Minolta Maxxum 4: Batteries, Load Film, Shooting Modes, and Setup Walkthrough

[@murraykriner9425]

Those doors were always fiddly and fragile. As most of the ones ive found from this era needed a battery compartment door loan. I enjoy that Minolta has made this camera adaptable for non-coded film stocks. As this camera didn't have red-eye reduction, the off shoe positioning is beneficial to say the least. They really are more feature packed, and make every effort to address the needs of the consumer who uses it. There was a Minolta dedicated flash, the reason for the odd pin placement on the hot shoe. The spot metering setting button is a real game changer for anyone who is trying to get consistent results. It still amazes me that these entry level film cameras are banked with so many features. Once you have their system set in memory, they feel very comfortable using.

[@DavidHancock]

Definitely on the features, yes. When computers began entering computer bodies it became very easy to just jam-pack cameras with capabilities. Some of those, like scene modes, are pretty silly. But having multiple metering modes in cameras was a huge game changer.

[@jw48335]

I wish these had a pentaprism instead of a mirror. I had a Maximum 5 w/ battery grip and 28-75mm F/2.8. The mirror was degraded with a blue color, a known issue. I tried two others - a 4 and another 5, no joy. The autofocus was fantastic though - on par with the EOS 7N / Rebel T2. Ultimately I moved on and kept the EOS Ti/7N/3 so I could use IS lenses and share lenses with digital. I did try the Sony / Minolta screwdrive adapter on an A73, but wasn't a fan. I am still curious to try the A99ii as a possible ultimate bridge camera.

[@DavidHancock]

I absolutely agree. The mirror tarnishing is such a let down in these because they're otherwise really nice cameras.

[@jw48335]

@DavidHancock So many of these bodies just weren't designed to last ☹️ The Canon Elan 7s, I have had to die in the last year due to the mirror flying off. I managed define an epoxy that worked, but I left the mirror and a condition where I wasn't wanting to use it. All these are on short runaways. I had an F100 brick itself 15 months ago too. I have 4 Rebel Ti bodies I got cheap, and two 7N bodies. At this point I may opt for an end-of serial number range F6 and D780 pairing. I hate the 1V/3 controls, and I feel like a pro body is the only way I'm going to get long term reliability. Really I'm hoping Pentax ships a K1 Mark 3 with viable video capabilities, even though that's a long shot 🤪

[@DavidHancock]

@jw48335 90s cameras were peak corporate greed and planned obsolescence. Grips on that era of camera often turn sticky, too. Canon was especially bad about this, but they just churned out a new, functionally identical camera, each year.

[@dynax60]

What do you thing about using Sony Alpha lens SAL series on it? Especially ZA.

[@DavidHancock]

To the best of my knowledge, they work fine but some of the advanced features like the distance features (if your lens has that) will not communicate back to the camera and flash. I don't think this camera supports ADL flash, for example.

[@dynax60]

@@DavidHancock Michael Hohner's website reports that, for example, the SAL-24F20Z supports D function (Distance encoder, enables ADI flash and DOF calculation). As do other lenses, such as the SAL-50F14Z, SAL-85F14Z, SAL-135F18Z... I don't have any of these lenses yet, I only have a kit lens. I meant, is it worth buying such expensive lenses for film photography? Unfortunately, I couldn't find any examples of film shots with these lenses anywhere on the Internet. The A-mount system is considered obsolete, many people are abandoning these lenses and selling them (just like getting rid of Sony A99 cameras). But their prices haven't dropped that much, they are still quite expensive.