New (old) Minolta gear

[Mad_Gnome]

So.....

Recently, I was bitten by the Minolta virus. Again. You see, I've always been a HUGE fan of Minolta manual focus camera gear. Some of my earliest memories include my mother carrying her Minolta XD-11, snapping away. She loved that camera, and it served her faithfully from the day she bought it in 1980 to the day it finally shuffled off this mortal coil around 2000 or so. My first SLR camera was also a Minolta, an X-700 that I inherited from my father. Sadly, the shutter began having issues (if only I knew then what I know now...) so it too was cast aside.

Lately, however, I had been getting the itch to pick up some manual focus gear, especially with the lonely old Minolta Auto 320X flash looking at me longingly from the shelf where it sat, all alone and forlorn. With that in mind, the hunt was on!

The first find I made was this gem of a set: a Minolta X-700 and MD 50mm f/1.7 lens that someone had bought for a photography class, then set aside in their original boxes (with all the original documentation!) since then. Total cost: $100. They're practically brand new!!

My next aquisition was an item I had always wanted, but never been able to afford until now: a Minolta MD-1 motor drive. The Holy Grail for X-series owners. This cost me another $90.

Now, I was on the prowl for some quality glass. Fortunately, with the advent of the Digital (Photography) Age, everyone is selling off their manual focus equipment for pennies on the dollar. In quick succession, I ended up with some phenomenal lenses for a pittance.

A Vivitar MC mount 28mm f/2.5 prime:

A Seikanon HQ-7 2X teleconverter:

An oddball Beck 35mm f/2.8 prime:

A Vivitar 28-50mm f/3.5-4.5 zoom:

A Vivitar 2X Macro Focusing teleconverter:

The fabulous Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.4 prime:

And over the last two days, these happened to drop into my Post Office with my name on them! =oD

A Tokina AT-X 24-40mm f/2.8 zoom (yes, that's a REAL leather carry case):

And a Tokina AT-X 80-200mm f/2.8 SD zoom with Macro Extender. (The sheer physical mass of this thing is intimidating.):

One or two more lenses to come and I'll be happy. At least...until I can't resist the lure of a superwide rectilinear prime for the 5D and a fisheye of some sort or another...

 

[Mitica100]

You, my friend, are a thief!

Wow! That's some great prices you got the Minolta gear for. Congrats!

 

[panocho]

Congratulations!
The X-700 plus the 50mm is a real deal!

I also love Minolta MF cameras. The X series! In fact, I started in all this with a X-300... that I am sadly selling to get my first dSLR. But I know someday I'll come back to it.

 

[mysteryscribe]

I told my story earler but I found myself without a single slr last year. I gave some thought to which ones to rebuy. With all film camera prices in the cellar it really was affordable to buy anything I wanted.

The choice for minolta was simple for me. I wanted a fairly mechanical camera with all the body functions, but still cheap enough to be disposable. No matter all the claims. All cameras forty years old are likely to fail on you. I went to minolta because the xg bodies were selling for under fifty bucks each on ebay. Except the 700 of course. I have four xg type bodies and I think I might have paid 150 for them all. Two are perfect and two have issuses. Of the two perfect I super glued the shutter control on one to only fire strobe light. I usually have at least one camera setup that way. Makes life a lot easier for me.

I shot one wedding not too long ago and found how hard it is to focus in low light with these sad old eyes, so I added a 7000 to my camera list the camer and a 35 to 70 auto focus lens seem to have been under a hundred bucks. Am I going to stay with Minolta, you bet. I am not just collecting, I plan to use the cameras for sure.

In addition to the bodies I have in the md a 50 mm, 35mm, 35 to 70 zoom.. 135 300 and a 2 and 3x converter.

In the auto series I have a almost brand new 35 to 70 from an alpha kit lens I expect.

 

[usayit]

What an awsome find and at some awsome prices! This is a wonderful time to build a film SLR system. I have seen student photographers walking around with film equipment that would have only been a dream for students a couple decades ago. The availability is plentiful and the cost is rock bottom.

My father was a loyal minolta 7000 owner as well and it is with his camera I learned photography. All excellent stuff.

Enjoy

 

[Mad_Gnome]

I'm extremely pleased, to say the least. For my 2¢ worth, Minolta glass is arguably some of the best in the world, and a lot of the vintage glass from the third parties was actually up to the standards of some of the finest first party glass, in particular the Tokina AT-X and early Vivitar Series 1 stuff.

I'm particularly pleased with the X-700 find. To see that kind of camera with only about 6 months worth of use on it is astounding. No dust visible through the viewfinder, light seals are still brand new, not a single mark on the body...the set even came with two blank warranty cards!

I've already run a few rolls of film through everything. I should be sending them off for developing sometime this week, and I'll post some of the results when I get them back. Can't wait!

 

[Don Simon]

Very nice! Quality manual-focus Minolta glass is indeed going for silly prices now - same with Olympus Zuiko as well. As you say some of the third-party glass was pretty good too. I have that 28mm f/2.5; it's a Kiron so it's certainly well built (as for optical quality I'm not sure as I've had mixed results).

I'm afraid to say I'm a disloyal Minolta owner. My Dynax gear is now in the shop for part exchange. Very hard to let it go, especially the 7 which I only recently acquired and swore I wouldn't let go. Unfortunately the call of new glass for the Pentax was too much; but I hope to be able to get it again at some point, maybe when Sony have more to offer in the digital system.

 

[Mad_Gnome]

Sony digital...

I'm pretty excited about Sony's upcoming DSLRs, the flagship model in particular.

Oh, and I just landed another vintage lens that I'm VERY excited about: a Vivitar Series 1 28-90mm f/2.8-3.5 zoom. That was the lens my mother always had on the front of her XD-11. I remember it being an extremely high-quality piece of glass, and it was built like a tank. Fast, easy to handle, and right in the meat of the most-used focal lengths. I inherited hers when I got my first X-700 after my father died, and I was always impressed with the optical quality, but unfortunately, the aperture blades had oil all over them, which really reduced the usefulness of the lens. To get one in 100% working condition...I'm excited! :thumbup:

 

[skieur]

Sony digital...
That was the lens my mother always had on the front of her XD-11. :thumbup:

Gee, you sure know how to make someone feel ancient. I am still making considerable use of my Minolta XD-11, despite using digital cameras as well.

skieur

 

[Mad_Gnome]

The only reason I'm not using the XD-11 today is because the printed circuit board failed, and a replacement board was not to be had. I always told her she should have just bought another XD-11 body used, but she decided to move on to a Canon EOS system. Considering the 8 lenses she let languish in a camera bag for years, I always thought the decision rather silly. Ah well, coulda, shoulda, woulda as it were.

I'm still considering picking up an XD-11 body from eBay, but I'm ecstatic with the X-700 for now, and I have to be honest with myself...it would be far too easy for me to get out of control buying equipment. Once the Series 1 zoom gets here, I'm done for the year. I have to focus my money elsewhere for awhile. Still, I feel the money was well spent. It'll be putting a smile on my face for a long time to come! (As an example, I've had the X-700 for 2 weeks and I've put a dozen rolls of film through it already. D'oh!)

 

[sabbath999]

ME WANT ME WANT ME WANT

 

[jstuedle]

You will be amazed how sharp that macro teleconverter is. I liked mine so well when I saw one on epay in my mount, I bought another.

 

[skieur]

I am still using my Minolta XD 11 and when it broke in Mexico, I was able to get it fixed in a couple of hours in Cancun. It is still working great.

skieur