nightcleaner
pfm Member
In 1980 something i bought one of these cameras. I was so excited i Bought it in Dixon's and paid £5 a month for it. My previous camera was a Russian zenith with all the bells and whistles the Zenith has you no buying the Minolta was a real step down [only joking]
Served me well. I took hundreds of pictures of trains thats what i liked at the time. Accessories.. had the electronic remote control for long exposures.
i could not afford any lens for it as such which will talk about in a moment.
My picture loves were is night photography. Used to frequent the London main railway stations on cheap day returns to London in those days.
used to stalk the ends of platforms looking for laid up locomotives in sidings and platforms to take. I had a rule by thumb method of 30 secs at f22 to get a massive depth of field. I use to use a mini tripod would set the camera up. Then walk of with the flash in my hand using the test button would flash the wheels and sides of the locomotives to get my pictures. The results were amazing. The only drawback purley on hindsight now is that when you go back through the photo albums the pictures look a bit the same.
I found because i could not afford the big lens for the Minolta i bough a cheap second hand practika, semi auto camera. with man override/ Owning the Minolta certainly learned me about exposure even though it had lots of auto modes. Anyway i got a 70 210 lens and a 28 wide angle for the praktica.
My other half lived in The village of cattistock near maiden Newton. If you never been there it has quite a nice church. One frost morning sort of 6 to 7 am with frost on the ground it was bitter. I set up on to the hills above with my cameras taking the dog with me. When we got to the top of the hill the fog was well.. but through the fog i could just see this church tower it looked so picturesque. I got the minolta out. what do you think happened. Well the battery's were frozen solid and it would not work. lucky i had the Practicka took my time set up the camera and used the manual speed of 160th/ at 5.6 and do you know what i got the best picture i ever taken. Just goes to show its not the camera. Its really the wombat behind it.
What happen to my minolta 7000? I had it for years loved it. I dropped it. End of a very good friend and tutor. As some of you or one of you will know its a beast to repair ..... i futched it totally.
I don't take pictures anymore like bit like a musician not playing the guitar anymore but still enjoys listening to music .
Memories of my camera hobby i used to by Ilford Colour film in packs of 50 used to cost me £5 in the Camera shop in criterion arcade anyone remember that. Had Made in japan on it so i guess it was konica of fujifilm but the date had expired. I kept them in the fridge
I loved Kodak vericolor wedding film i think it used to be called had a funny iso i cant recall what it was. + Ilford xp1 black and white film which if you developed through Colour care would come back sepia it looked great.
What did i learn? Well.......... a tip i can even use on my point and shoot digital camera. Never point the camera at people you do not know. Like that stunning girl walking along the promenade.... instead anticipate where she will be walking in four steps time and set your camera up there and let them walk into your picture.
Do you know also on the embankment London people are grouping people together to take pictures of individuals if you see a beautiful face you like in that group you stand behind the chap taking the picture like you do the wedding photographer whoops...
Oh what fun..... But what an expensive hobby... it used to be..
Sorry to bore you with all that..
Served me well. I took hundreds of pictures of trains thats what i liked at the time. Accessories.. had the electronic remote control for long exposures.
i could not afford any lens for it as such which will talk about in a moment.
My picture loves were is night photography. Used to frequent the London main railway stations on cheap day returns to London in those days.
used to stalk the ends of platforms looking for laid up locomotives in sidings and platforms to take. I had a rule by thumb method of 30 secs at f22 to get a massive depth of field. I use to use a mini tripod would set the camera up. Then walk of with the flash in my hand using the test button would flash the wheels and sides of the locomotives to get my pictures. The results were amazing. The only drawback purley on hindsight now is that when you go back through the photo albums the pictures look a bit the same.
I found because i could not afford the big lens for the Minolta i bough a cheap second hand practika, semi auto camera. with man override/ Owning the Minolta certainly learned me about exposure even though it had lots of auto modes. Anyway i got a 70 210 lens and a 28 wide angle for the praktica.
My other half lived in The village of cattistock near maiden Newton. If you never been there it has quite a nice church. One frost morning sort of 6 to 7 am with frost on the ground it was bitter. I set up on to the hills above with my cameras taking the dog with me. When we got to the top of the hill the fog was well.. but through the fog i could just see this church tower it looked so picturesque. I got the minolta out. what do you think happened. Well the battery's were frozen solid and it would not work. lucky i had the Practicka took my time set up the camera and used the manual speed of 160th/ at 5.6 and do you know what i got the best picture i ever taken. Just goes to show its not the camera. Its really the wombat behind it.
What happen to my minolta 7000? I had it for years loved it. I dropped it. End of a very good friend and tutor. As some of you or one of you will know its a beast to repair ..... i futched it totally.
I don't take pictures anymore like bit like a musician not playing the guitar anymore but still enjoys listening to music .
Memories of my camera hobby i used to by Ilford Colour film in packs of 50 used to cost me £5 in the Camera shop in criterion arcade anyone remember that. Had Made in japan on it so i guess it was konica of fujifilm but the date had expired. I kept them in the fridge
I loved Kodak vericolor wedding film i think it used to be called had a funny iso i cant recall what it was. + Ilford xp1 black and white film which if you developed through Colour care would come back sepia it looked great.
What did i learn? Well.......... a tip i can even use on my point and shoot digital camera. Never point the camera at people you do not know. Like that stunning girl walking along the promenade.... instead anticipate where she will be walking in four steps time and set your camera up there and let them walk into your picture.
Do you know also on the embankment London people are grouping people together to take pictures of individuals if you see a beautiful face you like in that group you stand behind the chap taking the picture like you do the wedding photographer whoops...
Oh what fun..... But what an expensive hobby... it used to be..
Sorry to bore you with all that..