The X-700 with Motor Drive 1. The addition of the motor drive dramatically improves the handling of the camera, particularly with longer lenses. | ||||
The Minolta X-700 was the last
high specification manual focus body manufactured by the company before
the introduction of its revolutionary autofocus body the 7000. Beginning
in 1981, the X-700 was launched as a state of the art SLR camera, boasting
an enormous array of accessories which together comprised the “Minolta
Program System”. Undoubtedly the most successful Minolta camera
since the SRT era, the X-700 was awarded “European Camera of the
Year” in 1981. While production did switch from Japan to China during
the 1990’s the camera was still available new from Minolta as late
as 1999 (albeit with a significantly reduced range of lenses and accessories
available).
Given its phenomenal worldwide success and recent discontinuation, it is probably an excellent choice for a new Minolta user as parts will be available for many years to come, and there is probably not a single commercial camera technician in the world who has not worked on one before at some stage, so service should always be readily attainable. So why was the X-700 so popular to beginners and advanced amateurs alike? Well the main reason was undoubtedly it’s “program” mode. In addition to metered manual and aperture priority exposure modes the X-700 sported a new program mode, enabling completely automatic control of both aperture and shutter speed. For the first time, here was a sophisticated SLR camera which could be used by a person who knew absolutely nothing about photography whatsoever. Program mode made it the ultimate “point n’ shoot” camera. |
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The
introduction of program mode revolutionised SLR photography and opened
up the door for inexperienced photographers looking for better results. |
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Picture
Copyright Minolta |
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The X-700 was marketed as a professional tool, and indeed it incorporated features one would expect from a professional camera of the era, including TTL flash, exposure lock, and interchangeable screens. However it did lack the high sync speed that professional cameras normally have to meet the common professional requirement for daytime fill flash. This was probably due to Minolta's decision to implement a cloth shutter as opposed to a metal shutter such as was used in the XK, XE and XD Series bodies. The decision can most likely be attributed to a desire to minimise production costs so as to improve the affordability of the camera. By the time the X-700 was released I believe Minolta had abandoned hope of capturing a large part of the professional market, and instead had focused upon meeting the needs of the amateur, from the new beginner to dedicated enthusiast. Just as the program mode held real appeal to beginning photographers, the enthusiast market saw the introduction of the new range of accessories for the X-700 as a real selling point. The introduction of the direct autoflash metering system also made macro photography easier than ever before. |
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The
introduction of the direct autoflash metering system made a huge difference
to photomacrogaphy, as photographers could now use flash without the need
for painstaking manual calculations |
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Picture
Copyright Minolta |
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Features incorporated into the X-700 include:
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In this view you can see the vertical shutter release button incorporated into the MD-1 |
While the Program mode of the X-700 was a huge advance in the popularisation of the SLR, it was not really a useful feature for experienced photographers. The utilisation of program mode means that the photographer no longer has complete control over the aperture, which means that depth of field decisions are being left to the camera. Additionally, many users bemoan the lack of a full information viewfinder in metered manual mode. In manual, the viewfinder shows the recommended shutter speed, but not the manually set speed. To check this the photographer needs to glance away from the viewfinder to the shutter speed dial. As a result, many photographers prefer the X-570 (released in Europe and Asia as the X-500) which was the second model behind the flagship X-700. The X-570 includes both the set and recommended speed in the viewfinder in metered manual mode, and additionally allows slow sync flash at speeds slower than 1/60th second. It still takes the MD-1, and while you lose the Program mode and +/- exposure adjustment, these other features make it a preferable body for the experienced photographer. For more details, visit the X-570 page. If the slow-sync capacity of the X-570 is attractive, but you already have an X-700, then don't despair - there is a solution. You, or your local camera technician can easily modify the X-700 to accomodate a slow-sync feature. How do you do it? Well the answer is here: |
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In
addition to the black X-700 there was a less common chrome version, which
was exactly the same (albeit with chrome parts) with the exception that
it did not have an exposure lock capacity. The chrome model was sold in
Japan for a short period of time for a lower price than the black model,
before being completely phased out. As a result, it is quite rare |
The X-700 was created as the central plank of the Minolta Program System (“MPS”), and accordingly the accessories available for the camera are numerous. These accessories included items such as dedicated flash units, a motor drive and autowinder, a power grip to supplement flash batteries, a data back, a multi function back and a wireless controller. Specifics on these items are detailed in the page on Minolta X Series Accessories. |
A page from the last Minolta manual focus brochure, released in 1997. Picture Copyright Minolta 1997 |
Thanks
to Andrew Duncan for providing the scans from the Minolta brochure included
in the above review. |