Every day on Instagram and Facebook I get DMs from readers and random strangers, and it’s amazing just how many of these messages tell me, without preamble or explanation, to “do more Minolta” camera and lens reviews. I always politely respond that, uhh, I’ve been doing this for eight years and, uhh, we have done a lot of Minolta stuff. But I guess the message isn’t getting through, because people keep yelling at me about Minolta.
Well, #MinoltaGang, here’s ten of our most popular posts about Minolta. We have a lot more, and you can see all of those here.
And if you like this sort of roundup, let me know in the comments below and I’ll do some more on different brands, camera styles, photographers, and perhaps even out writing crew. I mean, who doesn’t want to see Josh’s most popular posts of all time!?
Minolta Autocord - Medium Format Camera Review
From the very first year of the site's existence, my review of the Minolta Autocord has everything you need to know about one of the best TLRs to come out of Japan.
2014! Wow, I'm old.
2014! Wow, I'm old.
casualphotophile.com
Minolta V2 Review - the Fastest 35mm Rangefinder Camera of 1958
Back in 2019 I went out with a group of Boston-area film photography friends, and I brought a few cameras. The Leica CL, which I was reviewing for B&H Photo, a Leidolf Lordomat, which I was shooting for fun, and the most interesting camera of the day, a Minolta V2, which I brought because my friend Anthony wanted to try shooting a rangefinder. A year later, I finally wrote an article about it.
The Minolta V2 is an early machine from one of my favorite brands. It’s rare, or at least uncommon. It’s excellent as a photographic tool. And it’s easy on the eyes. It’s a perfect camera for Casual Photophile, even if it's not necessarily a must-have Minolta (more on that in the article).
The Minolta V2 is an early machine from one of my favorite brands. It’s rare, or at least uncommon. It’s excellent as a photographic tool. And it’s easy on the eyes. It’s a perfect camera for Casual Photophile, even if it's not necessarily a must-have Minolta (more on that in the article).
casualphotophile.com
Shooting Lisbon with a Minolta SRT 303b and Kodak Ektar
Our own Jeb Inge visits sunny Lisbon, Portugal with a Minolta SRT 303b film camera and Kodak's most vibrant film, Kodak Ektar 100.
Every now and then I find myself visiting this page and just enjoying Jeb's wonderful photos and words. It's a real good article.
Every now and then I find myself visiting this page and just enjoying Jeb's wonderful photos and words. It's a real good article.
casualphotophile.com
Minolta X-570 and the Maxxum 7000 - The End (and Beginning) of an Era
By 1981 Minolta was coming off of twenty years of unmatched innovation and sales success. They spent the sixties and seventies producing workhorse mechanical cameras made out of metal, and manual-focus lenses whose stellar reputation endures today. In 1962, the astronaut John Glenn carried a (rebranded) Minolta Hi-Matic with him during the first manned orbit of the planet. In 1966, the SRT-101 pioneered through-the-lens metering and the precursor to matrix metering with that camera’s CLC system. In 1977, the XD became the first camera to have multi-mode metering including a rudimentary version of program mode.
But just as Minolta’s success was reaching its peak, a new era was dawning.
But just as Minolta’s success was reaching its peak, a new era was dawning.
casualphotophile.com
Minolta MC Fisheye Rokkor X 7.5mm F/4 Lens Review
Minolta made plenty of unusual lenses in their time. The STF 135mm F/2.8 T/4.5 (Smooth Trans Focus) portrait lens used an apodization filter to create the creamiest bokeh the world had ever seen. The MC Rokkor X 40-80mm Gearbox lens was a tiny zoom lens with incredible image quality in a time when zooms were pretty terrible. The 24mm F/2.8 VFC (Variable Field Curvature) was a lens whose field of focus could be curved around a subject.
And then there's this one, a rare and wild one – the Minolta MC Fisheye Rokkor X 7.5mm F/4.
This is the widest lens I’ve ever used, and it’s utterly hilarious. I can take a photo of my feet with the lens pointed at the horizon. I can shoot a full-body portrait of my daughter with the lens’ front element five inches away from her nose. I can make photos look like a Virtual Boy game (the lens has six built-in filters, including red). The Minolta 7.5mm is absurd and extreme, and it made me smile every time I used it.
And then there's this one, a rare and wild one – the Minolta MC Fisheye Rokkor X 7.5mm F/4.
This is the widest lens I’ve ever used, and it’s utterly hilarious. I can take a photo of my feet with the lens pointed at the horizon. I can shoot a full-body portrait of my daughter with the lens’ front element five inches away from her nose. I can make photos look like a Virtual Boy game (the lens has six built-in filters, including red). The Minolta 7.5mm is absurd and extreme, and it made me smile every time I used it.
casualphotophile.com
Minoltina P Camera Review - A Mostly Forgotten Full Frame Compact from Minolta
Editorial discretion at Casual Photophile dictates that we don’t write about every camera ever made, and the cameras that we do write about do not necessarily need to be “the best.” Our only requirement of the cameras we cover is that they should be interesting. Case in point; Minolta’s Minoltina P.
casualphotophile.com
Minolta Hi-matic 7sII - 35mm Film Rangefinder Camera Review
Beginning in the late 1970s, camera manufacturers began to turn away from fun and discrete rangefinders to bulky, and often boring, SLRs. But before totally abandoning the once-popular rangefinder, each of the major Japanese makers seemed to honor their recent pasts by producing one last serious fixed-lens rangefinder. In Minolta's case, 1977 saw their final effort - the HiMatic 7sII
casualphotophile.com
Minolta RF Rokkor-X 500mm F/8 Mirror Lens Review
The last time I used a mirror lens, it was an utter debacle. The Soviet-made Rubinar 1,000mm lens was so tele as to be pretty well useless. The optical quality was poor. And the lens was so old and shoddy that the focus ring detached from the barrel and one of its mirrors simply fell apart mid-shoot. It put me off old mirror lenses for a long time.
And then I came crawling back two years later, forgetting lessons learned and shooting another big-honkin’ mirror lens – this time the Minolta RF Rokkor-X 500mm F/8.
And then I came crawling back two years later, forgetting lessons learned and shooting another big-honkin’ mirror lens – this time the Minolta RF Rokkor-X 500mm F/8.
casualphotophile.com
Minolta MC Rokkor X 85mm F/1.7 Fast Prime Portrait Lens Review
I sometimes forget how much I love old lenses. And then something like the Minolta MC Rokkor X 85mm F/1.7 comes through the shop and I’m instantly reminded. With its enormous front element, full metal construction, and undeniable imaging character, it encapsulates everything that I love about classic photography gear.
I spent a couple of months shooting the lens intermittently, and I think I understand why this lens had such a strong reputation in its day, and why that reputation still exists with modern photographers. Whether mounted to a classic film camera or today’s modern mirrorless digital cameras, this lens is capable of making beautiful and interesting images. It’s not the “best” portrait lens I’ve ever used. But it is a special lens worthy of consideration.
I spent a couple of months shooting the lens intermittently, and I think I understand why this lens had such a strong reputation in its day, and why that reputation still exists with modern photographers. Whether mounted to a classic film camera or today’s modern mirrorless digital cameras, this lens is capable of making beautiful and interesting images. It’s not the “best” portrait lens I’ve ever used. But it is a special lens worthy of consideration.
casualphotophile.com
Why I Choose the Minolta CLE Over Any Leica M
I used this article to play the contrarian, offering up an alternative to the ever-present Leica M film cameras flooding my socials.
Don't get me wrong. I love Leica. I really do.
It's just that the Minolta CLE is the best Leica M camera...
Don't get me wrong. I love Leica. I really do.
It's just that the Minolta CLE is the best Leica M camera...
casualphotophile.com
You can buy your own Minolta camera on eBay here!
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Thanks James! Here to show my (clearly insatiable) support for more Minolta content #MinoltaGang