similar look, probably not as pronounced but it should turn foliage white.

I also use Delta 3200 occasionally but I find it needs more post production work - HP5 negatives look perfect as they come out of the tank but the Delta 3200 needs a bit of adjustment to get the contrast right. I view it as a good solution to parties - it means you don't need flash, and everyone looks classier in monochrome.