Minolta Maxxum 5000i

I bought the Maxxum 5000i at a flea market last summer without knowing much about it.  I just figured it was probably worth the $15 that the dealer was asking. The Maxxum 5000i by default has two exposure modes: program and manual. If you want more you have to buy an expansion card that adds aperture and shutter priority.  The 5000i probably was the first camera to do this.  And it might have been the last for all I know.  Although I can see how requiring the purchase of a card to add features to a camera might have once seemed like a good idea.  So far I haven't felt motivated to find an expansion card for this camera.  And I would guess that if I had been in the market for a camera at the time I would have been more likely to buy a camera that came with the features I wanted instead of having to mess with additional cards. 

You may have noticed the built-in flash. I'm not sure if this is the first time that an SLR had a built-in flash, however I would guess it was one of the earliest.  The flash would fire when needed while in program mode.  It also was possible to turn the flash off.  I didn't take any flash pictures with this camera so I don't know how well it works.

The 5000i came with a f/4-5.6 35-80mm zoom lens.  From my reading it appears that this isn't one of Minolta's highly regarded lenses.  Still in the one roll of film that I shot I found it to be decent enough.  The 5000i was the mid-level camera in the series that followed the original famous Maxxum AF cameras.  The auto focus has a new feature called predictive auto focus which can help with focus on moving subjects.  I haven't shot any moving subjects with this camera so I don't know how well it works.  You also could get continuous auto focus with an expansion card.

Since it has been almost a year since I took the photos here I don't remember a lot about what my experience of using the 5000i was.  Obviously I wasn't so impressed that it became a camera that I use regularly.  Still when I was recently looking at the these images I was thinking that it certainly is a good camera.  Probably one that I wouldn't feel bad about using if my options were more limited.  And I do have to admit that it makes me think that maybe if I don't have time for this camera than maybe I have too many cameras. 

I believe the images here are on Kentmere 400 developed in Xtol.

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.

Photography Directories, 126 Film SLR etc...

Popular Photography published a yearly special issue about currently available photo equipment.  For all I know they may still do so, however my interest is in the ones from the film era. This one is from 1955. Notice that the man is holding some kind of stereo camera.


















I like to find issues of old photography magazines that have lot of information about the cameras that were out at the time the magazine was published.  Usually such issues would come out in December.  I tend to think that I may be one of the few people who are interested in these issues since I am almost always the only person making a bid for one on Ebay. I would guess that some of the issue may be that they often seem to be over-priced.  It takes some patience to find auctions where the prices are more reasonable.  I do find it funny that some dealers on Ebay will keep listing the same item for an unrealistic price over and over again.  I would think that after a while they would get the idea that nobody wants to pay that price.  I suppose this is like the stuff you see setting in an antique store for an unrealistic price every time you go in for what seems like years.

Anyway I find a lot that is interesting to me in these old magazines.  Here is a PDF sample of a page from the 1955 Photography Directory. I particularly find it interesting to see what cameras cost at that time and what options were available for the camera.  Along with the camera listing there are listings for the leading camera accessories of the day.  Here is a PDF file showing some of the listings for flash photography in this time before electronic flash.

Recently I got four Photography Directories from the 1970's for around $12.  The first one is from 1973 and the last is from 1979.  One thing I noticed is how the listings for 126 film cameras decreased during the 1970's.  In 1973 there were two lisings for a SLR using 126 film.  The first was from Kodak.

The second is from Ricoh. 

I imagine these were the nicest 126 cameras made.  I have never used 126 film so I don't know much about it.  I have heard that there were problems with the cartridge that made it impossible to keep the film flat.  And that this problem doomed the format with serious photographers.  With photographers who weren't so serious I would guess that 110 cameras hurt 126 film.  At least at the time I can remember a lot of the people that I knew who used 126 cameras getting 110 cameras instead. That process seems to be reflected in the listings in the camera directories.  By 1979 there are only a few 126 cameras and a lot of 110 cameras.  One of these cameras was the Minolta Zoom 110.

I have one of these and will post some more about it once I get around to taking some pictures with it.  It is a cool looking camera, however it probably points to at least some of what did 110 film in.  The Minolta 110 Zoom is actually bigger than my 35mm Olympus XA.  Actually if it bigger than several of my 35mm cameras.  It seems that once features like zoom lenses were added to 110 cameras that they lost whatever advantage they might have had in size.  So why use a format with reduced image size and quality when you could use a similar sized 35mm camera? 

So that is a little of what I find in these old magazines. 

Minolta Hi-Matic AF2

Type: Auto focus with automatic exposure control
Lens: Minolta 38mm f/2.8 4 elements in 3 groups.
Shutter: Electronic, set automatically from 1/8 to 1/430
Battery: Two AA













I bought this Minolta Hi-Matic AF2 for my parents back in 1981. I wanted them to have an easy to use camera that took quality photos.  And this camera met expectations.  While cameras with auto exposure had been around for a while by 1981, auto focus was fairly new.  I think auto focus was first offered in the Konica C35 AF in 1977.  I do remember that at the time I held all the auto exposure/auto focus stuff in low regard.  I may have even have held the opinion that it would never catch on with real photographers.

Anyway my parents used this camera up until a few years ago.  When I got interesting in film again and saw that they were no longer using it I grabbed it mostly for sentimental reasons.  It took a while before I got around to taking some pictures with it.

When I did I was surprised by how much I like the results.  The lens is pretty sharp with good contrast.  The auto focus works well and the auto exposure is excellent. There is of course the disadvantage that I have no control over any of the settings.  So this isn't the camera to use if I want to have some control over things like depth of field.  Still it is very good for a quick walk-around camera.  Another thing I like about the Minolta AF2 is that it is manual winding instead of the noisy motor-drives that many cameras of this era have.  The resulting quietness and the automatic operation of this camera would likely make it a very good street camera.

Barbershop at the old Illinois Central passenger depot in Champaign IL












The Minolta Hi-matic AF2 also has a built-in electronic flash.  While that is commonplace today it was somewhat of a new thing in 1981. I personally have no idea of how well it works since I am not much for flash photography.

The camera focuses when you press lightly on the shutter with the auto focus zone marks(at the center of the viewfinder) covering the main area of focus.  A symbol lights up to tell you if the focus is close or far. You can pre-set the focus by focusing on your subject and then continuing to press on the shutter while recomposing your picture.  Pretty much this operation should be familiar to anyone who has used auto focus on today's cameras.

I am tending to think that the Minolta Hi-Matic AF2 may become one of my first choices for a quick walk-around camera. I think this must have been a very popular camera in its day because there are a lot of them for sale on places like Ebay.  They are pretty inexpensive.  The search I did for completed auctions showed a price range of $2 to $27.  I think the low price reflects an abundant supply rather than a lack of respect from photographers.  Most of what I have read about the Minolta Hi-Matic AF2 has been positive.  It reminds me of the case with the Yashica Electro GSN where another excellent camera sells for very little mostly because there are so many of them.

Minolta Hi-Matic AF2 Gallery