Skip to content
Earth, Sun, Film
Earth, Sun, Film
Primary Navigation Menu
Menu
  • Home
  • Resources
    • Buying and Collecting Minolta: A Guide for Newbies
    • Minolta Camera and Lens Repair Services
    • Minolta Cameras, Lenses, and Gear: Books, Guides, References, Magazines, and Links
    • What is the Vintage Minolta Love Project?
    • General Photography–Books, Links, Blogs
    • Gardening Resources–Books, Links, Blogs
  • About
  • Contact

Vintage Minolta Love Project

VMLP 39: Minolta Hi-Matic 7sII—Everything You’ve Heard is True

2024-12-30
On: December 30, 2024
In: Vintage Minolta Love Project, Vintage-Minolta Love

The 7sII is a gem, definitely a keeper.  If not for the VMLP, I would never have tried one, but I am so glad I did.  Before the 7sIl, I had only used a rangefinder once, my father-in-law’s Leica, which was probably an M3.   I did not like theContinue Reading

VMLP 36:  The Minolta XE-5—A Good Camera, but Mistakes Were Made…

2024-09-02
On: September 2, 2024
In: Manual, Vintage Minolta Love Project, Vintage-Minolta Love

The XE-5 and XE-7 intrigued me because they were part of the Minolta-Leica collaboration, and I wanted to see what the fuss was about.  My first XE-5 was a Goodwill buy.  It arrived with a good 50mm f2 lens, but the film advance was stuck.  Fortunately, a little tinkering resultedContinue Reading

VMLP 33: Minolta Semi III—My Little Piece of History

2024-07-01
On: July 1, 2024
In: Vintage Minolta Love Project, Vintage-Minolta Love

Folding cameras were not supposed to be part of the VMLP.   I was drawn to SLRs and was quite happy limiting my photography journey to them.   That feeling held until I used an Autocord.   Yes, the Autocord is a TLR, but the 6×6 negative yielded such clear,Continue Reading

VMLP 30: The Minolta Maxxum 700si—The One with All the Awards

2023-08-14
On: August 14, 2023
In: Autofocus, Vintage Minolta Love Project, Vintage-Minolta Love

The Minolta 700si won the 1994-1995 EISA award and a few others after its release in 1993. Today it has faded into relative obscurity. Looking at sold listings on eBay, one finds that only a few are sold in any given period. There are YouTube videos, though, so that’s good. At theContinue Reading

VMLP 28: The Minolta Maxxum 7— I’m Pretty Sure Picard Has One

2022-12-12
On: December 12, 2022
In: Autofocus, Vintage Minolta Love Project

Being in command of an extraordinary machine is an intoxicating experience. I’m a huge Star Trek fan, and the bridge has always held a particular fascination for me. The sense of being in absolute control of an immensely powerful ship–the lights, the screens, the sounds–has never lost its appeal. AlthoughContinue Reading

VMLP 27: Minolta MC Rokkor-X 80-200mm, f4.5—Better Than Expected (Leica Liked It)

2022-09-12
On: September 12, 2022
In: Lens Love, Manual, Vintage Minolta Love Project

Those following along will remember my quest to try as many Minolta manual zoom lenses as possible. I am doing this for the VMLP and a little bit for the same reason people climb Mt. Everest. However, in the case of the 80-200mm, f4.5, there is a detective story of sorts. When the Minolta-LeicaContinue Reading

VMLP 26: Minolta SR-T SC-II—I never saw it coming

2022-08-29
On: August 29, 2022
In: Vintage Minolta Love Project, Vintage-Minolta Love

About two years ago, I spied what looked to be a nearly mint black SR-T 101 in a large eBay lot of four lenses, three books, an SR-T SC-II, and a pack of SR-T spare parts. Hoping to fulfill my dream of owning a black 101, I wrote to theContinue Reading

VMLP 25: Minolta (1985) AF 35-105mm f3.5-4.5—Buy One (You’ll Thank Me Later)

2022-08-15
On: August 15, 2022
In: Autofocus, Lens Love, Vintage-Minolta Love

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

VMLP 24: The Minolta A–Minolta’s Rangefinder Reboot

2022-08-01
On: August 1, 2022
In: Vintage Minolta Love Project, Vintage-Minolta Love

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

Buying Your First Minolta Autofocus Film Camera and Lenses: Advice for Newbies

2022-07-22
On: July 22, 2022
In: Photography Journey

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

Posts pagination

1 2 Next

Welcome to Earth, Sun, Film!

Earth, Sun, Film is an exploration of gardening and photography.  For the backstory, read this. 

For more about site channels and the author, go to the About page.

Enjoy!

Subscribe to Earth, Sun, Film!

Loading

Minolta Guides and Info

  • Buying and Collecting Minolta: A Guide for Newbies
  • Minolta Camera and Lens Repair Services
  • Minolta Cameras, Lenses, and Gear: Books, Guides, References, Magazines, and Links
  • What is the Vintage Minolta Love Project?

Garden & Photo Info

  • Gardening Resources–Books, Links, Blogs
  • General Photography–Books, Links, Blogs
Sunday Afternoon
Friends
Ultrafine 400, Alpha 7, Maxxum 50mm, 1.7

Recent Posts

  • Season 12, Part 3: The Blessing of May Rains
  • Standing Out From the Crowd
  • Macro Photography Surprise:  Minolta Super Rokkor 50mm 1.8 (LTM) and Olympus e300
  • Season 12: This Year’s Garden Plans, Part 2
  • Gilded Shadows?
  • Decatur Art Stroll II—Boxes
  • Photographer Code: One Camera = Tourist; Two Cameras = Pro
  • Churchyard (City)
  • Season 12: This Year’s Garden Plans
  • Au Grand Cerf
  • Blue & Green
  • VMLP 41: Minolta 100mm f2.8 AF Macro (RS)—Sharp as a Tack
  • Hawk Eyes
  • These Mirrors Are Trying My Patience

Topic Areas

  • Amidst the Flowers (34)
  • For Your Consideration (51)
    • Arts & Letters (32)
      • Music (7)
      • Single Frame (18)
  • Gardening Journey (69)
    • Garden Frame (15)
  • Photography Journey (107)
    • Emulsions (10)
    • Frame Works? (18)
  • Through the Viewfinder (53)
    • Around the City (27)
    • For Your Consideration (8)
  • Uncategorized (5)
  • Vintage-Minolta Love (79)
    • Vintage Minolta Love Project (55)
      • Lens Love (23)
        • Autofocus (10)
        • Manual (9)

Archives

  • May 2025 (2)
  • April 2025 (4)
  • March 2025 (5)
  • February 2025 (4)
  • January 2025 (5)
  • December 2024 (4)
  • November 2024 (6)
  • October 2024 (5)
  • September 2024 (6)
  • August 2024 (6)
  • July 2024 (6)
  • June 2024 (4)
  • May 2024 (4)
  • April 2024 (4)
  • March 2024 (5)
  • February 2024 (4)
  • January 2024 (3)
  • December 2023 (3)
  • November 2023 (5)
  • October 2023 (5)
  • September 2023 (6)
  • August 2023 (9)
  • July 2023 (7)
  • June 2023 (2)
  • May 2023 (5)
  • April 2023 (3)
  • March 2023 (6)
  • February 2023 (4)
  • January 2023 (5)
  • December 2022 (5)
  • November 2022 (6)
  • October 2022 (2)
  • September 2022 (8)
  • August 2022 (10)
  • July 2022 (9)
  • June 2022 (2)
  • April 2022 (4)
  • March 2022 (7)
  • February 2022 (5)
  • January 2022 (4)
  • December 2021 (7)
  • November 2021 (7)
  • October 2021 (7)
  • September 2021 (5)
  • August 2021 (4)
  • July 2021 (6)
  • June 2021 (9)
  • May 2021 (8)
  • April 2021 (3)
  • March 2021 (10)
  • February 2021 (8)
  • January 2021 (7)
  • December 2020 (7)
  • November 2020 (7)
  • October 2020 (7)
  • September 2020 (8)
  • August 2020 (9)
  • July 2020 (10)
  • June 2020 (7)
  • May 2020 (8)
  • April 2020 (9)
  • March 2020 (9)
  • February 2020 (2)

 

 

 

Copyright (c) 2020-2025  Jerome Carter,  All Rights Reserved

None of the contents of this site may be used without permission.

Contact

Privacy Policy
Terms of Service