If you have read about the Nikon Lite Touch Zoom 70Ws which belonged to my girlfriend’s parents, you will know that it was recently rediscovered by Kez and myself. We found it in a box of old electricals in a storage barn, but it wasn’t the only camera we found. The box was also home to her Dad's old SLR, a Minolta XD-7. When we found the camera it was in poor condition with severely degraded light seals and fungus in all of the lenses!
With her Dad’s permission, the camera was handed over to me to restore so that it could be used again. Thankfully the camera was stored well, saving it from any battery acid corrosion and keeping the electrical circuits in working order. I started the refurbishment by removing all of the light seals and giving the camera body a full clean. I then placed a new set of light seals (provided by Milly’s Cameras).
Moving onto the lenses, I stripped them down to clean the individual glass elements but sadly found that the fungus was so severe that it had eaten away at the lens coating. At this point no amount of cleaning will return the lenses to their former condition. Therefore, I made the decision to source a new lens and managed to get hold of a Minolta f/1.7 50mm.
Minolta XD-7 after it's been refurbished
More about the camera:
The Minolta XD-7 (also known as the XD-11 in the North American and Japanese market) was first produced in 1977. It was the first SLR produced to feature both shutter priority and aperture priority exposure modes. You can also shoot the camera in fully manual exposure and it features a built in light meter to assist with this. This was the last camera produced by Minolta that featured a metal body, later being replaced by the plastic-bodied X-700.
This camera was perfect for Kez as the aperture priority and shutter priority settings made it easier for her to shoot photos while still developing her knowledge of exposure rules. Here are some of our favourite photos we have taken on the Minolta XD-7
#minoltagang
