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Rating: 
Summary: The Best Camera I've ever owned.
Review: I originally bought the Minolta X-700 in early 1985 while stationed in Germany with the U.S. Army. It had just won "Camera of the Year 1984" from an important consumer magazine. I bought it because I was very satisfied with another Minolta camera,the XG-7, that I had purchased six years before. Also, to be truthful, because the X-700 looks great! It turned out to be an excellent choice as I took thousands of excellent photos and especially color slides with it over the years. I used it in nearly every country in Europe, in a wide variety of conditions, and it never let me down. What makes this camera so great is that it offers an advanced amount of automation, but still gives the user a large degree of control. You can get off that quick shot, yet still be very creative. I was very disappointed with models that came out later. Unfortunately, my original camera was stolen, but I'm happy to find and buy a replacement from Amazon after all these years. Truly one of the best cameras ever made in its class, and one of the most durable and versatile.
Rating:
Summary: Great older-style SLR
Review: I picked up this camera to replace my Canon AE-1 that froze (something gear related). At first I thought this was just another fully manual SLR but after doing some homework I discovered that not only does it function as such, which is nice in itself, but it has an Aperture-Priority Auto-Exposure Mode which automatically selects the proper shutter speed based on existing light conditions. It works brilliantly. I have taken this camera on hikes, diving trips and just about everywhere else and it has worked flawlessly. Picture quality is great, options are many and it's basically everything you would expect from a high quality Minolta SLR camera. Five stars.
Rating:
Summary: One of the best cameras to learn photography on in the world
Review: Simply put, a fantastic camera. This is a nice compromise between the current generation of automatic SLR cameras and the difficult to use SLR's of the past. In program mode, all you need to do is focus and shoot. If you want more creative control, it's right at your fingertips. Picture quality is awesome as well. The MD line of lenses and accesories for this camera are noted for their quality and depth. This is really a great camera for the student or professional.
Rating:
Summary: You should learn photography with this camera
Review: The X-700 is great for learning photography. It is manual but its beauty is in the various automated settings, which range from controlling everything except focus to fully manual. It is intuitive and easy to figure out, and comes with the reliability you'd expect from Minolta. The handiest feature that I enjoyed is the lightmeter readout in the viewfinder. In the various photography courses I've taken, I've found that it is superior to many other manual SLRs in that it has levels of convenience and automation that help you get a feel for photography, but still allows for the photographer to have complete freedom. This camera earns bonus points for being not only reliable but durable. I've owned mine for over 12 years, and its suffered quite a lot of abuse. And hand in hand with its long life is a market rich with used parts. I've picked up quite a few lenses that fit on the X-700 for pretty cheap. I'm not an expert on cameras by any means, but when I want to work on my photography, I put away my other cameras and even my digital and get my X-700 out.
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