Now to the question that must be buzzing in your bonnet. Why should anyone buy camera equipment that has been made "obsolete" by the digital revolution? Because it was well designed and meticulously made equipment when it was first made and it still is today. For anyone interested in venturing beyond the cookie cutter camera solution offered up today by the most well know manufacturers, buying vintage is a route to an enjoyable picture taking experience with stunningly beautiful images as the result of your reasonable investment. Plus for me, its fun!
Now more about the camera I chose. The Minolta XD-11 was a ground breaking camera at the time of it's introduction. It was the first SLR (single lens reflex) camera to offer the photographer the option of shooting both Aperture and Shutter Speed Priority modes using a single camera. Also, hidden in the circuits of this camera is a Program Exposure mode that will take over if the photographer selected settings are outside of the required exposure range. The camera also offered a Manual Metered mode were the shutter speed and aperture were chosen by the photographer with no override by the camera. In today's world of multiple mode and scene cameras, this may not be very impressive, but prior to the XD-11, a photographer was limited to a shooting style based on the camera hardware. Now the photographer could have the camera accommodate his shooting style.
Picture Copyright Minolta
Here are some other key specs of this camera:
- Electronically controlled stepless shutter speeds from 1/1000 to 1 second for automatic modes plus stepped speeds from 1/1000 to 1 second plus “B” in metered manual mode. “X” sync setting for 1/100 sec, plus fully mechanical operation at “O” (1/100 sec) and “B”.
- Completely electronic automatic aperture control in shutter priority mode.
- Final check metering system (after stopping the lens down the camera performs a final check to ensure that the exposure will be correct). This was later also used in the Minolta X-700.
- Very bright acute-matte viewfinder screen with details of selected aperture and shutter speed, so no need to take the eye from the viewfinder, even in metered manual mode.
- A range of interchangeable screens was available.
- Vertical traverse metal blade focus plane shutter for quiet operation, and also enabling a fast 1/100 sec flash sync speed. This sync was the fastest of the Minolta Manual focus bodies, and was nearly twice as fast as the later X-700.
- Silicon photocell TTL centre weighted meter, measuring at full aperture for display then at taking aperture for exposure. Automatic exposure range EV1 to EV18.
- Can be used without batteries in fully mechanical mode at B for long exposures, or at “O” for 1/100 sec. This feature was included because photographers had traditionally been used to mechanical cameras, and there was still some hesitation at relying on a battery. What it means now is that for extremely long exposures the battery can be removed, resulting in zero current drain. Later models, such as the X-700 had a maximum long exposure time of about 2 hours, due to the fact that battery power was required to keep the mirror up.
- Remote shutter release that will accept both electronic and manual shutter releases.
- Unlike later cameras like the X-700, the XD-11 uses a full metal body construction.
- Can be used with the Autowinder D for motor driven sequences of up to 2 frames per second.
- Exposure adjustment lever for up to two stops over or under exposure from the metered setting.
- Depth of field preview button.
- Built-in eyepiece shutter for tripod use (won't mess up your metering).
- PC connection for studio flash use.
- Film “safe-load” indicator.
- Self timer (adjustable from 2 to 10 seconds).I am in the process of putting a roll of Kodak Ektar 100 through my XD-11 and should have some pictures to share soon. I will update this blog with a link to the pictures on my Flickr account.
