Minolta X-9 query

[camerastoomany]

Hi all,

I have purchased a Minolta X-9 slr on Ebay. Its much the same camera as the X-7A mentioned on another post I think. I didn't really need another ap/manual slr but the Minolta auto 360px flash unit was an added attraction.

Mode/shutter speed selection is via a knurled plastic wheel on the top plate. This wheel is extremely stiff. To make a change it is necessary to carefully position a thumbnail and apply some (I hope!) judicious force.

Cosmetically, the camera is a 9+, the interior is pristine and the 50mm lens is mint. I think it may have had a film or two through it. And the flash unit is working flawlessly. All this for US$30.50. Thank you digital revolution!

The reason for this post is to ask if anyone has experience of the stiffness I refer to. Is this likely to be caused by lack of use and will it free up if I continue my careful 'forcing' or is it more likely some other problem which may be exacerbated by the heavy use of a thumbnail?

(Whilst writing this post I wandered off to Ebay and bought a Ricoh My1 point and shoot, described as hardly used and in excellent working order. Nobody was bidding so I scored it for 99 cents. Did I get a bargain??

[Dan Vincent]

Goeff,

I just noticed no one has replied to this thread. I don't know anything about the X-9. It was a very late manual focus Minolta and probably overlooked as most were going to the autofocus technology, much the same as folks abandoning film cameras now for digital.

It's probably a very able picture shooter and I've seen them on auction but haven't bid on one yet.

I'd be interested to know if anyone has any experience with one.

[camerastoomany]

Hi Dan,

I read somewhere the X-9 is an X-370N with the addition of DOF preview and was the last of the 'X' line of cameras (Randy would probably be able to confirm that, I imagine).

As for the stiffness I referred to, repeated turning with that afore-mentioned judicious force did the trick. I probably didn't need to ask the question but a technical dummy like me tends to baulk at force being applied to a new toy.

The camera is similar in size to to my XD-11 and feels more comfortable in my hands but is lighter so probably contains far more plastic.

I have loaded it, but since that makes camera number eight currently with film, it could be a while before I see any results. Mind you, the photographic result is irrelevant really, as the lens fitted is the 50mm 1.7, which is the same lens I have on my X-700. I can say it is easy to use and ergonomically suits me. Cameras I find very comfortable to handle are my Fujica ST605 and Yashica FX3/7 and the X-9 is at least as pleasant to handle (for me)

[camerastoomany]

July 31, Ron. Where does time go to when you're not watching it?

I collect users, hence the eight loaded cameras. Mind you, buying via Ebay means my collection of non-users is growing.

I recently emailed a seller to let him/her know the Practica in 'very good working order'. doesn't work. The wind lever swings loosely without winding on the film and cocking the shutter. I suggested this fault should have been obvious. The response was to the effect that it definitely worked before posting but seller has heard that postal workers are very rough!

Like many other members, I blame this forum for my 'habit'. Having read several recent posts on the Minolta 7000, I came across one on Ebay Australia and had to bid on it (I've never had any interest in autofocus bur posters seem to be enthusing over this model). I subsequently bought the 7000 with Minolta 50mm and 35-105mm lenses, 2800AF flash unit and two never ready cases for the camera, catering for standard and zoom lenses. Condition is excellent and total price A$78.

[herron]

....Mind you, buying via Ebay means my collection of non-users is growing.

I recently emailed a seller to let him/her know the Practica in 'very good working order'. doesn't work. The wind lever swings loosely without winding on the film and cocking the shutter. I suggested this fault should have been obvious. The response was to the effect that it definitely worked before posting but seller has heard that postal workers are very rough!

And getting rougher. I just bought a Mamiyalite flash for my collection of Mamiya ZE's, described by the seller as in "excellent" condition...except, of course, for the minor detail that it doesn't work. Seller claims it worked the last time she used it (I wonder if that was in 1980-something), and wondered if it had been damaged in shipping. Thing was packed in bubble-wrap inside a box, with more bubble-wrap in a second box. I get the feeling it could have been dropped from the roof without damage.

Seller had a 100% feedback rating, but she did not offer to take it back. I still have not sent feedback, and I have found two loose wires while dismantling it (of course I will keep it, now that I've torn it open) -- but I'm still still wondering how to respond with that feedback.........

[PeterW]

Ron:

Seller had a 100% feedback rating, but she did not offer to take it back. I still have not sent feedback, and I have found two loose wires while dismantling it (of course I will keep it, now that I've torn it open) -- but I'm still still wondering how to respond with that feedback.........

I must say that I've been exceptionally lucky so far buying on ebay - but of course the time will inevitably come.

On only two occasions was I a little disappointed, but not really enough to leave a negative or even neutral feedback. I wish there was a grading, say 0 to 10 which you could use instead of just positive, neutral or negative. I did, though, have an amusing experience selling on ebay.

I sometimes buy cheap 'mixed lots' in local house-clearance auctions, things like 'Box containing two old cameras, various books and other items". I throw the rubbish and sell what I don't want on ebay.

So far I have 100% feedback, but I did once get a neutral feedback from someone who bought a 95 year old book of colour prints of birds, roughly A4 size. I described it as "Outwardly poor condition with very loose binding and four colour prints missing. The 20 remaining prints are clean and in good condition, suitable for framing".

After about three weeks the buyer left neutral feedback with the note "I expected a book in better condition".

In the Seller's Reply I wrote: "Buyer got 20 clean antique colour prints for 21p each incl p&p."

Never heard another word from the buyer but he must have complained to ebay because after another few days I had, most unusually, a personal email from ebay which said something like 'Item no. xxxxx. Buyer is unhappy but is not filing a dispute. We read your description and consider it fair'. I often wonder what he said to ebay and what ebay replied to him.

PeterW

[John Parry]

Peter

You need to talk the bookseller's language "Outwardly poor condition" = "Slightly Foxed". You were awarded the neutral feedback for lack of imagination!! LOL

Regards - John

[PeterW]

Thanks, John. I must remember to check a few bookseller's websites. In fact the cover looked as if it had been sprayed with coffee and then cleaned with sandpaper, and the spine was half off.

Maybe I should have put 'Cover slightly foxed. Spine slightly distressed.'

'Slightly distressed' is a phrase I picked up from a Christie's catalogue to describe a folding camera with torn leather and holes in the bellows!

Auctioneers, estate agents, advertisement copywriters - they are all masters of under- and over-description and superlatives, and love using trade jargon. Then they can always come back and say "It's the accepted terminology for that condition." .

PeterW

PeterW

[Randy]

The X-9 was Minolta's last, new SLR. It used a body that was similar to the popular X-370 camera, but there were several stylish changes. For example, the pentaprism has a sleeker, curved top instead of the older angled top, and the hand grip is smaller and sports a new, smooth covering. These changes make the camera much more attractive than the X-370.

But while Minolta may have smoothed some corners on the X-9, it did not cut any. For example, the X-9 has a DOF preview button, unlike the X-370. The DOF button is now square, but it's in the same place. The viewfinder displays the automatically selected shutter speed in auto-exposure mode, and both the recommended shutter speed as well as the manually set shutter speed in manual-exposure mode (one blinks and the other doesn't). In either mode, the viewfinder also has the manually set aperture -- unlike the X-370. The hot-contact, "touch-switch" shutter release button of the X-370 is gone, but the camera retains the safe-load signal for correct film loading. It has an Auto-exposure (AE) lock and Depth-of-field button, and it accepts the Winder G as well as the Motor Drive 1. Perhaps the most unusual feature is the focusing screen -- it has a diagonal, split-image rangefinder with a microprism collar inside the fresnel screen. The screen is removeable, but it is not interchangeable with any other Minolta screens, unfortunately.

[John Parry]

Ah Peter -

Then there's the "Foxed and Badgered" category. And beyond that, the "Foxed, Badgered and Beared". You'll have realised by now that I don't buy too many collectors item books! LOL

Regards - John

[herron]

Foxed, Badgered and Beared? LOL!! ;D

Is that anything like chewed, gnashed and dismembered? I once received a book (described as "fair condition") that fit all three! Smelled heavily of mildew, too (a fact conveniently ignored in the description).

[camerastoomany]

Well, I put a roll of film through the X-9 and all went as it should (no memorable pics, but that's another story), so in went another. 3/4 through, that little wheel seized up again. A pity because its enjoyable to use.

Still no ideas out there?