Minolta X-700 Film Camera

The Minolta X-700 is a great film camera with many features used by professional photographers yet easy to use for the beginner or student. It features three modes of picture taking:

PROGRAM - YOU JUST FOCUS AND SHOOT, THE X-700 SETS THE APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED FOR YOU.

APERTURE PRIORITY - YOU SET THE APERTURE, THE X-700 AUTOMATICALLY SETS THE SHUTTER SPEED.

MANUAL EXPOSURE - YOU SET BOTH APERTURE AND SHUTTER SPEED TO GET THE RESULTS YOU WANT.

Before you read more... understand... this is not one of the new, fancy digital cameras with auto-focus that so many people are using today. It is a manual focus camera (meaning YOU focus) which uses film that has to be developed. Many professional photographers still prefer film over digital. But understand you can not hook this camera up to your computer and download photos. The film has to be purchased, installed and after picture-taking removed and taken to a developer. Places like CVS, Wal-Mart, Rite-Aid all have developing services. And most places that develop this film will also be able to put your pictures on a CD which makes it easy to email them or publish them on a Website. I routinely get my film photos developed on CD only (no prints) for $1.99.

Okay... enough about film... now more on the camera... there are several items you should be aware of before buying one of these cameras on eBay.

1: SEALS: The light seals keep light from sneaking into the film chamber. Even if a camera has never been used, these seals deteriorate over time and need to be replaced. So always ask the seller about the condition of the light seals. If they are worn out they will be sticky to the touch and leave residue on the film chamber door. Ask your seller about the condition of the light seals.

2: CAPACITOR: These cameras are known for capacitors that wear/dry out and fail. When this happens the camera does not work. The symptom is... no shutter release... no film advance. There's nothing wrong with the film advance. It's just that it won't advance until you release the shutter and the shutter won't release because the capacitors have failed. You can usually have this problem fixed for around $75 to $100 dollars but beware of this problem. If a seller says the shutter won't fire, it could be something as easy as changing the batteries, or it could be the camera needs new capacitors. Here's an easy way to tell the difference. If the LEDs light up in the view finder, that means the batteries are good and the camera is getting power so if the shutter won't fire, the problem is more likely than not, bad capacitors. If the LEDs don't light up and the shutter won't fire, there's a good chance the camera just need new batteries... (A76 1.5V) which can be purchased on eBay for very reasonable rates.

3: VIEW FINDER:
Ask sellers if the viewfinder is clear and free of scratches. While this would not affect picture quality it is kind of annoying to see specs of dust and scratches while trying to compose your shot.

A good seller should provide photos and descriptions to answer these questions, but some people do not have the time or expertise so often times you need to ask. Their answers will tell you a lot about not only the camera… but also the seller.

NOTE: Have a look at some of the other X-700 reviews... notice one of them looks extremely similar to mine? Hmmmm. I wonder why people do that? Can't they write their own review?