Life is full of surprises, some pleasant, some not. The Maxxum 70 is a pleasant one. The Maxxum 70 was my next purchase after the Maxxum 7000i. This was in March 2019, right before I learned Minolta no longer existed and that the Maxxum 70 was the last Minolta filmContinue Reading
I try to avoid thinking of myself as a collector. That way, I don’t allow myself to get caught up in buying items unless I plan to use them at some point. However, because of the VMLP, I am interested in historic or unusual items. This Super A meter isContinue Reading
The Minolta AF 35-105mm f3.5-4.5 is an oddity. It is widely touted for its sharpness and has an overall rating of 4.64/5 (sharpness, 4.78) on Dyxum, with the main ding against it being relatively poor flare control. I have seen it mentioned glowingly many times in forums. Yet somehow, IContinue Reading
I did not expect much from the Minolta A. I bought it because, having decided to try Minolta rangefinders, I figured why not start with the first member of the modern 35mm fixed-lens line. The Minolta A is the oldest child in the family of cameras that ended in theContinue Reading
If you are new to Minolta autofocus gear, very likely, you are having a hard time deciding on what cameras and lenses to buy. Minolta cameras and gear were marketed in North America as “Maxxum” and in Europe as “Dynax.” There is a lot of info available in blogs andContinue Reading
I had heard good things about the AF 28-85mm 3.5-4.5 lens. However, I never set out to buy one—at least not to use. I purchased an “XX” lens from Goodwill but immediately put it on the shelf with the other hard-to-find “XX” items. Perhaps I would have been tempted toContinue Reading
Just to be clear, I never imagined owning an MC Rokkor-X 58mm f1.2 lens. I always saw it as too exotic, too far beyond my simple needs. Occasionally, I take it out of its storage case, stare at it, and then gently put it back. A bold streak hit meContinue Reading
The Minolta MD Zoom 35-135mm came to my attention through a forum discussion about zoom lenses. Only one of the discussants had heard of or used the lens. At the time (spring 2019), the only images I could find were the few supplied in the forum discussion and this reviewContinue Reading
Df96 has an official shelf life of three months, but experience indicates that’s an underestimate. I began using Df96 right before the start of the pandemic in early 2020. Before then, I had access to a fully-equipped darkroom. I was just getting used to doing B&W darkroom development and printingContinue Reading
Description: Church against a perfect blue winter sky Background: Churches are everywhere, so much so that I rarely pay attention to them. This church is on a residential street but is set back about forty yards from the street. The intervening distance with a grassy, meadow-like lawn that dips down from streetContinue Reading
