Durability of Minolta X-700

I am hoping to buy a X-700 to replace my XG-9, because it has the TTL

function.

 

 

But how durable is the Minolta X-700? Or any suggestion on other

minolta manual series?

 

 

Cheers,

Thomson

It's an excellent camera, and tons of them are around. Less common, but also as good is the Minolta X-570. I think these are the most practical choices among the Minolta Manual focus cameras.

I found a mint one in a lab here at the hospital. It's shutter was dead. A common problem is an electrolytic capacitor in the shutter release circuit drying out and becoming non-functional. Since this camera uses discrete components, these cameras can be revived by replacing the faulty capacitor. The capacitors are available from a number of third party sources. In my case, I decided not to fix it. Other than that, I read from the web that these are very long lasting cameras.

VERY DURABLE ! as is the X-500. We have had both models in my family for ages and we

still use them a lot without ever a single problem ! Ah... Why did I give mine to my brother

? This camera was the best I ever had and often wonder if I should buy another one.<br>

One thing though, be carefull of the X-300 : No TTL and lower quality depending on the

year of fabrication with more and more plastic...<br>

Lenny<br>

<a href="http://afimage.com">AFimage.com</a>

These and the X370 both have cloth shutters,but I have seen people shoot X370's untill the chrome fell off of them.

My X-700 is from around 1983 and only had to be serviced once- last year when the circuit failed. $120 later and it's ready to serve a few more decades. I highly recommend it- I think it compares well to newer low-end SLRs and is much cheaper.

I had one for many years, up until about a year ago. I suffered from some kind of madness, and sold it, (well, actually I needed lens money for my MF rig). A truly durable camera in all respects. Many thousands of frames went through that X-700, and I was it's second owner. I find that I miss it, and I'm going to buy another one soon. Look for a clean example, and you won't be dissapointed.

 

Dean

Hi everybody,

 

Thanks very much for the answers and suggestions give,

This is a follow up question,

 

I had heard that X-700 had been made in several countries as the year moves on. And their quality varies a bit. I would like to buy one that is made in Japan, because I heard that the quality is much better, but how could I recognise if it was made in Japan?

 

Cheers,

thomson

I have a Japan body and a China body. The country of orign is stamped lightly on the base plate at 3/4 inch from tripod socket toward winder. However, the stamp (scribing is probably more accurate) is so light it does not go through the black paint, therefore can be rubbed off quite easily in time.

 

FWIW, the leaf spring on the Japan model that acts as a film cartridge depressor is painted black while that on the China model is shiny stainless steel. The film winder stem at the bottom of the Japan body has no features while two concentric rings are indented on the China body.

 

I can't really tell any differences between the two bodies. Generally speaking Japan bodies are older.