Minolta X-700 A 35mm Single Lens Camera

Camera By Gil

Minolta X-700

The Minolta X-700 was a slr camera that was introduced by Minolta in 1981. It was a compact slr camera. It was the top model of their final manual focus slr camera series before the introduction of their auto focus series. This slr camera was produced from 1981 up to 2001. A testament to its marketability and popularity. The Minolta x-700 has sold more than 3 million units worldwide. Due to its long span of production you can use the camera focus lenses that Minolta produced from the 1960 up to the present. Due to its no frills ease of use beginners to advanced photographers loved it. It was awarded “European Camera Of The Year” for 1981. What made the Minolta X-700 popular was its introduction of program mode. In addition to its metered manual ans aperture priority exposure modes it also sported a new program mode. It enabled complete control of both aperture and shutter speed. For the first time in the camera world, a sophisticated slr camera can be used by a person who has no knowledge about photography. The program mode made it the ultimate point and shoot slr camera. Making it easier for people who wants to learn photography.

Specifications

The body of the Minolta X-700 is composed of steel wrapped around a plastic frame encased in metal making it a sturdy yet compact slr camera. it was a single lens reflex AE camera. It has 3 exposure control modes mainly. “P” for fully programmed. “A” for aperture priority automatic. And “M” for metered manual. The lens mount for the Minolta X-700 is a bayonet type with 54 degree rotating angle. Exposure and control for this slr camera uses low voltage, low current computer circuit with a quartz crystal for sequential control. It uses a horizontal travel focal plane shutter, that is electronically controlled with speed from 1/1000 to 4 seconds. It uses a triple coated oversize instant return slide up type mirror. It uses 2 1.5v alkaline manganese or 1.55v silver oxide batteries to power it up. It is also equipped with a self timer with a 10 second delay. It weighs 505 grams without lens and battery. Size ia 52.5 x 89 x 137 mm a perfect size for a compact slr camera.

My Camera

I was able to get my hands on this Minolta x-700 camera a few days ago. It was very dirty and full of dust. A walk in customer from my Junk Shop was the one who brought this to me and asked me if it can also be sold and weighed for scrap. I politely said to him that it can be sold for scrap but you have to disassemble it first before weighing it. I then said to him that I will just buy it from him as is and the price will be much better than weighing it for scrap. He said yes and then left my junk shop. When I had the unit I cleaned it with some cotton cloth to remove the dust and dirt. Afterwards I inspected the body to see if it has some damage and luckily there was none even the lens has no scratch on it. I don’t know if it still works it is another camera that I would let my photographer check out if it still works or not. This Minolta x-700 is a good compact slr camera to add to someone’s collection and if you decided to use it there are still plenty of parts available that can be use.