Camera Talk

With a move out of our house to an apartment getting closer, I'm continuing to cut down on my photo equipment. Gone are the miscellaneous slrs, the redundant rangefinders, and all except one of the first generation P&S cameras. I no longer have an enlarger though I have negative carriers that someone maybe will want. So now I have to figure out what I want to keep. Putting some PT posts together will help me give the candidate cameras a serious workout.

I have a Minolta X-700 that was an impulse buy when Target stopped selling it in about 1985. I've really liked it and taken many photos with it. This past summer I put a roll of Tri-X in it and used it to document some changes happening at a busy intersection in our neighborhood. The intersection is Selby and Snelling in St. Paul. Following are some photos taken in July, 2015.
A fairly typical housing set-up on Selby just West of the Short Line Bridge. There is no alley South of Selby so residents have to back out into heavy traffic moving from one freeway(I-35E) to another (I-94) which have no direct connection. Selby is zoned for a mixed use.
Moving a little farther West along Selby brings you to a section that still keeps the flavor, though not the particular businesses, of earlier times. This is a long block with mostly street parking and residential street permit parking--upshot being that people will want to cross in the middle rather than walking all the way down to the traffic light.
Turning the corner to go South on Snelling you see the front of a business that has lasted since 1941 and expanded-- O'Gara's bar; their parking lot and extension of the original space take up the whole West side of the block.
On the Northwest corner of the intersection is a business that deals in "fine things", a new and attractive use of the old corner space. Small, similar shops in the same building extend to the West.

A surprise to many, Whole Foods will move its current store from about a mile SW this spring to the Northeast corner of Selby & Snelling, occupying retail space in a large apartment building. How the traffic will move is a mystery to me; maybe I'll be able take some photos a few months from now that will show what's happening
(Tri-X developed in D76, 1:1 and scanned at home with some lighting adjustments in PS Elements. I used the High Pass filter for the second photo.)

Bill Delehanty

Keep it, Bill. They don't make 'em like that any more!

Yes, if I were you I'd keep it. That O'Gara's picture is lovely!

The only Minolta I kept when I got rid of the rest.

They are great cameras, as long as the capacitors hold up. But then they are so plentiful, It's cheaper to just buy another one. You can use a winder on them, and there is a wide range of lenses available that will also work on the SRT series cameras. It's also a light camera body, but doesn't feel cheap when being operated.

You don't say how extensive your lens group is for the Minolta, Bill, or what the other candidate cameras are, but I can recommend the X-700 as a keeper. If you want total readout in the viewfinder, you can always get an X-570.

PF

Thanks to Graham, Bennybee, Larry, and PF for your replies. I've liked the X-700 and have been puzzled by the occasional slams it gets online; your responses fit with my experience. PF, you're right, I do have some good MC and MD lenses which I wouldn't want to give up, including a 28mm f/3.5 MC and a 135mm f/3.5 MD which I've used frequently; also the 280PX flash for the X-700 is the best for people pictures that I've had (though not at the GN that Minolta claims). Thanks again.

Bill

Part of that on the GN is that as flashes age they just don't put out the same power as new.

I have fond memories of the Minolta XE-5 I once bought used. It's 50mm Rokkor had a nice warm rendering, and I regret having sold that set again. Back then I thought I was accumulating too much gear and too many different brands. Of course, we all know a man can't have too much camera gear. Little did I know a few years ago...

I really like those Minolta reflex. There was a very decent zoom lens sold as a kit with the X-700, the 35-70 f3.5. Minolta working with Leitz made some great glass, both for SLR and rangefinder. I have a standard 28/2.8 MD (49mm filter) really nice lens with gentle bokeh for a wide-angle.

Thanks, Kreuznach777, for your reply. I've been using Minolta SLRs since 1981 or 1982 and have liked all that I've tried. I, too have the 28mm MD lens but it gets competition from the MC 28mm f/3.5 which is a lot heavier but very efficient.

Bill Delehanty