Monday, June 11, 2012

A Famous Camera and a Obscure Camera

Introduced in 1985 the Minolta Maxxum 7000 was the first camera to use an in-body auto focus system.












Probably the Minolta Maxxum is one of the most well-known cameras.  It's success established the demand for auto focus in SLR cameras.  I found this one at a church sale for $10.  It shows some wear, however it seems to function well.  Its not a camera that I was seeking, but now that I have it I think I will enjoy it.  There was a roll of Kodak Max 800 with eight exposures already in the camera.  I have not idea how old the film is.  I will finish up the roll and see what I get. 


Zoom Range: 35mm Wide angle to 55 mm
Electronic Flash: 4 feet to 12 feet range
Power: 2 AA alkaline batteries
Motorized film advance and rewind








The most interesting thing about the Kalimar Autowind Zoom is that it has a manual zoom.  So far I haven't seen that in the cheap plastic point & shoots.  I also kinda liked the way it looks. I think I am safe in saying that The Kalimar Autowind Zoom never was or ever will be a famous camera.  Still it is marginally more interesting than many of the cameras that I see of this type.  And it was only 50 cents.

I also picked up an another Agfa Isoflash Rapid this weekend for $3.  I got it mostly because it had a rapid cassette and was in almost new condition with a nice case. I have to admit that these various Agfa Iso rapid cameras have grown on me.  I need to get around to putting some color film in a rapid cassette and see what kind of result I get.

Have been running behind today.  Hopefully no one was relying on my usual Monday morning posts. Looks like cameras are still scare in the garage sales around here.

5 comments:

  1. A friend of mine had a lesser Maxxum and it broke. So I found another body for her on eBay for $20. Then I thought she ought to also have a prime lens to go with the zoom lens she had. The cheapest way to get that lens was already attached to another body -- ever notice how that sometimes happens? The body it was attached to was a Maxxum 7000. I thought I might keep it, but I played with it some and decided to give it to her as well. I just couldn't get excited about it. It worked too well. I guess I like my old cameras to have a little quirk to them, or at least to make you work a little for the photograph.

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  2. I have noticed that often the lens and a camera will sell for less than the lens alone. A good example of that is the Sears TLS with a 1.4 lens. I have seen that lens by itself sell for as high as $70. However I have bought two different versions of the camera body with the same lens for less than $20. I am kinda interested in seeing what results I get from the lens in this camera. I'm like you in that I think I like the more manual cameras. In the Minolta line I'd like to find a SRT 101. I am hoping to run across one this summer before I resort to some place like Ebay or KEH.

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  3. I bought an SRT-101 on eBay not long ago with a prime lens and a zoom lens. I troll the "ending soonest" auctions sometimes looking for bargains, often auctions that for whatever reason didn't attract much attention. This SRT was one of those.

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    Replies
    1. Here are some pictures that one of my Flickr contacts made of a road trip in 1975 using her SRT-101.
      http://www.flickr.com/photos/galechicago/sets/72157603788185827/

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    2. I stumbled upon that set years ago. I love it! Great stuff. I lived in Terre Haute from 1985 to 1994 and so it was especially interesting to see her photos from there. I recognized all the places but boy had they changed.

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