Minolta Hi-Matic 7s

Minolta HiMatic 7s

Minolta Hi-Matic 7s – My Gateway Drug into the World of Camera Collecting – By Markus Hainz

By / / Rangefinders (Fixed Lens) / 9 Comments

As with most photographers over a certain age, I began my photography shooting film back in the late 1980s. By the mid 2000s I was shooting only digital for work and decided to get rid of almost all my film gear. Then around 2012 a wave of nostalgia overcame me and I decided to get myself back into shooting film. I decided to go for a Hi-Matic 7s as that was what I remember as our family camera when I was growing up and I happened to think it’s a very elegant looking rangefinder camera. Hipsters would look on in envy as I’d pass them by, camera dangling from my wrist from a hand crafted leather strap…

Minolta Hi-Matic 7s and A Sentimental Journey Discovering True Optical Prints – by Shawn Granton

By / / Philosophy & Reflections, Rangefinders (Fixed Lens), Workflow / 28 Comments

It was the first week of January 2020 and I was down for the count with a cold. “A perfect start to a new year”, I thought to myself, not realizing what would be in store just a couple of months later. I was home and bored, and for some reason I decided that this downtime would be a perfect opportunity to give film another shot. I’m a Gen-Xer, so I grew up with film but hadn’t shot anything with it since about 2004. Over the years I went through a few digital point-and-shoots, but most of my photos had increasingly been taken with my smartphone. I had taken some good shots (at least I hoped), but there’s not really a lot of “fun” holding an iPhone 8 to capture an image. Friends of mine were into shooting film, why not give it a try?

(Mis)adventures with a Minolta Himatic 7s – By Matt Evans

By / / Repairs & Cleaning / 17 Comments

I had been trawling the online market places and managed to snag a Minolta Hi-matic 7s on trademe (the NZ version of ebay). It was advertised as being in excellent condition with everything working as it should and clear glass, Sounds great I thought! so I chucked a bid on in the dying minutes to win the auction. After a few days of anticipation and excitement it finally arrived encased like a giant egg in about 3m of bubble wrap,  it even came with a musty smelling leather case – no chance of being damaged in transit. Or so I thought. After unwrapping it was immediately obvious there was damage to the lens:

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