In praise of the Minolta Hi-matic 7SII

I have always wanted one of these, but other people want them too and they usually go for higher prices than I am willing to pay. The Hi-Matics are nice cameras but a little large. I imagine that the 7SII is a great camera but in a smaller, better looking package.
 
Fawley said:
I have always wanted one of these, but other people want them too and they usually go for higher prices than I am willing to pay. The Hi-Matics are nice cameras but a little large. I imagine that the 7SII is a great camera but in a smaller, better looking package.
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I wanted one as well. Every time I got a hankering for one (black of course!) the prices always stopped me. Got a Vivitar 35ES for $50 instead. Sadly, I left it in my glove box and it was stolen! Great lens on it.
 
My very first non-SLR camera was a Minolta G (intuitive focus, decent meter), which of course made me wish for one of these. Again, prices were a turn-off. However, I did get a Canonet instead and history (my own) took an entirely different course... :)

However... I'll take a peek at the sales of this camera.
 
The Hi-Matic's that you're referring to must be a lot larger than my Hi-Matic E, as this camera is about as small a camera that my hands can hold!It's certainly a lovely camera though..
regards,Peter
 
Moto-Uno said:
The Hi-Matic's that you're referring to must be a lot larger than my Hi-Matic E, as this camera is about as small a camera that my hands can hold!It's certainly a lovely camera though..
regards,Peter
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I have two Hi-Matic 7s, they get a fair amount of use but I do find them on the large side. I have always thought that a 7SII is more the size of a Canonet QL-17 which is a much easier camera to pack around.
 
I've had a 7sII and it was very well made. Overall, I prefer the Hi-Matic E. I think the lens is better and it has automatic parallax compensation.
 
kshapero said:
memories....it went to Mexico with me in '83 and then again to Japan in '84.

http://www.rokkorfiles.com/7SII.htm
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I have two of them and think it's a terrific camera with a great lens. I had purchased a silver one for my brother for a wedding gift in the late 70's that has come back to me recently, and a black one that I bought for myself in the early 80's.

Only shortcomings I've found are the small viewfinder with small, dim focus patch, wobbly lens barrel and the fact that manual exposure is un-metered.

All-in-all a very desirable rangefinder that is easy to operate, looks great, and most importantly takes great pictures.
 
I bought one of these used for £25 in 1988 totally unaware of the camera's quality, I was delighted when I started using it of course and kept it for years, I eventually sold it for spare parts for over £100 after I fell on top of it onto a granite wall!
 
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