At work, during my break, I went to see if the camera's that we sold were compatible with my 70-210mm zoom lens; which has served my rocket launch taken needs for 10 years; and has many years left in it. Of course, it was not. Minolta's base is smaller than what the Canon's used, and right now, that is all that Target carries as far as SLR's go.
So I give Ritz Camera's a call, and told them what I need. I inquired about the body alone, and a combo with the 38-80mm lens. He first recommendation was a simpler one... Automatic only. I said that I needed manual features. So he recommended the Minolta Maxxum 70 Date, which was about $170. I asked about some of the features; but he said trust me; you'd like it. So I took his word for it; and ask him to hold one for me and Ill come over and check it out.
So after work I stopped by the Ritz camera and took a look at it. I took their lens off and attached mine. I looked through it; and immediately feel in love with it. It felt right. It did what I wanted it to do. And it has a lot more features than my dead Maxxum 2xi. So I said I'll take it; plus the warranty.
Of course this camera did not take the same battery as my old one, so I went to target and exchanged batteries. I also bought more film. Never can have enough film.
When I got home, I got out the new camera, and instructions, and discovered all the COOL features this had
.
Film Rewinding mode that leaves the leader sticking out - great for changing rolls mainstream.
Continuous Advance - Hold the button down and it will shoot 3 frames per second until out of ammo... er... film
Multiple Exposure - Take more than one shot on the same frame.
Exposure Bracketing - Fires three shots. First one normal exposure, second one overexposed, third one underexposed. Great if you need to quickly shoot something important without worrying about lighting issues (like bright (Snow) or dark objects).
Shutter Speeds - 30 Second Exposure to 1/2000th, BULB in full manual.
Built in Flash - Of course the flash I bought for my 2xi can also be used. Can manually adjust flash brightness and range
.
Date/Time Stamp - My opinion.. useless... since I develop my film on the same day I shoot it usually... Useful to check to see what time it is on the field.
So many cool features, I cannot list them all. Will I ever use them all?
