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