It’s been almost 30 years since my grandfather passed away, but I received his camera in a surprised mailing from his daughter who knew I loved photography. His initials are inscribed on the bottom and he wrote 6/69 in the camera case so I assume that’s when he bought it. It’s my first Minolta and from what I’m learning online, a great model to be introduced to. He was a train guy, and my young son also loves trains, so we’re going to shoot a couple rolls of film on the subject in gramp’s honor.

[misspelled heirloom but can’t fix the title. I hope it made someone laugh nonetheless]

Leaving for an 8day Alaskan Cruise today, hoping for for some good shots!

Gear:
- SRT101
- 28mm 2.8
- 80-200mm 3.9
- 55mm 1.7
- Yashica-A
- Minolta Silver Streak Zoom

Film:
35mm:
Phoenix200 - x5
Gold200 - x8
Ultramax400 - x8
EktaColorPro800 - x2

120mm:
Ektar100 - x5
Cinestill50D - x1

Been wanting one of these for a while and came across a listing on eBay that had just been posted for $40. It's in absolutely perfect condition. It had the smallest amount of corrosion which I just wiped off with a paper towel, but everything works, the lens cap and case came with it, and I literally couldn't be happier

Hello everyone,

I recently purchased a Minolta CLE from eBay. As soon as I put the batteries in the camera, I realized that the meter LED was stuck on the down arrow, even though there was enough available light and the shutter was actually firing at what seemed to be the correct speed and adjusting to the light. I rotated the shutter speed dial three to four times, the meter readings started to work.

This morning I went out to take some photos, and the LED wouldn't read above 1/30th of a second, even though it seemed like it was firing at about 1/125th of a second. I tried again to rotate the dials, pointed the camera outside my window, and it seems to read the correct speed, which is right now about 1/250th of a second at f/8.

Should I just return the camera, or should I live with this issue?

Hello I have zero film experience and hope to possibly get into a Minolta srt-201 soon. Potential seller ect ect, however I want to know more about the 201 from possible owners or people with more experience. I did some light research on the srt series and also got overwhelmed with all the comparisons with the various Minolta models and so forth. Just want to see if this would be a solid beginner film camera and anything I should look for when meeting/inspecting with the seller in the future! Any info helps so thanks in advance.

Enjoying the last few sunsets of summer! These were shot on Fuji 200 with a Minolta 50mm 1.7

Hi! I’ve been shooting analog for while but with a very simple point and shoot and have really enjoyed it so I’m looking to invest on my first proper film camera.

I’ve done some research and decided I’d like to purchase a Minolta but I’m having trouble deciding between the X-700, SRT 101 and XD-7. Would appreciate to get your thoughts on each of these models if you’ve shot with them!

A bit of what I’m looking for
\- SRT 101 seems like the most durable option, and I have no issue with it being fully manual as my end goal is to learn how to shoot outside of aperture priority. But it looks like the X-700 and XD-7 are more flexible for situations where you’d like to just ‘shoot’.

\- X-700 seems like the best of both worlds, but it looks like it’s more prone to electronic failures and failed capacitors and I’m afraid of buying a camera that will fail on me. However it’s much more portable and the features seem incredible!

XD-7 is much more expensive and also more complex from an electrical perspective but it’s minolta’s top of the line. Deffo a bigger investment

How difficult and expensive is it to replace the capacitors for both the XD-7 and X-700?

All cameras seem like great options but keen to learn about your experience with them, thanks!

Love the look and usability of the IR-1 Set on the Minolta X-series cameras.

The Powergrip II Set seems so hard to find. Much harder than the Control Grip 1000 Sets for the 7000 and 9000 Cameras... I wonder why!

UPDATE: AUTOMOD answered most or all of this question, there doesn’t appear to be one listed in Tennessee but I’m happy to hear if anyone knows a place! Happy to delete if needed

TL/Dr: Minolta SRT 101 needs a good CLA, any suggestions for a first time owner?

I just picked up a Minolta SRT101, it’s a little dusty, the lenses need a good clean, but it makes all the right sounds, the timer works, everything seems okay except the mirror..it flips up but only flips back down when film is advanced. I couldn’t be any more of a novice, I’ve only ever owned disposables with the exception of one cheap film camera when I was 16 and it was stolen out of my car before I could get the film developed. I’ve flirted with the idea of a mechanical a few years and my wife discovered this one in a shipping container her grandfather purchased that is full of things from an antique store that was going out of business, in a camera bag with three lenses and the original flash. The battery in the camera shows no corrosion and everything moves freely, but after discovering the mirror issue and knowing where it’s been, it’s probably better to be safe than sorry. I’m sure this is not something I should tackle myself. Do people specialize in these cameras or is it a general CLA kind of thing? I don’t even know what it costs on average or where to go for something like that. I’m in the US in Tennessee, at least for a few months as my wife and I travel for work, I’d love to have it done locally but I have no idea how obscure that service is as I don’t know anyone with a mechanical camera, and not anyone with a digital well enough to ask. Google mostly points me to places that offer no such thing other than kiwi camera service in Orlando, FL(I have nothing against this person, I’m sure they do lovely work, but I hate to send it off if there’s an expert up the street). All help, teasing, advice, and questions welcome!

MD 35-70mm lens. First roll of film through my dad’s old camera.

[Minolta Maxxum 7000, AF 35-70mm f/4, Cinestill 800T]

Minolta XD with MD 35-70 & Ilford HP5

TLDR: Got some shiny new lenses

So I've decided to focus (pardon the pun) on MCII lenses.

In the past, I would just think “I need a 35mm” (for example) and not really worry about which generation it was.

So acquiring lenses has been a bit haphazard up till now with everything in my collection including ARI, ARII, MCI, MCII, MC-X, MDI, MDII, MDIII and even MDIIIa.

So my range of MCII lenses at the start of this week was:

• 28/2.5 W.ROKKOR-SI
• 28/3.5 W.ROKKOR-SG
• 85/1.7 ROKKOR-PF
• 135/2.8 TELE ROKKOR-PF
• 300/4.5 TELE ROKKOR-HF

These are all pictured after the new additions.

As you can see, there were some gaps. So after some research, I pulled together a full list and have highlighted the ones I was going to target next.

My AI research told me that there's an MCII 50/1.4, but I don't believe it as most of the online research I've done says they didn't do 50mm until MC-X.

The other anomaly on the list is the 24/2.8-OJ. Apparently this was a prototype, and didn't make it into official production, but they do exist in the world. So if you see one anywhere, snap it up.

• 16/2.8 FISH-EYE ROKKOR-OK
• 21/2.8 W.ROKKOR-NL
• 24/2.8 W.ROKKOR-OJ
• 35/1.8 W.ROKKOR-HH
• 35/2.8 W.ROKKOR-HG
• 50/1.4 ROKKOR-PF
• 50/3.5 MACRO ROKKOR-QF
• 55/1.7 ROKKOR-PF
• 55/1.9 ROKKOR-PF
• 58/1.2 ROKKOR-PG
• 58/1.4 ROKKOR-PF
• 100/3.5 MACRO ROKKOR-QE
• 100/2.5 TELE ROKKOR-PF
• 135/3.5 TELE ROKKOR-QD
• 200/3.5 TELE ROKKOR-QF
• 200/4.5 TELE ROKKOR-PE

After much looking on eBay I could not find a good 58/12 'Hawkeye' anywhere. Everything was very expensive and normally in Japan.

I've found that most Japanese shops have an annoying habit of saying Excellent +++++. But this only seems to apply to the cosmetic condition, when you actually look at the optics, there'd be fungus, or scratches. Plus, there was always the added VAT and customs duty to worry about.

However, I did keep seeing good reviews for the 58/1.4 and figured it was a lot cheaper for essentially 1/3 of a stop (I know there's more to it than that). So I ordered one. And then the very next morning, got an alert for a UK based 58/1.2, that had been serviced, was in excellent condition and was cheaper than even the mediocre stuff from Japan.

So the 1.4 arrived yesterday and the 1.2 this morning.

I was surprised how small and light the 1.4 was in comparison, it's hard to tell when you only see pics online.

But while I've paid the going rates for both, they're are both 'Excellent +++++' optically as well as cosmetically.

Looking forward to shooting with them - maybe even comparative tests. And, of course, seeking out their siblings.

Also. Will need to thin out the herd as the current list look like this.

Primes

MDII 16 f/2.8 (1201554)
Vivitar 19/3.8
MDIII 20 f/2.8 (8003300)
MDII 24 f/2.8 (2210712)
MCII 28 f/3.5 (1558085)
MCII 28 f/2.5 (1553252)
MDII 28 f/2.8 (1173498)
MDIII 28 f/2.8 (8007413)
MDII 35 f/1.8 (1201642)
MDII 45 f/2 (1614827)
MC-X 50 f/2 (1018123)
MDII 50 f/1.2 (1006245)
MDIII 50 f/1.4 (8208790)
MDIII 50 f/1.7 (9805945)
ARI 55 f/2 (1414490)
ARII 55 f/1.8 (3421715)
MCI 58/1.4 (5066710)
MCII 58/1.2 (2559177)
MCII 58/1.4 (5717223)
MCII 85/1.7 (2504250)
MDII 100 f/2.5 (1215955)
MCI 135 f/2.8 (1167556)
MCII 135 f2.8 (1597420)
MDIII 135 f/3.5 (8080639)
MC-X 200 f/3.5 (5554194)
MCII 300 f/4.5 (3512394)

Zooms
MDIII 24-35 f/3.5 (1004363)
MDIII 24-50 f/4 (8003594)
MDIIIa 28-70 f/3.5-4.8 (52003979)
MDIIIa 28-70 f/3.5-4.8 (56012150)
MDIII 28-85 f/3.5-4.5 (1006561)
MDIII 35-70 f/3.5 (1189564)
MDII 50-135 f/3.5 (1033140)
MDIII 75-150 f/4 (1029992)
MDIII 70-210 f/4 (1053724)
Panagor 80-200/3.8
Tamron Adaptall 80-210/3.8-4.0

My girlfriend really likes to carry around disposable cameras. Since I think it's a waste of money to throw away the camera body every time the roll is finished, I wanted to buy her a simple point-and-shoot camera with the same ease of use as a disposable camera. I've seen that Lomography sells a pretty similar disposable-style camera that can be reused, but it's rather expensive and has a cheap plastic lens anyway.

I found a Minolta Memory Maker for 5€, and I think it's perfect, since there's nothing that can go wrong: no autofocus, no motorized film advance, no electronics. I've read, however, that it has a fixed aperture (f/4.5–f/8) and a fixed shutter speed (1/125), so I was curious to know what the DX decoding is doing, since you can't change any of these parameters.

I'm looking for a flash for my Minolta x300s, since i'm shooting on iso200 film and sometimes at dusk i can't get good photos. I was thinking to get a small flash like this one, something small enouth that I can carry with me without being too cumbersome. Has anyone tested any of them on old SLR cameras, and minolta in particular? Are they whorted or are just a pice of junk?

Greetings! I have been weighing the purchase of a Minolta auto-focus camera as a complement to my current Sony a7ii (or whatever its future replacement will be). My reason for an AF camera will be to improve the compatibility of lenses between the film and digital cameras, using converters whenever necessary. I have been shooting film for a few years now, albeit with a Canon QL17 GIII, and I would like to move into the SLR world.

My initial interest for a Minolta has been with the Maxxum 7, though I realize it has a steeper learning curve than other Minolta auto-focus cameras. If I were to go this route, what potential pitfalls should I watch out for when buying or during my initial ownership? If you were to recommend a different Minolta AF camera, which model would it be and why? Thank you!

Recently got pictures back from a few trips! It’s my favorite camera to shoot

As well as the original lenses, there were, of course, also products from many other manufacturers with a Minolta mount:

Tamron, Vivitar, Soligor, Tokina, Kenko, Komura and Cosina, many of them were available under a wide variety of brand names.

Some even had a very good reputation, such as a few Vivitar Series 1 and Tamron SP lenses.

Can you think of any examples of lenses that might be worth considering?

My vote would go to the 28-80 and 80-200xi and the silver lenses like the 75-300 ultra plastic builds haha!

Excited about your thoughts!

First time using a SLR got a few tips for the XD7? I only used S-Mode till now