XD-rated fun

[randy_skopar]

I took my XD-11 out for a spin last week, with a 24mm 2.8 MD and a

135mm 3.5 MD. No matter how often I use this camera, I get a photo-

high from it. I usually put it in Shutter Priority and set a speed

somewhat faster than the minimum you would normally use. Example:

with the 135mm lens, I set the shutter for 1/500. If the light is

lower than expected, the camera cheats the shutter speed down a

little and keeps on rolling. Then there's the quiet shutter, the

smooth advance, the logical controls, the shape and finish....Don't

get me started; I can praise an XD-11 all day. Here's a shot from

this last outing. Any more XD-11 nuts out there?<div></div>

[randy_skopar]

Another 24mm shot.<div></div>

[randy_skopar]

And here's a 24mm shot from inches away: the floating element in the Rokkor makes possible this close-up performance. The subject is the Varisoft that I (sob) need to sell.<div></div>

[randy_skopar]

And one shot with the 135mm 3.5 MD, one of the best medium teles I've ever used.<div></div>

[kin_lau]

I love my XD-11. I usually have a 50 1.4 mounted on it, but I'm more a Aperature Priority type. It's my favourite shooter, the X-570 comes second and the SRT101 w/ 58mm 1.4 when I feel like swinging some iron :).

 

I've just got the 100mm f4 macro plus some other stuff in a grab bag on Eb*y for $100- :), so I'll be taking that for a spin soon.

[george_rhodes]

Randy,

 

I miss my old black chrome XD-11. I also particularly like your shot that contrasts the vertical repetition of the buildings with the horizontal repetition of the train cars. Very nice photograph.

[rokkor fan]

What can I say, the XD rocks. I got my first in January 2001, a mint black chrome model with a 50mm f/1.2 for the price of US$120. I am happy with that deal! I replaced the screen with the G matte screen and am really happy with it. I also have a chrome version that I have had fitted with red and black lizard skin from www.cameraleather.com (highly recommended) and to which I have fitted the AP screen (diagonal split image).

 

These are just such joys to use, bright vf, great functionality, lightweight and compact but tough - without a doubt they are my preferred travel camera. On a daily basis they fight for use beside my XM Motor (just for the heck of it) and the X-570 (even bigger vf magnification, and I use the "L" screen) but they certainly are a superior camera to the X-570 in terms of manufacturing quality, functionality etc.

 

My poor SrT Super, SR-1 and XE all get left behind....you can only use so many cameras at one time ;o)

 

By the way, if you aren't aware my site has an XD page that is quite informative. Refer here: http://www.rokkorfiles.com/XD11.html

 

There is also a page on the limited edition 50th anniversary XD here: http://www.rokkorfiles.com/XD7%2050th%20Anniversary.htm

 

Cheers,

 

Antony

[Brian]

Yes Randy, the XD-7 is its twin brother and I love mine. As you say, everything on the camera feels just right. I've got a mixture of MC and MD lenses so I tend not to use the shutter priority feature, but aperture priority or full manual works fine for me. I love the sound of the shutter - that sounds a bit sad but it's a harmless pleasure.

[Mike Gammill]

I have an XD-5 (XD-11's poor cousin). It gives up the minimum aperture display in the finder to its higher priced stablemate, but it is still very capable. I bought mine brand new in 1980 and it is still going strong. My favorite lens to use on it is my Minolta 35-135 MD. It's also easy to do precise multiple exposures. I use shutter priority except when using my Rokkor 250mm mirror lens or my old 400mm preset. I like the fact that XD's can maually set 1/100 second or B if you have a flat battery.

[david_fields1]

From a fellow X700 user: Nice to see shots- good shots taken with a real camera for a change. Didn't you have to filter the shot taken inside that subway car - indoor lights - flourescent, sodium/mercury vapor and so forth? Do you use other real cameras, such as the XK, SRT, etc.? Last but not least, might you also be a Bessa Voightlander nut - one of there lenses is named after you (other way around?)

[randy_skopar]

David, you are both right and wrong. I'm not into Bessamatics yet, but I am a serious Voigtlander nut with a weakness for Skopar lenses. Yeah, "Skopar" is a nom d'Internet.

 

I keep my XD-11 in a camera bag along with an SRT-101, which I like almost equally. I was out shooting with the 101 today. The meter works perfectly even after 38 years! (I've always been impressed by Minolta's in-camera meters.) Today I was shooting with the MD 35mm 2.8 lens, which our friend at rokkorfiles has found to be a winner. I'm new to this lens, so I look forward to the shots.

 

Actually, the subway interior is an unaltered shot! I did some burning-in, to be sure, but left the color balance untouched. Fuji's Superia Reala is really fine under mixed light. I am so happy with its performance that I picked up another highly rated Fuji film, NPS 160, and put it in the 101 for the test of the 35mm lens. So that's a combined film-and-lens test. I'll post some results.

 

Glad you like the photos. Thanks for looking and responding.

[sknowles]

Great. I normally use X-700's, but I keep a pair of XD-11's in my street photography bag. I can't think of a better camera for this work, it does everything very well and very quietly too. And last year I found a ~25-year old brand new XD (yes, never used, in mint+ condition, even with the plastic bottom plate). Minolta made a mistake not continuing the development of their manual focus camera, they made excellent, very competitive models.

[taner]

XK-motor, x-700, X-570, SRT, etc... There is only one Minolta camera that is worth this nostalgic celebration: XD 7/11! The rest are, well, history... If only the XD-11 came with MLU, now that would be phenomenal.

 

I will be shooting negative film with my handsome black XD-11 until the day shooting film becomes an ultra-expensive, exotic hobby.

 

Do I shoot slides with my XD-11? Not any more. Let's be real here: when one third of a stop makes a difference on the outcome (and think about push/pull processing, Graduated ND filters, extreme low light levels too...), you are ultimately taking chances (or bracketting and wasting film) with the center-weighted archaic low-tech meter on the XD-11.

 

Antony was dreaming about a digital back for the XD-11; I dream of a modern matrix-metering system... I hope that some eccentric techno-genius digital camera manufacturer who really adores the XD-11 will come up with a modern back like that for it one day...

 

Cheers.<div></div>

[taner]

Scott, there was a brand new black XD-11 in unopened packaging on e-bay sometime ago (within the last year) - was that you who won the auction??? How much are you asking for it? (I, myself would neither sell it, nor let it sit in its packaging - just go out and use the hell out of it...). Lucky You!<div></div>

[randy_skopar]

<<And last year I found a ~25-year old brand new XD (yes, never used, in mint+ condition, even with the plastic bottom plate>>

 

I may hang myself.

[randy_skopar]

<<my old black chrome XD-11>>

 

A black one! I may hang myself twice.

[sknowles]

No, it wasn't the one on Ebay, he had two and offered me a pre-Ebay one. Price was and still is irrelevant to me. To get, hold, and use a brand new XD-11 is simply amazing. To think what someone thought ~25 years ago when this camera came out is a treat. My other two XD's are in excellent condition, so I use them for my street photography, the new one is a treasure to use to keep working but mostly for the future when folks will want to see what real (film) cameras were like. It is one of the best cameras Minolta made with the X-700, XK and X-9?

[fmueller]

My first SLR was a XD-7 with MD 50mm 1.4. I bought it new in the mid 80s, and yes, I paid the extra DM40.00 and got the black chromium plated model! I still have it, still use it, it's still my favourite camera, and I still use it exclusively with slide film.</p>

 

<img src="http://gallery.photo.net/photo/746623-lg.jpg" alt="Houses of Parliament"> </p>

 

<i>XD-7 with MD 50mm 1.4, Velvia 50, A-mode, no exposure compensation.</i></p>

[taner]

Frank, you are clearly the more experienced photographer and Minolta shooter; I have been using manual Minolta cameras for just two years, and I got my XD-11 only last year.

 

Since there is no such thing as 'correct exposure' even with slide film, of course center-weighted metering can be used for slides. And, with enough experience, one would get better in time. I, however, would still use my Canon EF cameras for slides; when you push an already high contrast film like Provia, there simply is no room to play with in the exposure, and I need to be able to predict precisely how the meter will react to a particular scene. I would say that I have about a %90 success rate (pus/minus half stop) with that gear. I am less successful with my manual Minoltas, although I am almost never off more than one stop from the look I want to get. Again this is not an exact science, but using a pro lab's x8 loupe and projecting my slides (as opposed to scanning - which interferes with post-exposure), this has been my experience. It is not a calibration of my XD-11's meter either, because given a straightforward, easy scene, it gives me exactly what my Canon gear gives in terms of exposure.

 

Cheers.<div></div>

[jst-j]

Althought i switch for Minolta autofocus a few years ago,I kept a manual body; XD-5...and a 24mm md rokkor...That's a nice,little reliable camera,that i still enjoy using. I remember seeing a XD-7 once...all black and the writing was not white but a bright green...very sexy!!!I still dream about it!!!<div></div>

[jst-j]

OUPSSS!!! Terribly sorry.I just send the wrong PIC.That one was taken with the maxxum line...

[Mike Gammill]

I would like to add: the ability to make multiple exposures on the XD series is a plus. Here is a double exposure of me "selling myself a camera" at the camera shop my family used to have. I used an XD-5 and a 50 mm f3.5 (preset!) macro Rokkor.<div></div>

[muneer]

Strange how a camera can influence your photography so much so that you become a little less without it. The XD-11 has been the bedrock of my photography for the last 10 years after I was first able to afford a real camera and ditched the terrible Zenit-E I started off with. I got it for a bargain in India with a 50mm f1.4 and never had much respect for it until I read up and became acquainted with the Minolta line-up. I've own/ed an X-700, X-300, and an SR-T 101 but the XD-7/11 beats everything hands down! Wish it had an MUL functionality, thats my only gripe. What I like most about it is the smooth frame advance and shutter release. Its magic!!!