Minolta Dynax 700si
With the 700si of 1993 Minolta found the right track again. They realised that a camera for the advanced photo amateur had to be a moldable tool and not an auto-do-it-all-stop-thinking-machine. The latter only rarely delivering images you really want. Everything important was at hand. Spot metering, the usual P-, A-, T- and M-modes, depth -of-field preview, exposure bracketing and so forth. It still had the little door on the right side to add extra functionality by using dedicated chipcards. Not that neccessary anymore, but a remnant of earlier Minolta SLR's.
Very useful was also the vertical grip VC-700. It duplicated some controlbuttons and added a vertical releasebutton. Moreover it allowed the use of rechargeable AA batteries in stead of the 2CR5's. This was a serious improvement over the 7xi. The 700 si is a very good camera though in some aspects it still seemed deliberately crippled. Double exposures standard, but 9 exposures by chipcard? And it wasn't possible to offer this functionality standard? Aiai marketing. But nonetheless the 700si is a very fine camera. One of Minolta's best...... if there hadn't been the 800si. The camera which finally had it all.
Today the 700si is a very capable 35mm filmcamera. They're good and cheap (secondhand). My 700si though has a problem. The plastic handgrip starts to tear. If you watch the first photo above thoroughly, you'll be able to see this. There seems to be some stress on the grip, that makes it crack after many years. I don't know if this happens a lot (though I've seen a 700si with this problem at eBay), but you should watch for this problem if you buy one.
Very useful was also the vertical grip VC-700. It duplicated some controlbuttons and added a vertical releasebutton. Moreover it allowed the use of rechargeable AA batteries in stead of the 2CR5's. This was a serious improvement over the 7xi. The 700 si is a very good camera though in some aspects it still seemed deliberately crippled. Double exposures standard, but 9 exposures by chipcard? And it wasn't possible to offer this functionality standard? Aiai marketing. But nonetheless the 700si is a very fine camera. One of Minolta's best...... if there hadn't been the 800si. The camera which finally had it all.
Today the 700si is a very capable 35mm filmcamera. They're good and cheap (secondhand). My 700si though has a problem. The plastic handgrip starts to tear. If you watch the first photo above thoroughly, you'll be able to see this. There seems to be some stress on the grip, that makes it crack after many years. I don't know if this happens a lot (though I've seen a 700si with this problem at eBay), but you should watch for this problem if you buy one.
| maxxum700simanual-part1.pdf |
| maxxum700simanual-part2.pdf |
| maxxum700simanual-part3.pdf |