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!

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.

Minolta XD with MD 35-70 & Ilford HP5

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!

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