Northeast camera sucks.

In the late 1980s, photographers with good family conditions would choose Ricoh if they bought a camera, and those with better conditions and knowledge might choose Minolta.

At that time, although there were Nikon and Canon cameras on the domestic market, they were not affordable for ordinary people, and they were generally purchased by the government and were large units with relatively high levels.

I used Ricoh KR 10 camera at that time, and we also used his camera when we went out to interview. What impressed me most at that time was that the viewfinder of Minolta X-700 was particularly bright and very comfortable. Of course, the X-700 is higher than the Ricoh 10 I used, and the camera at Ricoh's level is a simplified Minolta X-300.

Later, I began to study cameras, and I learned more. The biggest feeling is that Minolta camera is not as famous and popular as Nikon and Canon, but it is an innovator, especially in electronics, and has always been ahead, winning the "European Camera Award" six times.

1982- 1983 (first place) Award-winning camera Minolta X-700

1985- 1986 (4th) Award-winning Camera Minolta A-7000

1988- 1989 (7th) Award-winning camera Minolta Dynaz 7000i

199 1- 1992 (10th) Award-winning camera Dynaz 7 xi

1992- 1993 (the first 1 1) Award-winning camera Dynaz 9 xi

1994- 1995 (3rd/kloc-0) Award-winning camera Dynaz 700 si

It can be seen that before 1995, Minolta cameras almost occupied half of the world's highest-level "European Camera Award", except Minolta Dynaz 9 xi cameras, almost all of them had the serial number of "7". During this period, Minolta camera won an award almost every "7". Is Minolta's "7" series beautiful?

Among them, Minolta A-7000, which won the fourth prize, is the world's first autofocus SLR camera and a landmark product.

Seeing this, some people will question: What is Minolta XD-7 mentioned in my title? Doesn't it also have a "7"? Why didn't you win the prize?

Let's start with Minolta XD-7 camera: 1977, and the "European Camera Award" was not established in that year (this evaluation was only started at 1982).

Born too early and missed the "college entrance examination", it can be said that it was untimely. If I catch up, I must also win the prize.

Minolta XD-7 (also known as Minolta XD, XD-s, XD- 1 1) is the best camera developed by Minolta in 1970s, and it is also the first camera with manual exposure and automatic double priority (aperture priority and shutter priority). Coupled with the autofocus function of Minolta 7000, it has become a milestone in the history of cameras and is also the present.

Today, I played most of Minolta's SLR, but my favorite body is this Minolta XD-7. Although it is a camera more than 40 years ago, its appearance is still beautiful and playful, the function keyboard setting is very clear and concise, and the metal shell material is also very good. I don't feel outdated and outdated when I hold it in my hand.

What I am most addicted to is its shutter sound, which is very supple and light. It seems to be equipped with a silencer. In fact, it is equipped with air shock absorption and sound absorption devices. The sound is light and the vibration is small, which is the best shutter sound for SLR cameras.

Minolta XD-7 used an electronically controlled longitudinal focal plane steel shutter, which was later applied to advanced Leica R4 and R5 cameras, giving Minolta enough face.

Some people say that Minolta X700 is not bad, and now the second-hand market is not bad. Many people are looking for it. It is a latecomer, and its kinetic energy should be more advanced and more suitable for use.

I don't like Minolta X700 very much for several reasons: First, the fuselage is plastic and looks ugly; Second, its exposure has no speed priority (changed to flicker program P), and I think speed priority is sometimes useful; Third, its starting capacitor is particularly bad, and many cameras will have this problem.

When writing this article, I rummaged through five Minolta fuselage, of which XD-7 three (two white and one black) are intact; Two X-700 s, one of which is broken (the capacitor needs to be replaced).

Let's talk about the award-winning camera Minolta 7000, which gave birth to the first lens AF function (autofocus) and led the SLR camera into a new era, which made people stunned for some time. However, this unusual camera is extremely inferior in material selection. It can be said that it is the "floor" of Japanese SLR cameras, and there is nothing worse than this.

Plastic materials can be used. Japanese cameras began to use a lot of plastic materials in the 1980s. However, this "high-tech" camera is made of the lowest plastic. After a few years, the plastic of the fuselage will age, and there are "slag" around the battery compartment of many cameras, which is terrible. It is difficult to find a collection with good color now. No wonder no one wants to sell a fuselage for one or two hundred yuan in the second-hand market.

As mentioned earlier, in the 1980s and 1990s, Minolta camera won the European camera awards for many times, mainly because of its technological research and development and leadership, especially its foresight and leadership in electronics. Minolta cameras were once at the forefront of the world in technology.

However, in the digital age, Minolta appeared to be lacking in stamina and absent-minded, and as a result, it was left behind and finally eliminated.

First, we cooperate with Konica. The short-lived Konica Minolta digital camera is just an attempt. As a result, nothing was reversed, and it was simply transferred to Sony. After Sony took over, it briefly continued Minolta's routine and produced a digital SLR camera with Minolta AF bayonet. Then it gave up and turned to its own micro camera. Now it has become the boss of digital SLR.

(Of course, Sony's micro-single also made a breakthrough in the "7" series and became an epoch-making Quan Huafu famous machine)

This also shows the importance of technology and innovation. In addition, in the film age, Minolta has always been a short board on the lens, although its fuselage scenery is infinite, as I said in another article describing Ricoh: the body runs too fast and the soul doesn't keep up.

Minolta also has this problem. Although I have cooperated with Lycra in history, I didn't take the opportunity to improve the lens level. It can be said that it has failed the times and wasted opportunities.

Looking through my own inventory, I found that the Minolta lens I brought in was really just a few headers. I once received a 35/ 1.8 wide-angle lens and a 250/5.6 foldback lens, but the foldback lens was later "ground" and I regret it now.

And this Minolta 250/5.6 lens has now become the "brightest child" in the folding lens in the photography circle. ......