Old Minolta SRT series

Hey, I am currently in the market for an old Minolta SR-T or even an old SR-M

series camera, any suggestions? My dad had an SRT 202 and i love the pictures

it produces and I'm quite familiar with its specs, but can anybody tell me what

differentiates that from the other cameras in the SR-T series?

Hi there,

 

I'm currently using an SRT201. I got it second-hand off eBay for ~USD25. It works like a charm; shutter speeds seem fine (for regular photography where you don't need to get super-precise speeds), the film-advance/shutter-cocking mechanism is smooth. The differences between the models seem to be slight, but apparently the one that had it ALL was the SR-T 102.

 

Here's a good page for all (?) Minolta's SR- series cameras.

http://www.rokkorfiles.com/SRT%20Series.htm

 

If you buy off eBay, make sure you ask the seller everything you want to know. eBay has a pretty good camera-buying guide somewhere.

 

Also, Minolta manuals are available online, for FREE (yay!), at:

http://ca.konicaminolta.com/support/manuals/film-cameras/film_mf_slr/

 

I'm really happy I decided to stay with the Minolta system. Second-hand lenses are cheap as chips (even those made by Minolta). I think there's still a couple of companies producing the MD (MF?) mount lenses. I know there's a fairly complete line up of components for a full 'system', if that's what you're looking to do eventually. I'm not sure about availability, though.

 

These old metal bodies were made to survive MAD, it seems! I love them!

 

Good hunting!

Rameses

They have ones with warranty at keh starting at $49 for an SRT-101.

 

I bought mine (SRT-101 with mirror lockup) for about $40 on ebay with a broken 55mm 1.5, a working 28mm Celtic, and a working Vivitar zoom lens, a flash and some other stuff.

 

The lenses are super cheap too.

 

Dan

I can attest to the affordability of the lenses - the most expensive lens I've gotten is a pristine 24/2.8, which cost just under $100. The rest (all common) have ranged from $15-45. Good thing is they're useful on every SR-mount camera (except the earliest SRs, like the SR2), though you can lose some functions like program mode if you have an MC or Auto lens. You can find MC lenses often cheaper than MD, but you only lose program and maybe shutter-priority (some say you don't lose it - I've not tested it yet). You won't find certain lenses so cheap, like the 58/1.2 or the 85/1.7, but they're not stratospherically expensive, either.

My dad had an SRT-101 and I always thought it was kind of neat. Good looking camera.

You can google "minolta srt" and get tons of info. They are fine cameras. They take mercury batteries but you can use hearing aid batteries with a number 9 rubber O-ring, I believe.

I've used SRT's for years and have had all the main variations at one time or another. At the present time I have a 102, 201 and a 202. The different aspects of the various numbers are minimal and you can find variations within the variations. For example the 101 mentioned above with the mirror lock-up, some didn't have the lock up...go figure. The 202 was supposed to be the top of the line and the last variation but it was the 102 that was favored by European and Asian professional media photographers. I don't see any real difference except that the 202 is a newer camera than the 102.

 

The battery problem is "not a problem". I've had my 202 converted tweeked at the time of the last CLA)to use modern 1.5v batteries rather than the 1.35v mercury. Honestly, the meters of my 102 and 201 (neither of which have been tweeked) read exactly the same as the 202. I read somewhere that the voltage could be within a fairly wide range and the cameras electronics would compensate. I don't know for sure if that's the case but I've never had a problem using the higher voltage batteries. "Me thinks it is much ado about nothing". And besides, exactly how much difference will .15+/- volt really make? 1/4 - 1/3 stop at most, you won't even notice with print film.

 

Check some photos in my portfolio to see the results of the SRT's. They have not been digitally altered except for a few that have been cropped.

 

As far as the favorite...the 102 does feel a bit more well made than the others, except maybe for the 101 and I find the 202 feels a little less robust. I've been told that this is all in my mind and that they are exactly the same build. That may be the case and I will not argue the point so I find myself reaching for the 201 the most often.

 

The best thing about the Minolta SRT series is the glass in the lenses. I think you would be very hard pressed to find better lenses in any of the main lens makers of any era. Rokkor had it nailed and that is one of my biggest disappointments in life...the day they stopped making Rokkor lenses. But I'll survive, I've got most of the ones I wanted anyways.........

I was going to suggest checking out the wonderful website "Minman" however it appears to be down... and hopefully temporarily! Anyone else know whats going on at this website? It's one that certainly should be preserved!

The variations of the SRT cameras are mostly minor (depending on what you want or need). Some had mirror lockups, some do not. Some have hot shoes, some show the aperture in the viewfinder, some have film load indicators. My favorite is the SRT-102. All are built like tanks; I've only had to replace foam.

 

As mentioned, the Rokkor lenses are excellent. You can also use MC and MD lenses without issues, also excellent.

 

Here's how I dealt with the battery issue: http://criscam.com/products_services/mercury_battery_adapters/

To determine the specs of the different models a good generic source is McKeown's "Price Guide to Antique & Classic Cameras"

The 102/303 is the best model but they are all good if you get a working example. As with all old cameras, plan on a CLA which will cost around $75.

As an user, I would confirm that the 102 (303 on the European market,Super on the Japanese market) was the best of the series. It has mirror lock-up, split-image screen, multiple exposure feature, and times and f-stops visible in viewfinder. Some of these features were present in this or that production batches of the 101 and 202, but only the 102/303 had them all.

 

It is not rare, though, and only marginally more expensive than the 101/201, so it is well worth aiming for it.

 

 

As regards Rokkor lenses, I would entusiastically confirm that these are fantastic bargain. As regards the more expensive ones, the 50 1=1.2 is basically only a collector's item, but if you stumble on a 85mm 1:1.7 don't let it go! It is by far my preferred portrait lens, and I do own amongst other a Nikkor 105mm.

My post above is wrong. The top-of-the-line model of the SRT series, the one with all bells and wistles which I use, was called 303b in Europe, 202 in the US and 505 in Japan. Note that I'm told most 202s have no mirror lock-up, while many 303b have.

The pretty comprehensive history of Minolta SLR's is here:

http://members.aol.com/manualminolta/minslr.htm

 

It describes the differences in the various models.

 

Also, there is a good overview on the rokkorfiles site:

http://www.rokkorfiles.com/SRT%20Series.htm

I have been using my parents' old 202 (bought in 1978) since 2003 and can attest to the fact that it's a wonderful camera. With that camera, and my 50mm lens, I can take on the world.

I've got quite a collection of lenses, as everyone has already mentioned, are quite inexpensive.

My favorite guru, Ivor Matanle, gave up on Nikons and Canons and switched to Minoltas because he could focus better with his aging insight. He gives high marks to thier ruggedness and reliability. In his wonderful book on classic SLR cameras most of the phots he took of other cameras were made with his minolta SRT 101 with a 50mm f1.7 lens.

 

I mourn the passing of the Minolta marque. They were fine products in every way, design, ergonomics, precision, durability, and optical quality.

I have 2 SRT101, one with MLU and one without. They both function as they were. As everybody mentioned above, the lenses are great, also affordable. Simple to use, all manual, accurate meter...giving me a lot of options to do different things.