Minolta

[daveleo]

Is the word "Minolta" going around a lot these days?
Maybe I have been sensitized to it for some reason, but, it seems that lots of people lately are referring to (and buying) Minolta lenses.

I always loved the "look" out of their lenses, and just bought (another) 50mm to fit onto my Fuji XE1. Yet it seems that I am on a bandwagon with lots of other people.

Certainly the prices of their used "legends" are holding up very well in these digital times.

 

[back alley]

minolta always made some of the finest lenses avaialable...some of them were rated very highly in the pop photo mags of their time...

 

[mwoenv]

There are many Minolta manual focus lenses available (and they are very good) because when they went to auto focus (Maxxum bodies) they changed the lens mount and the manual focus lenses could not be used. Apparently people abandoned these lenses so there are many available. This probably also led to Minolta fans leaving and to Minolta's demise.

 

[zuiko85]

Still using a Minolta 16II. It has a 3 element/3 group, 22mm f2.8 lens. Does that count? Tests with film indicate it will resolve about 65 lp/mm.

Come to think about it, since it's focus is fixed at 2.5M, I'm often shooting with one of the supplementary lenses to bring focus to where I want it so I guess then it's a 4E/4G lens.

(There has to be a clown in every thread, I volunteered for this one.)

 

[locheeboy]

Ah'd have tae disagree with Mwoenv(above). Minolta users are actually very loyal . In my experience, they tend tae keep and still use cameras/lenses and accessories. Minolta was first and foremost a camera engineering company whose expertise was second to none and they were always engineering and electronic innovators rather than marketers; perhaps why they were never a major name in the marketplace.

Like every major manufacturer, Minolta did change their mount but that was more about their developing electronics. Ah still have and use regularly, my Maxxum 7000, 8oooi (both bought new) and my most used camera - an XD7. They all perform faultlessly still.

When ah bought my first DSLR, it had tae be a Sony, there was no way ah was giving up on my lens collection. The A700 with the Minolta lenses was a marriage made in heaven . Ah still have the Sony - why replace a camera which still outperforms many modern ones in the most important area, IMO.....IQ?

The great Canikon snobbery served tae push them into the background (like Fuji's Fujica SLRs +lenses) of which ah own the ST901 and several lenses. Another company which was largely ignored but folk are now finding out, mainly through CSC and 4/3 cameras, just how excellent these lenses, especially, are.

Ah'm still buying MC,MD and AF lenses for my Minoltas - most recent purchase was the much-maligned 28-80 AF, cost me 9gbp....bargain...Minolta fanboy? yer darn tootin' 😉😎

PS just bought an Chinese MD/AF adaptor (15gbp) still tae try it out...

 

[Moto-Uno]

Well if any of their other lenses are as good as the one in my Hi-Matic E, then they
must be good indeed! Peter

 

[back alley]

i don't know the details but minolta was bought by konica who then lost it in some lawsuit…or lost a lawsuit and sold minolta off for the cash…something like that…sony bought minolta and it's patents/workers etc and started to become something in the camera world after that.

i think this is close to the reality of how it went down...

 

[CliveC]

I discovered the magic of Minolta when a friend very generously donated a 3xi with a 50mm 1.7 and the 70-210mm beer can to me.

Since then, not only have I added more lenses, I've added a full frame Sony camera as my main shooter. Minolta glass still stacks up. I sure hope Sony keeps the A-mount alive.

 

[Bingley]

I've been a Minolta fan for awhile now. I love the XD-11. Among the lenses, I'm really liking the MC Rokkor 55/1.7. The 35/2.8 and the 85/2.0 are also very good.

 

[filmtwit]

The 58mm f1.2 with the radioactive elements is to die for.

 

[nongfuspring]

Minolta MD/MC is one of the cheapest mounts around since it's "abandoned" and the flange distance is one of the lowest with any SLR mount making them a good option for minimising bulk when adapting to mirrorless cameras. That's the reason why I initially bought Minolta lenses and so far I am very pleased, especially with the 50mm 3.5 macro and the 50mm 1.7 (but not a fan of the MC 28mm 3.5).

I don't own any Minolta bodies, but I wouldn't mind trying an X-E7 one day.

 

[Austintatious]

Minolta fan for years now. Three manual focus bodies, seven primes and three zooms.
Just got a NEX 6 and MD-NEX Fotodiox adaptor. Let the fun continue 😀

 

[Addy101]

There are many Minolta manual focus lenses available (and they are very good) because when they went to auto focus (Maxxum bodies) they changed the lens mount and the manual focus lenses could not be used. Apparently people abandoned these lenses so there are many available. This probably also led to Minolta fans leaving and to Minolta's demise.

Not quite. Minolta was the third of the big five until they introduced the Minolta 7000 and for very short time they became #1 until Canon introduced EF-mount and Minolta lost the law suit to Honeywell.

I never hear old Minolta users moan like all those Canon users who got angry 'cause Canon abandoned the FD-mount. FD lenses are usually cheaper then Minolta lenses in my experience.

 

[ronnies]

Like every major manufacturer, Minolta did change their mount but that was more about their developing electronics.

Nikon and Pentax didnae change the mount when they went to auto focus. 🙂

Ronnie

 

[leicapixie]

I rescued 2 Minolta SLR bodies wit 50mm and a 45mm at Goodwill.
A $40 price extravaganza.
I immediately picked up a 28mm and a Celtic 35mm, each $5.
All the lenses are great, the bodies really nice in usage.
They are the later electronic models..😡
'Cause i use cheap batteries, not work well in present sub-zero.
Minolta was good enough for Leitz/Leica!
Some Leica lenses were re-branded from Minolta.
I reckon if the bodies fail, the lenses will go some digital.
I use a Minolta Digital point and shoot.
There is Konica name on it, slot for Sony memory stick!
TG it uses regular SD cards.
The color is an acid trip/
The B/W is simply beautiful and pure.😀

 

[Pentudlian]

I remember buying my first compact zoom in the mid-1990s. I went to an ancient and venerable camera store in London for advice. I left with the Minolta Riva Zoom 140 [Freedom Zoom in the USA, I believe]. I still remember what the assistant said when I asked whether it was any good: "Put it this way: Minolta have never made a bad camera".

 

[Nokton48]

I sold off all my Leica and Canon RF and (in addition to banking some money) built up the Minolta dream system that I wanted when I was much younger in age. Money goes quite far with Minolta. Very little not to like. BTW my photos look just as pleasing to me with Minolta bodies and glass as with the more expensive stuff. I started with Minolta, so I have come completely full circle.

 

[John E Earley]

I recently posted this in the NEX thread but I add it here again because I like the A6000/MD Rokkor-X 45/2 combination so well.

DSC_6275 by Earley Photography, on Flickr

I paid $20 for the adapter and $15 for the lens.

 

[clachnacuddin]

Still getting regular use from my 700si, probably the best camera I'll afford for some time, and you can pick them up on ebay for around £10 🙂

 

[CMur12]

As a Minolta user myself - TLRs and manual-focus SLRs - I'm enjoying all this Minolta love. 🙂

- Murray