The Second Minolta X-700 To Cross my Path
"I hear you still shoot with film, do you want my old Dad's old gear?"
Minolta X-700's have a habit of finding me. My first one wound up in my brother's hands along with my SRT202 a few years back when I was thinning my systems down. The Minoltas came back along with another X-700.
Being the last of X series, the X-700 was Minolta's flagship manual focus camera replacing the XD series and I consider it the true competition to the Canon A-1 and AE1 Program. Minolta wanted to capture both the beginner and advanced amateur photographer. I also own a Minolta X-570 you can tell it has been used. The X-700's look like they was used for family photos and that's it. Like Canon Minolta embraced better living through plastic construction to save costs, the XD vertical copal shutter was replaced with cloth. Nothing wrong with plastic construction, if you are out hiking or traveling that might be a good thing. Just don't drop it.
Minolta's last generation MD lenses are sleepers, especially if you come across the 75-150 F4 Zoom, that's a lens Leica should have put an R mount on. The 50 f2 Minolta MD lens is the cheap and cheerful kit lens, and it does the job perfectly and is great for landscape work.
If you have a decent sized Minolta collection, I would look at the X-700 as a great vacation camera. It's light, full-featured, the last generation MD glass is still dreamy. This X-700 is staying.
Camera: Minolta X-700, Minolta MD 50 f2 and 28 f2.8 lens.
Film: Rollei RPX 400, RPX D 1+11.
Minolta X-700's have a habit of finding me. My first one wound up in my brother's hands along with my SRT202 a few years back when I was thinning my systems down. The Minoltas came back along with another X-700.
Being the last of X series, the X-700 was Minolta's flagship manual focus camera replacing the XD series and I consider it the true competition to the Canon A-1 and AE1 Program. Minolta wanted to capture both the beginner and advanced amateur photographer. I also own a Minolta X-570 you can tell it has been used. The X-700's look like they was used for family photos and that's it. Like Canon Minolta embraced better living through plastic construction to save costs, the XD vertical copal shutter was replaced with cloth. Nothing wrong with plastic construction, if you are out hiking or traveling that might be a good thing. Just don't drop it.
Minolta's last generation MD lenses are sleepers, especially if you come across the 75-150 F4 Zoom, that's a lens Leica should have put an R mount on. The 50 f2 Minolta MD lens is the cheap and cheerful kit lens, and it does the job perfectly and is great for landscape work.
If you have a decent sized Minolta collection, I would look at the X-700 as a great vacation camera. It's light, full-featured, the last generation MD glass is still dreamy. This X-700 is staying.
Camera: Minolta X-700, Minolta MD 50 f2 and 28 f2.8 lens.
Film: Rollei RPX 400, RPX D 1+11.
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