# $3,000+ Minolta



## compur (Nov 23, 2011)

I guess vintage camera collecting is still alive and well:
Minolta XK Motor Vintage 35mm SLR Camera Body AE-S Finder X1/XM/X-1 MUST SEE!!! | eBay


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## 2WheelPhoto (Nov 23, 2011)

with 35 bids!


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## usayit (Nov 23, 2011)

My money is that the winning bidder will be a non-payer.


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## skieur (Nov 23, 2011)

Nice camera.  I bought one for my work a long time ago. Extremely robust and reliable.  I used it on a slide duplicator, copy stand, and as an extra camera body on location.

skieur


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## DiskoJoe (Nov 23, 2011)

Damn! Thats pretty steep. but the old minolta glass is really killer.


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## compur (Nov 23, 2011)

usayit said:


> My money is that the winning bidder will be a non-payer.



I wrote to the seller and asked him and he said:

"Yes the winner paid within hours of winning!"

So, I guess lunch is on you.


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## Mitica100 (Nov 23, 2011)

Still have a beautiful 85/1.7 MD Minolta lens in pristine condition. They go for quite a few hundreds too. Their glass was fantastic!


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## Derrel (Nov 23, 2011)

"Only from the mind of Minolta." That was a big advertising slogan Minolta ran with for a few years.

"Only in the mind of a Minolta collector," would that XK and motor be worth $3,250!


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## BlairWright (Nov 23, 2011)

Heh... I just sold my 9000 for 50 bucks, maybe I should have held out 35 years

:lmao:


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## compur (Nov 23, 2011)

Here is another Minolta goodie.


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## usayit (Nov 23, 2011)

Derrel said:
			
		

> "Only from the mind of Minolta." That was a big advertising slogan Minolta ran with for a few years.



Disparity between the rich and everyone else......

If I recall correctly, that slogan was introduced with the Maxxum... right?   If so, what was their slogan prior?


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## fotoshooter (Nov 24, 2011)

usayit said:


> Derrel said:
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Actually it was started in 1983 to market the X-700 two years before the Maxxum.......


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## usayit (Nov 25, 2011)

cool  learn something new....


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## Derrel (Nov 25, 2011)

usayit said:


> Derrel said:
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"We're as good as Nikon. No, really, we are. In fact, here are some tiny,tiny comparison photos shot with the leading systems. See how they all look the same at 1x2 inches in this magazine? Buy Minolta."

*THAT print ad campaign *was basically Minolta's entire advertising strategy for about five years. Meanwhile, *Canon undertook the world's FIRST* wide-spread, worldwide television ad campaign for 35mm SLR cameras.


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## usayit (Nov 25, 2011)

In addition to the TV campaign... Canon took a big risk in the 1990s.  I gotta give credit to them... it was a huge business risk and things like that simply gets my attention.

Pentax created the first 35mm AF system..
Minolta created the first in-body AF system...
Nikon followed...
Canon followed...

By the early 1990s,  Pentax screwed up AF design.  Minolta couldn't capitalize on bringing early AF to market.  Nikon was too worried about maintaining legacy stuff.  Canon took risk with a ground up redesign and took over sports photography with their superior AF performance.   A risk that paid off because sports photography gets lots of media attention.   Fortunately, Nikon eventually caught up and we have the big two ever since which I like since competition breeds better products.  

Sports photography == media coverage on TV.    Just like all the kiddos lookup to those athletes on TV, photog's wanted to be just like those white lens carrying pros on the sidelines.


What I can't figure out is why the market sets $3000 value to the minolta featured in that ebay auction.   I have to admit I'm no expert in Minolta products even though I give credit to my father's Maxxum 7000 for keeping my interest going.  Was it a first in something?  or a ground breaking design? or gain a cult status? or a jewel of mechanical art?


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## compur (Nov 25, 2011)

The Maxxum 7000 wasn't the first AF SLR system but it was the first truly successful one and was a significant milestone.  

See:
Minolta Maxxum 7000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia


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## usayit (Nov 25, 2011)

compur said:


> The Maxxum 7000 wasn't the first AF SLR system but it was the first truly successful one and was a significant milestone.
> 
> See:
> Minolta Maxxum 7000 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia



Didn't say it was... Pentax ME-F was the first AF SLR for 135 format to market and a complete utter failure.   Maxxum was the first in body implementation of AF SLR for 135 format that many would consider "successful".   Leica had sold its patents to Autofocus to Minolta prior which many would argue was a mistake made for lack of future vision.

I have both the ME-F and my fathers Maxxum 7000 in my display case...   The minolta 7000's design seems futuristic when compared to the ME-F.


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## compur (Nov 25, 2011)

usayit said:


> Didn't say it was...



Didn't say you said it was.


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## usayit (Nov 25, 2011)

Lol...   Ok.  Crossed comm.


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## Josh66 (Nov 25, 2011)

Which one was it that wrote the 'exif' between the frames?  I want to say the 7xi...

...Wrote the ISO, shutter speed, aperture, and something else - EV maybe between the frames.  I wonder why no other camera makers tried to do that (or did they?)...


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## Crollo (Dec 7, 2011)

Meanwhile, somewhere in the really small fine print reads: Note: this is just a box.


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