The Vintage Minolta Love Project (VMLP) has been a key driver of Earth, Sun, Film posts from the beginning. The VMLP started with a simple goal—shoot all the major Minolta SLRs from the 1958 SR-2 to the 2004 Maxxum 70. In doing so, I hoped to learn photography, experience Minolta’sContinue Reading
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
Back in the 1980s, I dreamed of owning a Minolta 7000i. At the time, it was far beyond my budget, so I never got one. In February 2019, after deciding I wanted a film camera to record my garden, the first camera I looked for was a Minolta MaxxumContinue Reading
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
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
By May 2019, I was three months into my photography journey. My camera collection consisted of a Maxxum 7000i with a crumbling grip, a Maxxum 5 with a discolored focus screen, 600si, 7xi, 700si, 7, and 7000. It had been maybe a little more than a month since IContinue Reading
For me, the Minolta X-600 was only a little less mythical than the Minolta Sky. I had seen references to the X-600 in passing but had never seen anyone mention one until a member of the Minolta Collector’s group showed pics of his newly-arrived prize. Intrigued, I searched forContinue Reading
The X-570 is not flashy. It is best described as a gracious, reliable, helpful companion. It doesn’t chew with its mouth open, expect you to laugh at bad puns, or eat the takeout you tried to hide in the back of the fridge. It is simply there when needed andContinue Reading
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
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
