Minolta Maxxum 5000 - Free

[Mark Vaughan]

I was out in CA visiting family and my Father In Law gave me this old Maxxum:



I just don't have much interest in using AF SLRs. It appears to be working all right though. It features Program and Manual modes (since there is no aperture ring, the adjustment is made using the up/down arrows on the camera body under the "Maxxum" label). I think this was the 3rd Maxxum - the simplest and least expensive of the 9000 / 7000 / 5000 range of early AF Minoltas.

Take care,
Mark

[Reiska]

I have always been omnivorous in camera collecting. Many times I have regretted my choice but today I have given in.
I have also got a Minolta Maxxum 7000 AF SLR that btw is voted as the "European Camera of the Year " by EISA (European Imaging and Sound Association) in 1985. Another Minolta AF SLR in my collection is Dynax 60, one of the latest Minolta film SLR.
After a merge of Konica and Minolta, Sony bought the company and old minolta lenses are compatible with Sony DSLR. It was one of the reasons why I bought Sony A350 DSLR. With it's live view it is excellent for shooting cameras but I have not used My old lenses many times because I have noticed, that modern and rather cheap Tamron lenses are better for my use.
That angulated design and abandonment of the wheels, simply said too "modern" design might have been the reason why many customers considered the camera to be too odd. In the later models Minolta went back to the more conventional styling.

[Randy]

Very nice! I have a 7000 myself. Every time I use it I have to learn how to drive again.

[mickeyobe]

I too have a Maxxum 7000.

It is not an endearing design.

It has more buttons than a skyscraper's elevator.
I think there is even one for the thirteenth floor.

Mickey

[Mark Vaughan]

I agree: I hate to sound "down" on a free camera, but this thing is just funny to hold and operate. I can't imagine how you must feel about operating a 7000 or 9000 with all the extra buttons. Can't scoff at a freebie though. F-I-L is offering me a Maxxum 400i with two lenses as well! Will I be on Ebay attempting to round out a Maxxum collection? Probabaly not. Will I regret it in 30 years?

It's obviously not winning any beauty contests either - especially sitting on the shelf next to several XD and XE series Minoltas. But, I'll give it a fair shake and run a roll through it this week to see if it has any redeeming virtues. Story has it that my F-I-L bought it for my wife while she was in highschool in the 80's and that she used it through college then left it at the house one day where it sat until 2009 (last week). It still had film in it that I had to swear I would not get developed (so off to Walgreens later on...!).

Curiously, the internal motor drive sounds EXACTLY like the one in my Nikon N2000. I wonder if Nikon and Minolta sourced the same motors? May have to unscrew them and find out.

Mark

[John Parry]

Mark

"Will I regret it in 30 years?" What kind of philosophy is that? If any of us cared about what was going to happen in the future, do you think we'd be burdening our descendants with a legacy of equipment that can only depreciate, and that nobody will be able to fix if it goes wrong? Of course not. Get a grip on yourself man.

Regards - John

(LOL)