Tag Minolta

SR-T MC – a little gem from Minolta

Chris and Carol Leave a comment

Now, this is a good looking camera with a simple straightforward design. From what I’ve been able to glean, this model was made by Minolta for sale only at J.C. Penny and K-Mart department stores in the United States and only in a pro-black finish.

It’s fitted with a Minolta MC Rokkor-PF 55mm f/1.7 lens and the original metal lens cap.

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Made from 1973 to 1975 and it differentiated from the other Minolta’s made during the same period by the lack of a self-timer and the focusing screen had a microprism for focusing. I believe that they’re rather hard to find and somewhat rare in this nearly mint condition.

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I’ll have more about this camera soon as it’s undergoing testing before I list it for sale in my shop. Stay tuned!

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Copyright © 2015-2019 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

Minolta’s Gem from the 1970s

Chris and Carol 2 Comments

The Minolta SR-T 102 aka SR-T Super. In its day it was considered to be one of the best all-around 35mm SLRs.

1973-1975

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With proper care, these well-built cameras (and Rokkor lenses) will deliver decades of use. The shutter is mechanically timed and the battery is only needed to use the TTL light meter.

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Copyright © 2015-2019 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

When lens hoods “attack”!

Chris and Carol 5 Comments

Here’s something you don’t see every day – if ever. What happens to a rubber lens hood (lens shade) when left on for two decades? You get this…

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When I saw this lens my first impression was that it had been in a fire. I had to pry it out of the leather camera bag it was in. Not very pretty at first glance.

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Step 2 – Peeling the “melted” hood away from the lens body. What a gooey mess!

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Success! No damage to the lens and I was able to unscrew what was left of the hood.

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The lens suffered no permanent damage and after a good cleaning looks new.

I imagine that over time the “rubber” deteriorated through some chemical process with the air. Hiding out in a dark leather camera bag probably didn’t help. Lesson learned – if you own one of these monsters go check your camera bag now and toss it before it “attacks”!!!

Thanks for stopping by! – Chris

Please respect that all content, including photos and text, are the property of this blog and its owner, Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Yashica Sailor Boy, Yashica Chris.

Copyright © 2015-2018 Yashica Pentamatic Fanatic, Chris Whelan
All rights reserved.

 

Minolta Uniomat III

Chris and Carol 4 Comments

35mm rangefinder camera from Minolta. This one is from about 1963. Neat little camera – a bit small for my hands so it’s hard to reach the lens to focus comfortably. The rangefinder focuses well but doesn’t snap out at you although the view is bright. No film test for this one. The shutter fires and the speeds appear to be on time – the rear lens element is “ate up” (Southern term) with fungus and when I got rid of the fungus I was left with an etched lens. Maybe some polishing might bring it back. The light meter appears to be accurate too.

It’s a pretty little thing. I like the gray leatherette body and it certainly looks nice under my studio lights. We like to collect complete sets when we can and this one has its original box, leather case (black), silica-gel pack and the owners manual. It would have been extra nice had Minolta made the case gray like the camera.

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Although the box has some damage from handling it over the years, it’s still quite solid. It was covered with soot, dirt, dust, grime and I’m sure some DNA – it was so dirty that the Minolta logo was not visible! I used a new bar of ‘Mr. Clean Magic Eraser’ lightly made wet to gently ‘erase’ the dirt. It’s amazing how well it did without damaging the delicate 50+ year old paper. A new way to restore some of our older boxes in our collection.

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Nice image from inside the owners booklet.

We wish we had a chance to run a roll through it to test the f2.8 45mm Rokkor lens… but as is typical with these vintage rangefinders, the rear lens element is trashed with fungus.

Thanks for your visit. We hope you know a bit more about this unique camera.

Chris and Carol Photography ^.^