Pentode
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I agree with you on all counts.What I'm trying to say is that, let's say, Nikon FE and EM. One is more robust than the other. Or Olympus OM-1 and OM-10. Latter feels a tad flimsy. Same with X-xxx. X-700 looks fine, the paint never comes off, it can look great for the decades, but it's plasticky. So is X-300 (Aka 370). I was pleasantly surprised when I first saw SRT-101, it stands so much higher than others... Heck, even Maxxum 9000 feels sturdier than X-700.
I won't say that any of those cameras are bad, because they aren't. In fact X-700 is a dream cam for some thanks to PAM, X-570 offers the same sans Program mode and if one wishes to taste majestic Rokkor glass without spending too much, there's always X-370. All three are rather popular in my country, much more than Nikon FM, FE, FG, almost as much venerated as Canon AE-1.
It seems to me that some people made a lot of bad decisions in Minolta management, because if you're as innovative as that brand, you gotta try too hard to perish like they did.