 Christy Freeberg |
Minolta X-700 ~ feedback needed please! Hello! Looking for a bit of a heads up on this camera- I have to provide a film camera for a high school photography class that my step daughter will take next year, a co- worked of mine- a former tatoo artist offered to sell me the following:) Minolta X-700 with 1:2.8 f=35mm lens Vivitar Macroflash 5000 Tonika SD 70-210 mm lens Has anyone used this camera? Is it a good model to learn on? I'm strictly digital so I have no clue here- Thanks for any info!
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John P. Sandstedt |
I used the Minolta SRT201 for many, many years. My brother used the X-700. Minolta products were excellent. He made many great shots. The only problem - it's an old camera, maybe more than 25 years old. You need to be sure the shutter is working properly nad accurately. A 35 mm lens doesn't sound right. Are you sure it's not a 35-80 mm zoom or a 45 mm fixed focal length lens?
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Christy Freeberg |
all I can see on the lense that's attached- on the front of the ring it says: MC W.ROKKOR-X 1:2.8 f=35 MM 1016309 Minlota lens ...then of course made in japan- ?? I'm going to pick up some film ..... that will be strange- haven't had a film camera in at least 10 years:)
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Jon Close |
Rokkor 35mm f/2.8 is a good lens. It's just odd that the previous owner had this moderate wide-angle lens instead of the far more common 50mm normal lens that these old SLRs had as standard.
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Christy Freeberg |
the owner of this camera is a tatoo artist- he used to it take photos of his work- he bought it from a previous tatoo artist as well....... my co-worked said he and another photog had everything set for that use only and didn't use it for anything else:)
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BetterPhoto Member |
Hi Christy; The Minolta X700 is an excellent student camera. Jon, it was offered with a 35mm f2.8 wide angle in the mid '80s. It was also offered as a body only sale. I upgraded to the X700 in 1981. I have purchased many lenses for it through the years. You may want to go on ebay and get a 50mm for it. They are offered in several aperture ranges. I would opt for the 50mm f1.4 or the f1.2 if you can find one. The X700 was built to replace the XD-11. The only option lacking on the X700 that the XD-11 had is shutter priority. The X700 was also equipped to take the MD-1 motor drive which offers a setting of 4.5 frames per second. Many lenses are still available for it, and ebay has alot of lenses and accessories for little of nothing. Ir's a great bulletproof camera that will give you many years of service with proper care. Have fun and keep shooting,
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Christy Freeberg |
thanks so much for all of the feed back! As much as my step daughter dreads shooting with a film camera, I myself and kinda of anxious to play with it a bit!
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Christopher A. Walrath |
Yeah, the Minolta x-, sr- series cameras are workhorses. Great cameras. Lenses sound good as well. I might suggest upgrading the flash to a Vivitar 2800 or some such. But as to whether or not the camera will suffice, a big resounding YES!!!!!!!!!!!! Thank you, Chris
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BetterPhoto Member |
Actually Christy, I would opt for a better flash than the Vivitar 2800. There are many different flashes on the market which are much higher powered thar are dedicated to the X700. Promaaster makes a line that are real workhorses. There also flashes by sunpak that are dedicated are able to allow you to be very creative. Vivitar offers many flashes which are very professional in quality and durability.
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