I am blessed enough to have a nice size collection of cameras, and even further blessed that most of my collection came from friends and family. One of those cameras is my Minolta XE-7 that was given to me by my friend Alex Luyckx. If you are an active member of the film community I’m sure you know him from his podcast The Classic Camera Revival or his informative website on all things film. Alex was kind enough to pass the camera on to me when he found out I had still never tried a Minolta camera. Here are my first thoughts on the Minolta XE-7.
First Thoughts on the Minolta XE-7
I’m not going to get into specs and history here. That will be for my actual review of this camera. Today I just want to share a few thoughts and photos I’ve accumulated so far.
The smooth shutter and advance on the XE-7 stood out to me right away. Kind of like the smooth system on my Nikon F3 I’ve talked about, this can be dangerous when trying to save money on film. Otherwise I find myself just taking photo after photo.
The lenses also are great. They’re affordable, fast, and I love the look they render.
Photos from the Minolta XE-7
I shot these with the Rokkor 50mm f/1.7 on Kodak TX 400 pushed to 800. This film has replaced Ilford HP5 as my go-to for some reason as of late.
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This lens has a great shallow depth of field wide open.
Final Thoughts
I’m excited to start really shooting with this camera. Right now because of my health, my reviews have been put on hold, so I haven’t been able to shoot much more.
I really like the results I got even on these test rolls. That’s always a great feeling when you first get a camera. Thank you Alex for sending this one my way!
What about you all? Do you have or have you ever tried an XE-7? Do you recommend I pick up any specific lenses or accessories for it? Chat with me in the comments.
Until next time, stay motivated and keep shooting.
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I started out with a Minolta SRT200 back in 1981 and recently came back to the brand (I also shoot Leica and Canon).
Of all Minolta cameras, the XE series are my favorites (I own two, a chrome XE and a black XE-7, one for color, the other for black and white). The later X-700 (1981) is probably the most popular Minolta and most regard the XD-11 (1977) as the BEST Minolta, but for me the XE (1974) is king. It is just so well made, so smooth, and the shutter release so fast with among the shortest shutter lag of any SLR ever made. It is also clearly built to a much higher than usual standard and was clearly marketed and sold as a luxury item aimed at serious enthusiasts rather than the more casual photographer.
As for lenses, do you light light weight or heavy and sturdy? The optics are excellent on almost any Minolta lens, but there is a big difference in the build quality of the light weight MD lenses (the latest without “Rokkor” in the name) and the heavy metal of the MC and early MD Rokkor lenses. Optically newer is usually, but not always better, but is always much smaller and lighter and also always more flare resistant with more advanced coatings.
My favorites for light weight MD lenses are the MD 50mm f/2, MD Rokkor 45mm f/2 (a real gem), MD 35mm f/2.8 and MD 24mm f/2.8 and MD 28mm f/2 which are not so small or light, but optically amazing with floating elements.
For the heavy metal lenses my favorites are the MC Rokkor-PG 50mm f/1.4, the MC Rokkor PG 58mm f/1.2 (expensive and heavy, the metal focus ring versions are radioactive and rubber focus ring versions are not), MC W.Rokkor-HH 35mm f/1.8 (a beast) and the always radioactive MC W.Rokkor SI 28mm f/2.5.
Thanks so much for all of the info Andrew!
Never shot a Minolta. However, I understand they have many very nices lenses. Maybe someday I will port one over to either Nikon or Leica. If it can be mounted.
Your daughter is quickly growing up. I remember when she first came home as a newborn.
Yes she is growing so fast I can’t keep up.
Thanks for reading!
Welcome to the MinoltaGang!
Fun fact, (you might already be aware of) is that the XE-7 is the chassis that the Leica R3 is built on. The shutter is a Minolta/Leitz Copal. And yes, that film advance is so silky, you can burn a roll of film without even thinking…
I highly recommend the Minolta 35-70mm f3.5, one of the best vintage zooms ever made IMO. A zoom so good, it was rebadged for Leitz.
That explains a lot! Thanks for the info and the recommendation. I wanted a zoom.