bertp@sri-unix (09/13/82)
Am considering one... Anybody had any experience with them or have any constructive comments...?
smh@sri-unix (09/18/82)
#R:tekcrd:-62200:sri-unix:6200005:000:2207 sri-unix!smh Sep 17 17:06:00 1982 I have had my X700 for a few weeks now and love it. Previously I owned a XE7 (one of their first AE SLR's) and had been waiting for Minolta to come out with a contender to the Canon A1 and the new Nikon SLR's. The exposure system is the best currently available, with a plethora of accessories available. I played with most of them and the I.R. remote and the Data back were the best. The I.R. remote can operate three X700's for up to 250(?) ft!!, and the Data back, with LCD readout and date/data imprint on the negative, has so many bells and whistles it defies description. It is extremely light, and easy to handle with the provided grips on both the back and front of the case. The lens of choice for myself was the Minolta 35-70mm zoom, which is light, small, and very handy for day to day shooting (no flames on zooms vs. fixed focal please). It is truly a joy to use, and the first three rolls that I have developed turned out very well, and I have had comments from professional photogs on how well exposed they were. The mode I use most is the Aperture prefered mode as I like to control the depth of field, and the Programmed mode was used to allow non-experienced users to take shots with no hassle. Note that the Programmed mode tries to keep the shutter speed above the handheld min of 1/60 sec... after which it *Beeps* to let you know what you are in for (which can be defeated by running it in *NoBeep* mode). This was a problem my friends w/A1's complained about, blurred shots in Pmode. As you can tell I am satisfied with it... now the few drawbacks. It does not have a lever to defeat the film advance when cocking the shutter! Which means NO multiple exposures... but the only time I used it on my XE7 was to see if it worked... multiple exposures are for your Photo 1A courses for the most part anyway. The other minor drawback is the available case for it... it sucks... cheap plastic, but it seems all the SLR's are plagued with this problem. Now the good part: Price: $209.00 body (black only) $199.00 30-70mm lens (has double action, slide and ring) ------- $408.00 (what I paid for the XE7 BODY alone!) Scott Hinnrichs (smh at SRI-UNIX, SMH at SRI-KL)