minolta Hi-matic 7s!

 I am probably going to shoot myself in the foot with this article. I have a new favorite camera! and trust me when I say I have a nice collection of film cameras that I actually use. I have Zeiss Contax II's, Nikon F's and and and. but this hinky lil minolta has worked its way into my heart! I got mine for a song, picked up a few accessories for it, hood, a few colored filters, and an Agfa Tully flash gun! yes I shoot bulbs thanks to my a**hole buddy David Garman. well long story short this 7s has become my "go to", "grab and run" camera. for a mechanical rangefinder camera its incredibly advanced! When I got mine I was stunned that when I popped a battery in  it the light meter sprang to life! this is incredibly good news, after all it has features like aperture priority, and shutter priority, or, OR you can set it for full auto so all you have to do is focus and POW! Your taking pictures! What a wonderful bit of technology! After all this is 1966! And this is the first (that i know of) camera to be able to do this!

Lets get serious for a moment, this minolta hi-matic 7s is an amazing piece of technology for 1966. back in the 1970s i learned photography from my mentors William R. Current and C. Lewis Baltz (you might want to google these guys). the camera I used was a 1936 Zeiss Contax II that had been owned by both of them. Here is where the love affair begins with not only photography but with rangefinder cameras. Anyway back to the Hi-Matic 7s. what a groovy little bit of kit. easy to use, very ergonomic. an absolute joy to use. My "go bag" for photography has obviously the 7s, but also a Nikomat FTn (I do love that camera) and I have a Nikon D7100 and a Yashica Mat LM that are my regular "travel" companions. Weirdly as I have mentioned the 7s as become my go to! I actually went out today and grabbed only the 7s and some filters! (I shoot a lot of B&W). 

                                

The film is kodak 400tx, camera was set on full auto