Why are XD-11s and XE-7s selling so cheap?

[summitar]

I have a SRT 101 and am impressed with the quality of camera body and

lenses. I was googling Minolta and came across reviews of the XD-11

and XE-7 that made them sound like the second coming of Baron Leitz

von Zeiss. So breaking a vow, I went to eekbay and won an auction for

a XD-11 with lens for about $80. Who knows what the thing will look

like when I get it? But as something that is regarded so highly, I

wonder why it goes for camparitively little.

 

Assuming it will be in working conditon, what can I expect when I

attach my (mostly) MC lenses to it? I gather that exeything will work

with the lenses, but that in shutter priority, it will work but not

display shutter speed in the viewfinder.

 

I could use a little encouragement.

[msitaraman]

Great camera. If the electronics work (and generally speaking, they should), you are in luck. Enjoy the low prices of film cameras, courtesy of the transition to digital photography...i.e. don't look a gift horse in the mouth! This was one of my dream cameras, circa. 1978 ;-)

[alvin_wong]

<p>The XD11 is an excellent camera. It is the second highest spec camera in the entire Minolta manual focus line. I love the SRT 102, but I admit that the aperture priority mode makes the XD11 a superior camera. Just think of the XD11 as an "almost modern" manual focus SLR in the same league as the Nikon FM/FE series cameras.</p>

<p>The low price is a result of a market demand, or the lack thereof. The Minolta manual focus system was more or less abandoned twenty years ago, which means great bargains for people getting into it right now.</p>

[harris_goldstein]

I've had both. You won't need encouragement too long - you should be pleased with your XD-11. Biggest problem that I'm aware of is the tendency for the camera leather (at least on the earlier versions) to shrink. I believe the shutter and electronics were fairly stable. I think the XD-11 is arguably the best Minolta made, though I think the XE-7 (and XK) may have been more durable.

 

My understanding (though I could be wrong) is that your MC lenses will allow manual and aperture priority exposure with your XD-11, but you need the MD lenses for shutter priority.

[vincent_desautels]

Just put your MC lenses on the smallest aperture and go on with the shutter priority mode,

it will work just fine altough it might not be as accurate as with MDs (so they say).

Great camera, with a smooth shutter & mirror sound, not a noisy CLUNK X-700 style.<div></div>

[jamesdak]

And now from the other end of the color spectrum!<div></div>

[douglas_green1]

Why are XD-11s and XE-7s selling so cheap?

 

four reasons:

 

1) They are manual focus.

 

2) They use film.

 

3) It's a dead lens mount from a dead company.

 

4) If the electronics fail, you'll have a hard time repairing them.

 

The fact that you can get one of these excellent cameras for under $100 without too much difficulty should be plenty of encouragement. If you can get past the 4 reasons listed above, and evaluate the cameras solely on their merits as photographic tools, you'll find that they are as good as anything that can be gotten for anything close to that amount. But they are, by no means, the only GREAT film cameras that are selling for a pittance nowadays. You can get a Nikon F2 for

well under $200 now. Or a Mamiya RB-67 with lens, finder and back, for under $300.

 

From a market value perspective, film is dead. You can either acknowledge that fact and move to digital like nearly everyone else, or you can be a contrarian and take advantage of these wonderful precision instruments available for pittances, and shoot film.

[j_hopper]

And extending from what Mr. Green said, those four reasons ALSO make Minolta manual focus lenses a real deal now. So if your XD works well, consider 'upgrading' to a few choice MD lenses while you're at it so you can fully enjoy your XD.

 

Anyway, the XE and XD series are kind of considered 'in-betweeners'. The SR, SR-T and XK series were wholly from mind of Minolta (won't talk about XG's). The XE's and XD's were designed in conjunction with Leitz to satisfy Leitz's programs/requirements for these series. So they became different in many ways from earlier Minoltas, primarily in precision/complexity/subtlety of electronics & mechanics and in their non-Minolta derived shutters. The XK's were simple in comparison.

 

But both the XE's and XD's can be thought of as groups of assemblies, and as such are actually easy to maintain (or bring back from the dead) if you can work within the precision required. The XE's can be 'finicky' in the advance stops/release, and this adjustment is really hard to do. For the XD's the only concern was the rapid 'evolution' these went through AFTER their introduction. Minolta made many electronic assemblies' changes during the XD's early model 'a' and model 'b' development. Do not know if this means these 'corrections' mean less reliability for the earlier XD models 20+ years on, but there is some component interchangability to allow earlier electronic assemblies to be fixed with later ones if there is some problem.

 

I do have two XD's like Vincent's and an XE (and an X-1 and Sr-T Super just to represent the rest of the best of Minolta manual focus). And I still enjoy them all, contrarianly-like.

[Brian]

Kerry, the XD-11 is a truly great camera, but eBay is a lottery and the XD-11 that you just won might not be the finest example in existence. There are many beautiful XD-11s and XD-7s out there in the hands of devoted owners who would never dream of selling them (me for instance), but I wonder about the ones that find their way on to eBay. Anyway, I'm hoping for the best for you. All being well, you will have one of the finest manual focus SLRs ever made.

[ivan_dzo]

Kerry, they're a great camera (I've got four) so you've obviously got great taste! BUT... nearly all of them need their light seals replacing and many need a CLA before they are fully useable. Once sorted however they are brilliant small quiet cameras with quality second to none. Enjoy.

[jamesdak]

In the past couple of years I've bought the following off Ebay:

SR-7, SRT-101, SRT-101b, XE-7, XD-7, Hi-matic 7s, 2 each Hi-matic 7sIIs and a bunch of lens. I never paid more than $50 buck for any of the bodies and much less for most of them. I've had to replace lightseals on 3 of them (easy to do) and sent one of the SRT's to Garry's Camera for a cheap overhaul. Other than that they all work fine except for fragile wires on the light meters of the 7sII's. Just shop carefully and take you time. Plenty of good camera's out there to choose from.

[sean_mckinney]

Well they seem to fetch more than the X700 on UK ebay, I have just paid �44, body only, for what would be a fair condition one. Leather shrunk etc and more worryingly black bits that keep appearing in the view finder, I wonder has a light seal gone somewhere?