Help! Minoltaitis - is it fatal?

[PaulatUKcamera]

I collect German rangefinder cameras, so when I suddenly decide to buy SLRs, something is going seriously wrong!

Couldn't help it see ..............

First this XD7 for £21
Its now arrived and is a delight to use. Ran my first film through it today at the Botanical gardens. I can't talk about the quality, but the screen is very bright and the micro prisms are the clearest I have ever used. The focus sort of "snaps" in & out.

So when I saw this XG9: for £10 tonight and this X700 for £22
how could I resist? These were cameras that were at the "top of my affordability tree in the 1980s and now they cost peanuts! How could the market so undervalue them?

If prices keep on plummeting, my "addiction" will certainly become worse and it may even prove terminal, if the wife finds any more cameras about the house! What happens when Leica R4s come to $50!

Paul

[Benchista]

Bought an SRT 100X for £9.99 the other day....

[RonM]

That's a heck of a lot less than you paid for your XE-1 and who needs a Leica R SLR when you can get the basis of the R3 as in the XE-1

And me with only 8 Minolta cameras (so far)

[Benchista]

A true bargain. But the XE-1 was a bargain, too - I like it very much.

[Benchista]

Got my hands on it now - it's very nice. I love the bright screen on these old Minoltas, and the match needle metering is - well, more graceful than most. The shutter sounds a bit tinny, but that's my only criticism. Nice camera.

[TimF]

That's a heck of a lot less than you paid for your XE-1 and who needs a Leica R SLR when you can get the basis of the R3 as in the XE-1

Hmm. Let's start with the spotmeter you get with the R3, and then there's those Leica lenses which is the reason for choosing Solms over Tokyo (or anywhere else in 35mm).

[Benchista]

I have to say that the XE-1 makes me want an R3 more!

[RonM]

Hey, I thought you were talking about getting rid of some of your 'extensive' collection including some rather tasty German engineering to fund buying some bit of 'crapon' Japanese kit

[Mat]

Hmm. Let's start with the spotmeter you get with the R3, and then there's those Leica lenses which is the reason for choosing Solms over Tokyo (or anywhere else in 35mm).

Just out interest didn't Leica nick a few of the Minolta lens designs and rebadge them for their own use?
I believe they did this with the 24mm (2.8) and with the 80-200 mm Rokkor MD, probably with some others as well after 'co designing' the XD7/ R4.

[Larry Shone]

These would be ideal cameras to answer the question 'What camera should I buy' posed by beginners on here.
Superb machines, and so bloody cheap its unreal!

[PaulatUKcamera]

My best friend has now bought the XD7 - preferred it to the X700. Also wanted the £4.20 Sigma 35-70 Zoom lens.

Made my first profit on a camera - ever. As my son said to me the other day "Now you have learnt to buy on eBay, do you think you could learn to sell?"

However temptation is still laying in wait:
A Minolta 35-70 zoom lens for £21

a power winder for £8

A hard case for £4.20

and a Minolta 35mm Wide Angle for £8

Nearly got a complete X700 outfit now for £60!

The hunt continues ..........

Paul

[RonM]

Well I'm still hunting for a 70 - 210 f/4 MD Rokkor and either 85mm f/1.7 MD Rokkor or 85mm f/2 MD Rokkor-X or 85mm f/2.8 MD Varisoft for sensible money but as all these so rarely come up for sale anywhere and tend to go for silly money e.g. a recent 70 - 210 f/4 MD Rokkor went for well over £200 and a 85mm f/1.7 MD Rokkor went for just under £300. so I'll keep hoping that something turns up 'cheap' or just hope that the lotto comes up

[Larry Shone]

My best friend has now bought the XD7 - preferred it to the X700.

I think I would too if it had TTL flash.

[Malcolm_Stewart]

Well I'm still hunting for a ... ... 85mm f/2 MD Rokkor-X

Bought an 85 f2 MD Rokkor years ago, and it's one of the few lenses which has caused non-photographers to remark on the sharpness of the print. It was several years before I found one, and I'm not selling mine.
(I know where there were a few beaten up 85 f2 AIs Nikkors, but that's another story!)

[PaulatUKcamera]

Those lenses are still fetching good money - more than the Nikon equivalent. Watching another one, but I think it will end up beyond my pocket!

Now for those interested in the quest for the cheapest quality reflex for least money - my latest purchase: Minolta XGM £6.76

I think if there are to be any rules for this competition may I propose:

EBay only - that stops people who have local access to the Wapping swap meets getting an unfair advantage.
Small repairs allowed (e.g. leather, light trapping), non working meters shutters - camera disqualified - must be a working camera)
Ignore postage, so that allows overseas purchases.
Condition - obviously some real dogs out there. A badly scratched black finish always looks aweful, but might work well. Not certain how to deal with this point. Any ideas?

Auto only SLRS - handicap of +£5 on purchase price (inferior spec)
Multi mode - handicap of £-5 (better spec)
Leica Contax - Handicap of -£15 (Prestige make?)
No APS

Under this ruling my purchases would rate

1. XG9 = £10 (includes lens)
2. XGM = £6.75 (no lens)

3. XD7 = £21.75 - £5 = £16.75 But non operational Shutter Priority (not disqualified? Works on all other settings)
4. X700 = £22 - £5 = £17

What are your thoughts?
Any entrants? We could make this a proper thread if there is any interest with a Prize!


Paul

[Benchista]

Can't quite touch that - my best Minolta purchase was my SR-T 100X at £9.99 - although my Zenit EM at £2.99 with TWO standard lenses is close, just falls down a bit on the quality aspect.

Both of these are manual, of course - how would you score that?

[El_Sid]

Best I can manage are

Canon AE1-Program and Canon FD 50mm f1.8 for £10
Yashica Electro 35 GSN for a fiver.

Both bought on the same day at two different charity shops.........

[Benchista]

I was wrong - the Zenit was £2.19.
I've also got a Praktica PLC3 for £9.99.

[Lounge Lizard]

...say next year, we could have a digital compact challenge for under a tenner and the year after a dSLR challenge (under £50?).

[Benchista]

And a Praktica BMS for £9.91.