Maximilian Götz

The Minolta X-700 Camera

Published 1 April 2024, filed under "cameras"

The Minolta X-700 and its little siblings, the X-500 and X-300, are often times named as good beginner SLRs, with the X-700 even called professional by some. With many analog cameras having become prohibitively expensive, especially for those only starting out, the X-700 renders an affordable, well-featured alternative.

Overview

The X-700 is an all-electronic, manual focus, auto exposure SLR introduced to the market in 1981. It is using Minolta’s SR lens mount, also commonly referred to as the MC or MD mount, meaning that with the X-700, users get access to a wide variety of lenses, manufactured all the way from 1958 to 2001. Manufactured in large quantities until 2001, there are plenty X-700s and fitting lenses around on the used market today.

It features the now standard program, aperture priority and shutter priority auto exposure modes (plus manual, of course!), which were a rather big deal back when it was released. In fact, the MPS (Minolta Program System, the P mode) was a big selling point for it. It was one of the first “serious” cameras someone with absolutely no photographic knowledge could operate and get decent exposures.

It takes commonly available LR/SR44 batteries¹ which tend to last pretty much forever. When I bought mine, I put fresh ones into it and never had to replace them.

Equipped with a focal plane shutter that ranges from 4s to 1/1000s, it features a flash synchronization speed of 1/60s. Such specs were pretty much the standard back in the day with only some models going beyond that. The X-700’s top speed is fine unless you plan to shoot a lot wide open with fast film and lenses in broad daylight. The shutter curtains are made out of silk and travel horizontally.

The camera lacks additional pro-grade features like mirror lockup. Also, it does not feature many options for customization. Beyond changing the lens, installing a motor drive and maybe adding a data back, there is nothing interchangeable about the camera. Most users should not be bothered by this, it still is a great fit for general purpose work but it does limit how well the camera adapts to different fields of work. I do not expect a camera priced this competitively to feature any of that, though.

Build Quality

Although the body is made out of plastic, it does not feel outright cheap, but neither does it feel very premium. The plastic does not feel brittle even after decades but it still is more likely to crack if the camera is dropped or hit than if it was made out of metal.

The plastic housing offers a benefit for travelling use, though: At just over 500g, the X-700 is quite a lightweight SLR. That combined with its relatively small overall size, especially when using a small lens (like the MD 45mm f2), makes it very easy and convenient to carry around. Wearing it around the neck with a camera strap is no issue.

Lenses

Minolta produced three generations of manual focus lenses in the SR mount. The Minolta SR system cannot use newer autofocus A mount lenses.

The first generation came into existence in 1958 and was produced until 1966. This generation’s lenses were simply marked Rokkor or Auto Rokkor if they featured an automatic diaphragm. Those lenses do not work with TTL light meters or AE systems of later cameras like the X-700 (at least not without issues²). I do not recommend using first generation lenses on bodies like the X-700 for that reason.

In 1966, Minolta introduced lenses marked MC Rokkor. A big benefit of those lenses is the availability of a TTL meter coupling tab. MC lenses can therefore be used in aperture priority mode without issues. There were a total of three sub generations, mostly differing through small cosmetic changes and improved coatings. The build quality of this lens generation is great. MC lenses feel substantial and are made from metal. Watch out for the few MC lenses that feature radioactive coatings, though. As those coatings deteriorate, they can give photos a warmer look than usual.

Finally, in 1977, the MD generation came along. Lenses of this generation report the smallest available aperture to the camera body, meaning that they allow both shutter priority and program modes to be used (properly), in addition to aperture priority, of course. That makes this generation of lenses the best one for use with the X-700. Like the MC generation, it has three sub generations, each reducing size and weight, along with some other small changes. MD generation lenses still feel fairly substantial, although they include more plastic parts than their predecessors.

For those wanting to learn more about the different sub generations, I recommend reading The Rokkor Files’ Lens History as more information on that would go beyond the scope of this article.

I found that the quality of Minolta Rokkor lenses is mostly good, although it varies somewhat. Lenses like the MC Rokkor-PG 50/1.4 are a bit on the costly side but perform well (at least stopped down). The MD 45/2 is a bargain lens that can be picked up for peanuts and is very sharp.

Then there are lenses like the MD W.Rokkor 28/2.8 that suffer a lot from bad corners and feature some noticeable fringing but are mostly okay apart from that. I have never used a truly terrible Minolta lens to date.

Metering

The built-in TTL light meter works pretty accurately. It is center-weighted. I rarely got under or overexposed photos with it, even when shooting chromes. It is activated by touching the shutter release button and works by lighting up a number of LEDs, one for each shutter speed, in the viewfinder. The LEDs light up according to the metered shutter speeds. Above and below are small arrows which start blinking when there is no fitting shutter speed available (i.e. the scene is too bright or dark).

The only real downside to the X-700 meter is that it does not work properly below EV1. That makes the X-700 a poor fit for night time photography, unless one is using an external light meter. This never really became a problem for me, though.

Quite obscurely, the X-700 offers a mode in which it beeps loudly when there is not enough or too much light. This might be handy for beginners to save them from wasting exposures due to bad metering.

Reliability

The reliability of this camera is one of the big issues with it. Due to its entirely electronic nature (even the B shutter setting is electronic), it cannot work at all with failed electronics. Dead electronics essentially render this camera a paperweight.

Sadly, the X-700’s electronics are somewhat infamous for failing sooner or later. Typically, it is just capacitors that go bad but replacing them is not trivial as they are buried deep down within the camera and require advanced disassembly. Replacing them demands good camera repair skills or bringing it to a camera service shop, although the cost of actually having it fixed is probably more than the camera itself is worth in fully working condition.

Older X-700s used tantalum capacitors, which were replaced by cheaper electrolytic capacitors in later production runs in order to reduce expenses³. What I can gather from online reviews, the ones using tantalum capacitors should still work fine, even today. Getting an older X-700 with a low serial number appears to be smarter than getting one of a more recent vintage.

The electronics in mine did eventually fail. I started getting almost blank rolls of film back from the lab, which in itself is extremely frustrating, especially if the shots were important. I did not notice this at first as my lab took a while to develop them, so I continued shooting with it. Then, one day in the field, the shutter would eventually not fire anymore at all. The light meter would briefly turn on and when the shutter release button was pressed, it would go dark and the shutter would not fire. Here, one notices where Minolta saved money.

After that happened, I sold mine for parts or repair and moved on. What I found so terrible about this way of failing is that the user does not notice it failed until actual photos are irrecoverably lost. As these cameras get older and more prone to failing, I really cannot recommend using an X-700 for important work, unless it was recently fully serviced.

Who Is It For?

Beginners and general amateurs, mostly.

When paired with the right lenses, it allows for good results with little effort. The AE modes and the digital-style light meter help ease unexperienced users into working with film SLRs. It provides room to grow as one collects experience and improves their skills. Provided it stays in working order, it can be a great all-rounder camera even for more advanced users.

Yet, especially due to the reliability problems (at least of newer production run models) and the cheaper build quality, I would not recommend it for professional use. Also take the lack of customization options into consideration if customizing your camera to a higher degree is of interest to you. Have a look at the Nikon F series of cameras instead if you are looking for an actual pro-grade 35mm SLR that offers more customization options as well.

Footnotes

Got any questions or comments? Let me know via mail!