Minolta Rangefinder

Minolta HiMatic 7s

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

By / September 15, 2022 / 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 E – Minolta’s ‘Difficult’ Second Electro Camera – By Bob Janes

By / March 25, 2023 / Rangefinders (Fixed Lens) / Leave a Comment

The Hi-Matic E (previously also reviewed by Hamish here) is a Minolta rangefinder with a Rokkor lens. The lens is a 40 mm f/1.7 lens of six elements in four groups. The same specification has been used in other much sought after Minolta rangefinder cameras, like the Hi-Matic 7sii.

The Minolta Hi-Matics have history. John Glenn took a rebranded (and highly modified) Hi-Matic into space. That said, the Hi-Matic E is an odd camera. Caught in an eddy; it has ‘quirks’.

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

By / July 9, 2021 / 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?

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