My mom had an XD7 as her first camera. She bout it from her first earned money. And she shoots it for years until the shutter had some problems. She asked at a local camera store to repair it. They told her that it would cost 320 DM and it is not sure, if that really fixes the problem. My mom did not have the money for that. So, the XD-7 was given to a close Family friend hoe is a camera geek. Around 15 years later I visited this close family friend. He gave me the camera of my mom. I fixed the shutter problem that it still had. And on her next birthday my mom got her old Minolta XD-7 fully working back again. She was super happy about it and loves to shoot with it.
Hands down the XD-7 is the best and most beautiful Minolta camera out there. I got an unused black one from a collector for a very low price a few years ago and it is such a pleasure to both shoot and just hold in your hands. Plus it has the smoothest film advance and release button in camera history - at least on my watch - and I have tried dozens of different cameras. The sound is spectacular, too.
the pepe pfp really sells this comment 💀 but yeah i agree completely, buttery smooth advance and the shutter just sounds amazing. i got mine in perfect condition for very cheap as well. I love it so much
Fun fact: this camera had a drawback that got marketed as a feature: Minolta refused to pay to license a patent on storing the exposure value in memory during the time between the mirror being down and the exposure reading being taken off the focusing screen, and the mirror being raised and the exposure being taken. Not storing it in memory meant the exposure reading had to be done again after the mirror was raised, creating a fraction of a second delay before the shutter fired. This delay in operation was titled the "Final-Check Metering System" by the marketing department, and claimed to improve exposure accuracy by being done right before the shutter fired.
I once bought two dead silver XD7 and a silver XD5 for pretty cheap. One of each model I could nurse back to life (I can't remember the defects). As the XD5 was the less valuable camera I allowed myself to modify it by adding a little grip. Under the leather on its right front corner I glued a wave shaped piece of light wood. A little bit of extra leather I took from the still dead XD7. One could hardly see any seam. The top and the bottom of the grip I covered with brushed aluminum. It nearly looked like it was designed that way. A little bit like the grip of the X-700, but it worked MUCH better. I could hang the camera on my finger tips. Together with a wrist strap it was careless shooting. The XD5 became my favorite camera, especially for "action", like shooting historic motorsport vents. Unfortunately I sold it to finance my first proper digital camera. Which I still love, but regarding the XD5 I'm full of regret. But I cannot bring myself to do the same modifications to my new, pristine XD7 (the other ones were also sold back then). The XD-series to me is really a prime example of beautiful SLR design to me.
OMG you just reviewed my two favorite cameras, Minolta SD and Nikon SP! :) I love finding videos of things I already own so I don’t feel the urge to buy more stuff! :) :P
I just picked up this camera at a Value Village today Minolta XD someone left the role of film the the camera lol ? I bought the camera for $39 Back in 77 Minolta tried.. come out with a pro Camra ... with the engineering and Technology they had in 1977 not so bad ... with a 1.2f 50mm lens the light meter batteries we're still good in it plus the film Advance lever Works flawlessly not jamed the light meters still works it's not scratched or dented yeah I bought the camera ... I do have a mint condition Olympus on 10 , and a Nikon F4 ... Minolta did make lenses for Leica back in the day .. but Nikon with there sexy design battery pack I have the Nikon F4 standard × 4 AA hand grip , but if you see the Nikon F4 with the 6 × extender extended battery pack so engineered perfectly to Nikon design it's a work of art but Minolta if they had engineers like Nikon did back in the day before digital people would be buying Minolta 35 mm cameras today .. can you imagine Minolta the technology and the designs they could have went so far before they came out with digital cameras those were the three four top camera's ... Nikon , Minolta , Canon .. and in falling behind is the Pentax ... Minolta could have been still around today ... there's plenty of mistakes ... in history ... like Kodak stumbling across digital back in the 70s ... cuz if Kodak developed the modern digital camera it would ruin their film sales so they Kodak didn't put R&D further .. IBM .. hired Steve Jobs one of Apple designers ... he worked for IBM and then quit and took his knowledge because IBM didn't want it further it what do you think Steve Jobs got that idea from .... what I'm saying is Minolta had it they Minolta .. could have been around today . THEY SHOULD'VE BEEN just like Canon , Nikon , Pentax And Olympus , It just blows my mind why why Minolta couldn't come into to 21 century .. I can't speak for Cambridge designers in the 70s but the 80s you got to give it to Nikon for the Nikon F4 ... don't be like Easton ... he was the creator of 35 mm film and he killed himself cuz he didn't think that it was anything else in his life , He hired an engineer he came up with the first design of a digital what it is today .. he didn't foresee I didn't want to foresee that taking pictures in 35 mm & 120 mm film will ever ever go away even in 2024 .. that's like comparing Blockbuster and not buying Netflix for 150 million when it was up for sale they had the chance didn't ... Minolta had it then lost it , but in the 70s they had it ... It's amazing that Canon is still around today ... who was the top performer in 2024 is Sony ... why is because they just sat back and let all of the other camera company companies .. come out with all their technology developments they weren't anywhere around in the early 1980s ... like like the Japanese Engineers when they perfected the Nikon F4 what the perfect 35mm film camera should be .. Naw you know what I think about Sony ... Well you don't want to , know just like Canon piggyback on Nikon .. like Minolta piggyback on Leica .. it's like eating on research .. for some people it's called Research & Development R&D of .. Kodak Ashley camo with additional cameras .. you can't run the same band name the same thing that was film that begin 100 years ago ... Bought the Minolta XD because ... you think all these years after the digital camera was perfected people still take pictures in 35 mm ... I can tell you right now 35 mm film will never ever will be obsolete , I don't care how advanced Sony cameras has advanced in their 8K ... you look back in every professional camera photographer that ever existed ... there black & white photo's ... there pictures out shine modern-day picture or videos ..
My favorite slr! As you mentioned, the size and feel is just perfect. I didn't know it was in collaboration with Leica, though. Thanks for the video. Always exciting to see a familiar camera, but also gaining knowledge of unfamiliar cameras from your comprehensive reviews.
A few years ago I bought a XD 5 at a thrift store with lens for $10 and thought it didn't work so I put it on a shelf and forgot about it Earlier this year I decided to go back to film and dug out the XD and looked at it and had some batteries laying around and put them in and it worked! The camera works perfectly and is a 9 cosmetically I've put about a dozen rolls through it and everything works I started out with a Minolta SR7 in 1964 and this camera brings back good memories
I bought an XD11 with a "Body Fault" from eBay in the UK for £21, it came with a 50mm F1.7 lens. It took me about 25 hours to fix the fault, mirror latch not releasing due to congealed lubricant, (Full mirror cage strip and shutter removal, not a task for the faint hearted) Usually just a clean and re-lube of the mirror damper sorts this fault, unfortunately not this time. I worked at the UK/ Europe main import distributor for Minolta in the late '70's early '80s hence my confidence to tackle disassembly to component level, I definitely would not recommend a beginner attempt such a deep strip repair. The camera is now in fully working condition, it has s silky wind-on and a gorgeous shutter sound, it is a true gem of a camera. I have yet to get the test roll of Ilford HP5 developed, I suspect the light seal may have been leaking, that too has been replaced since. I also own a beautiful, near mint 1962 Zeiss Ikon Contessa LK. Thanks for a great video, glad to see such a revival in these marvelous old cameras.
Great camera. I miss my XDs. The only version with the diopter adjustment. Also had the exp comp lever on the inside instead of the outside like my XD does.
Nice camera. I was using XD 11 most of the time. One feature missed out may be the red circle on shutter dial which is a fully mechanical shutter release (not dependent on battery) at 1/60 or 1/ 100th.
I got an XD5 back in 1981 when I was 16. I live in Australia & a friend of my parents bought it for me in Singapore. Unfortunately it got salt water damaged at the beach & it was game over. I still have the MD f/1.4 lens but it resides on an XG2. I don't understand the design reasoning for the XG, aperture priority automatic or no light metering? I really miss my XD5. I am considering buying an XD-s as I now where glasses. I also have SRT 101 x 2 (early series with no hot shoe & round film memo dial on film door), an SRT 303 I bought this year only to find the light meter does not work & the MLU facility has been removed. I got my first Minolta in 1977 - an SRT 101b later series with the film memo holder and hot shoe. All great cameras except the XG2. (IMO). Thank you for this wonderful review.
I bought ,y black XD7 in 1996 from a camera shop in Cardiff. It was absolutely mint. It's my favourite camera of all time. I even prefer it to my Nikon FM2N also in black. There is ink shutter sound better than an XD camera shutter mechanism.
Very nice your Omega Seamaster 300 M "Peter Blake" :) Thank for the video, I prefer the XE1 but the XD 11 was the first Minolta with Program mode (hidden but existing)
It might be the first Minolta SLR with shutter priority automation (and maybe that's what you meant), but it wasn't the first SLR with shutter priority. Canon had the EF and AE-1 before the XD was out, and Konica had it in several SLRs starting in the 60s. The big first was having BOTH aperture priority and shutter priority in the same SLR camera, beating the Canon A-1 to the punch.
Any other Minolta or Olympus M/A/S style pro/prosumer cameras with bright finder, diopter adjustment and closest to 100% finder coverage that you can reconmend? If I could get 1/2000s coverage that would be a bonus. Flash sync 1/60 or 1/125 would be fine for me. Great videos 👏. When I visit Japan 28mm is my most used focal length.
In 1979 I got my first SLR Camera, a Minolta XG-1, I only had it for few weeks, it was too cheap (crap) bad quality for me, fx when freezing temperatures outdoors, it could not trigger the shutter because of dry air. So I wanted to upgrade it to a XD-7 (almost the same as XD-S), but it was too expensive in Europe, so I got a Nikon FE. But I know of several professional photographers who used Minolta XD-7 and highly praised that Camera ! I should have stayed with Minolta, because I never got used to Nikon´s Lenses which focuses "the wrong way around" and the Lens quality was too much up and down for Nikon Lenses, so I used most fx Tamron SP Lenses on my Nikon Cameras. The Minolta XD-7 was the basis for the Leica R4, but it was a pity that Leica did not use Minoltas electronics in the Leica Cameras, Leica insisted to make the electronics themselves and that is why many of the early Leica R4 cameras have problems !
The whole roll of test film was woefully overexposed. This required further fault investigation, which I had a suspicion that I'd miss-wired the ASA/ Exposure Compensation, potentiometer, which indeed was the case, hence a roll of Fujifilm colour came out beautifully exposed. The Minolta XD with Rokkor glass for me, is among the finest SLR cameras full stop!
In aperture priority the aperture is not selected by the camera; it's set by you on the lens. In shutter priority you choose the shutter, and yes the lens had to be on the minimum aperture, marked in green on MD lenses.
that's how I started with such a photo .... but today you are promoting analog cameras that are already in the prices of many digital ones. It wasn't until 5 years ago that I bought film myself and took pictures. Costs are £5. Today it costs 15 pounds, so a big misconception such a photograph. The most expensive toys that we can play with without limits.
Film has gotten more pricey, if you think 35mm film is expensive, you don't want to know about large format. There is enough demand that other places in Asia are producing 35mm film. For kicks, I ordered some from Ali Express and was pleasantly surprised. Kodak and Fuji film are largely made in China anyway, and buying it directly is more reasonable. Relative to inflation, film is not much more expensive today that it ever was. Henry Cartier Bresson thought it expensive enough in the 40's and 50's that he bought film in bulk and loaded into reusable canisters, and he wasn't exactly a poor man.
My mom had an XD7 as her first camera. She bout it from her first earned money. And she shoots it for years until the shutter had some problems. She asked at a local camera store to repair it. They told her that it would cost 320 DM and it is not sure, if that really fixes the problem. My mom did not have the money for that. So, the XD-7 was given to a close Family friend hoe is a camera geek. Around 15 years later I visited this close family friend. He gave me the camera of my mom. I fixed the shutter problem that it still had. And on her next birthday my mom got her old Minolta XD-7 fully working back again. She was super happy about it and loves to shoot with it.
this is one of the most touching story I've read on UA-cam ♥️ thank you for sharing, photography is so amazing
The XD and XD-s were both Japan market cameras. XD-11 was USA and XD7 in Europe
The fact that it’s called a XD, makes it 100x better. XD
I’m so wanting a Minolta XD. This XD-S looks sweet.
Hands down the XD-7 is the best and most beautiful Minolta camera out there. I got an unused black one from a collector for a very low price a few years ago and it is such a pleasure to both shoot and just hold in your hands. Plus it has the smoothest film advance and release button in camera history - at least on my watch - and I have tried dozens of different cameras. The sound is spectacular, too.
the pepe pfp really sells this comment 💀 but yeah i agree completely, buttery smooth advance and the shutter just sounds amazing. i got mine in perfect condition for very cheap as well. I love it so much
Fun fact: this camera had a drawback that got marketed as a feature: Minolta refused to pay to license a patent on storing the exposure value in memory during the time between the mirror being down and the exposure reading being taken off the focusing screen, and the mirror being raised and the exposure being taken. Not storing it in memory meant the exposure reading had to be done again after the mirror was raised, creating a fraction of a second delay before the shutter fired. This delay in operation was titled the "Final-Check Metering System" by the marketing department, and claimed to improve exposure accuracy by being done right before the shutter fired.
That's fascinating! I knew about that final check, but not about the reason for it. Clever marketing! It's not a bug, it's a feature. Thank you!
Amazing camera!!! My favorite SLR!
I once bought two dead silver XD7 and a silver XD5 for pretty cheap. One of each model I could nurse back to life (I can't remember the defects). As the XD5 was the less valuable camera I allowed myself to modify it by adding a little grip. Under the leather on its right front corner I glued a wave shaped piece of light wood. A little bit of extra leather I took from the still dead XD7. One could hardly see any seam. The top and the bottom of the grip I covered with brushed aluminum. It nearly looked like it was designed that way. A little bit like the grip of the X-700, but it worked MUCH better. I could hang the camera on my finger tips. Together with a wrist strap it was careless shooting. The XD5 became my favorite camera, especially for "action", like shooting historic motorsport vents.
Unfortunately I sold it to finance my first proper digital camera. Which I still love, but regarding the XD5 I'm full of regret. But I cannot bring myself to do the same modifications to my new, pristine XD7 (the other ones were also sold back then). The XD-series to me is really a prime example of beautiful SLR design to me.
OMG you just reviewed my two favorite cameras, Minolta SD and Nikon SP! :) I love finding videos of things I already own so I don’t feel the urge to buy more stuff! :) :P
I just picked up this camera at a Value Village today Minolta XD someone left the role of film the the camera lol ? I bought the camera for $39 Back in 77 Minolta tried.. come out with a pro Camra ... with the engineering and Technology they had in 1977 not so bad ... with a 1.2f 50mm lens the light meter batteries we're still good in it plus the film Advance lever Works flawlessly not jamed the light meters still works it's not scratched or dented yeah I bought the camera ... I do have a mint condition Olympus on 10 , and a Nikon F4 ... Minolta did make lenses for Leica back in the day .. but Nikon with there sexy design battery pack I have the Nikon F4 standard × 4 AA hand grip , but if you see the Nikon F4 with the 6 × extender extended battery pack so engineered perfectly to Nikon design it's a work of art but Minolta if they had engineers like Nikon did back in the day before digital people would be buying Minolta 35 mm cameras today .. can you imagine Minolta the technology and the designs they could have went so far before they came out with digital cameras those were the three four top camera's ... Nikon , Minolta , Canon .. and in falling behind is the Pentax ... Minolta could have been still around today ... there's plenty of mistakes ... in history ... like Kodak stumbling across digital back in the 70s ... cuz if Kodak developed the modern digital camera it would ruin their film sales so they Kodak didn't put R&D further .. IBM .. hired Steve Jobs one of Apple designers ... he worked for IBM and then quit and took his knowledge because IBM didn't want it further it what do you think Steve Jobs got that idea from .... what I'm saying is Minolta had it they Minolta .. could have been around today . THEY SHOULD'VE BEEN just like Canon , Nikon , Pentax And Olympus , It just blows my mind why why Minolta couldn't come into to 21 century .. I can't speak for Cambridge designers in the 70s but the 80s you got to give it to Nikon for the Nikon F4 ... don't be like Easton ... he was the creator of 35 mm film and he killed himself cuz he didn't think that it was anything else in his life , He hired an engineer he came up with the first design of a digital what it is today .. he didn't foresee I didn't want to foresee that taking pictures in 35 mm & 120 mm film will ever ever go away even in 2024 .. that's like comparing Blockbuster and not buying Netflix for 150 million when it was up for sale they had the chance didn't ... Minolta had it then lost it , but in the 70s they had it ... It's amazing that Canon is still around today ... who was the top performer in 2024 is Sony ... why is because they just sat back and let all of the other camera company companies .. come out with all their technology developments they weren't anywhere around in the early 1980s ... like like the Japanese Engineers when they perfected the Nikon F4 what the perfect 35mm film camera should be .. Naw you know what I think about Sony ... Well you don't want to , know just like Canon piggyback on Nikon .. like Minolta piggyback on Leica .. it's like eating on research .. for some people it's called Research & Development R&D of .. Kodak Ashley camo with additional cameras .. you can't run the same band name the same thing that was film that begin 100 years ago ... Bought the Minolta XD because ... you think all these years after the digital camera was perfected people still take pictures in 35 mm ... I can tell you right now 35 mm film will never ever will be obsolete , I don't care how advanced Sony cameras has advanced in their 8K ... you look back in every professional camera photographer that ever existed ... there black & white photo's ... there pictures out shine modern-day picture or videos ..
My favorite slr! As you mentioned, the size and feel is just perfect. I didn't know it was in collaboration with Leica, though. Thanks for the video. Always exciting to see a familiar camera, but also gaining knowledge of unfamiliar cameras from your comprehensive reviews.
A few years ago I bought a XD 5 at a thrift store with lens for $10 and thought it didn't work so I put it on a shelf and forgot about it
Earlier this year I decided to go back to film and dug out the XD and looked at it and had some batteries laying around and put them in and it worked!
The camera works perfectly and is a 9 cosmetically I've put about a dozen rolls through it and everything works
I started out with a Minolta SR7 in 1964 and this camera brings back good memories
I bought an XD11 with a "Body Fault" from eBay in the UK for £21, it came with a 50mm F1.7 lens.
It took me about 25 hours to fix the fault, mirror latch not releasing due to congealed lubricant, (Full mirror cage strip and shutter removal, not a task for the faint hearted) Usually just a clean and re-lube of the mirror damper sorts this fault, unfortunately not this time.
I worked at the UK/ Europe main import distributor for Minolta in the late '70's early '80s hence my confidence to tackle disassembly to component level, I definitely would not recommend a beginner attempt such a deep strip repair.
The camera is now in fully working condition, it has s silky wind-on and a gorgeous shutter sound, it is a true gem of a camera.
I have yet to get the test roll of Ilford HP5 developed, I suspect the light seal may have been leaking, that too has been replaced since.
I also own a beautiful, near mint 1962 Zeiss Ikon Contessa LK.
Thanks for a great video, glad to see such a revival in these marvelous old cameras.
Weird, I just bought an XD-11 a few days ago. Feels very solid and high quality.
Love this camera . I have an XD-11. The film advance is butter smooth.
They were sold in Australia , i purchased one in the early 1980's.
Great camera. I miss my XDs. The only version with the diopter adjustment. Also had the exp comp lever on the inside instead of the outside like my XD does.
It would be great to see a review of the Olympus Flex TLR. Great high end camera from back in the day, very sharp lens.
Nice camera. I was using XD 11 most of the time. One feature missed out may be the red circle on shutter dial which is a fully mechanical shutter release (not dependent on battery) at 1/60 or 1/ 100th.
I got an XD5 back in 1981 when I was 16. I live in Australia & a friend of my parents bought it for me in Singapore. Unfortunately it got salt water damaged at the beach & it was game over. I still have the MD f/1.4 lens but it resides on an XG2. I don't understand the design reasoning for the XG, aperture priority automatic or no light metering? I really miss my XD5. I am considering buying an XD-s as I now where glasses. I also have SRT 101 x 2 (early series with no hot shoe & round film memo dial on film door), an SRT 303 I bought this year only to find the light meter does not work & the MLU facility has been removed. I got my first Minolta in 1977 - an SRT 101b later series with the film memo holder and hot shoe. All great cameras except the XG2. (IMO). Thank you for this wonderful review.
I bought ,y black XD7 in 1996 from a camera shop in Cardiff. It was absolutely mint. It's my favourite camera of all time. I even prefer it to my Nikon FM2N also in black. There is ink shutter sound better than an XD camera shutter mechanism.
Very nice your Omega Seamaster 300 M "Peter Blake" :) Thank for the video, I prefer the XE1 but the XD 11 was the first Minolta with Program mode (hidden but existing)
It might be the first Minolta SLR with shutter priority automation (and maybe that's what you meant), but it wasn't the first SLR with shutter priority. Canon had the EF and AE-1 before the XD was out, and Konica had it in several SLRs starting in the 60s. The big first was having BOTH aperture priority and shutter priority in the same SLR camera, beating the Canon A-1 to the punch.
Any other Minolta or Olympus M/A/S style pro/prosumer cameras with bright finder, diopter adjustment and closest to 100% finder coverage that you can reconmend? If I could get 1/2000s coverage that would be a bonus. Flash sync 1/60 or 1/125 would be fine for me. Great videos 👏. When I visit Japan 28mm is my most used focal length.
Can I use a waist-level viewfinder with this one?
Built-in diopter setting. I want it!
In 1979 I got my first SLR Camera, a Minolta XG-1, I only had it for few weeks, it was too cheap (crap) bad quality for me, fx when freezing temperatures outdoors, it could not trigger the shutter because of dry air. So I wanted to upgrade it to a XD-7 (almost the same as XD-S), but it was too expensive in Europe, so I got a Nikon FE. But I know of several professional photographers who used Minolta XD-7 and highly praised that Camera ! I should have stayed with Minolta, because I never got used to Nikon´s Lenses which focuses "the wrong way around" and the Lens quality was too much up and down for Nikon Lenses, so I used most fx Tamron SP Lenses on my Nikon Cameras. The Minolta XD-7 was the basis for the Leica R4, but it was a pity that Leica did not use Minoltas electronics in the Leica Cameras, Leica insisted to make the electronics themselves and that is why many of the early Leica R4 cameras have problems !
You are correct about the issues with the XG-7, I have yet to find one of these cameras in working condition.
Do you know the +/- range of the diopter correction?
The whole roll of test film was woefully overexposed. This required further fault investigation, which I had a suspicion that I'd miss-wired the ASA/ Exposure Compensation, potentiometer, which indeed was the case, hence a roll of Fujifilm colour came out beautifully exposed. The Minolta XD with Rokkor glass for me, is among the finest SLR cameras full stop!
Does the aperture have to be on the green setting for the aperture to be selected automatically in aperture priority mode…….I think it does….
In aperture priority the aperture is not selected by the camera; it's set by you on the lens. In shutter priority you choose the shutter, and yes the lens had to be on the minimum aperture, marked in green on MD lenses.
that's how I started with such a photo .... but today you are promoting analog cameras that are already in the prices of many digital ones. It wasn't until 5 years ago that I bought film myself and took pictures. Costs are £5. Today it costs 15 pounds, so a big misconception such a photograph. The most expensive toys that we can play with without limits.
Film has gotten more pricey, if you think 35mm film is expensive, you don't want to know about large format. There is enough demand that other places in Asia are producing 35mm film. For kicks, I ordered some from Ali Express and was pleasantly surprised. Kodak and Fuji film are largely made in China anyway, and buying it directly is more reasonable. Relative to inflation, film is not much more expensive today that it ever was. Henry Cartier Bresson thought it expensive enough in the 40's and 50's that he bought film in bulk and loaded into reusable canisters, and he wasn't exactly a poor man.
One year later, did you learn how to correctly pronounce Leica? :)