Minolta Freedom Zoom 160

The Minolta Freedom Zoom 160 is a compact camera for the American market. The 35mm camera was built by Minolta in China and sold in the early 2000s. The 35mm photo camera was also sold on the market under the name “Minolta Riva Zoom 160” and “Minolta Capios 160A“.

The body of the camera is made of plastic. There is an eyelet on the side for attaching a wrist strap.

The lens of the 35mm camera is fixed. It has a zoom function and the zoom range is from 37.5 mm to 160 mm. The widest aperture is f/5.4 at 37.5 mm and f/12.4 at 160 mm. The closest focusing distance of this lens is 60 cm.

With the 35 mm camera, you don’t have to focus manually as there is an autofocus system. Here you have several modes to choose from. In Spot AF mode, the system focuses on a specific point. In Area AF, the focus range is much larger. In Target AF mode, the subject is tracked by the sensors and the lens focuses accordingly.

Taking pictures is made easier by the built-in light meter. This is designed for an ISO range of 25 to 3200. The film speed is read out via the DX code. If this code is missing on the cartridge, ISO 100 is set. The exposure settings are automatically controlled and adjusted by the electronics. There is only an exposure compensation of +1.5 stops.

A flash is built in for low-light shots. Up to 4.6 meters is the specified range at a sensitivity of ISO 100 in the wide-angle range. The flash can also be turned off if desired. There is also a fill-in flash that fires with every picture, and a mode for portraits at night. The flash’s auto mode is supposed to automatically prevent red-eye in photos.

There is a thread for a tripod on the bottom of the camera. A self-timer is also built in. This has a ten second lead time to get into position after the shutter button is pressed.

The dimensions of the Minolta Freedom Zoom 160 are 11 x 6 x 4.5 cm. It weighs 195 grams. Power is supplied by a CR123A battery (eBay / Amazon*). According to the manual, this lasts for up to 240 pictures if you use the flash for half of the photos.

The Minolta Freedom Zoom 160 Date comes with a quartz date function. The recording time can be exposed in one of the corners of the images. This makes it easy to determine the exact time the picture was taken. The integrated calendar extends to the year 2099.

Another special feature of the Date model is the ability to use a wireless shutter release. This requires the RC-3 infrared trigger. This has a range of up to 5 meters and requires a CR2032 battery (eBay / Amazon*).

Films for the Minolta Freedom Zoom 160

The Minolta Freedom Zoom 160 is designed to take 35mm films. These are still readily available today and are still being developed.

Film transport is automatic through the camera. The motor manages one frame about every 2.2 seconds. A display on the top shows the current number of pictures taken. If there is a “0” there, the film has not been loaded properly. If the film is full, it is also automatically rewound and the cartridge can be removed.

Possible films for the Minolta Freedom Zoom 160 are the Kodak Gold 200* for color photos and the Ilford Delta 400* for black and white photos. Both films deliver decent shots and are good for everyday use according to reviews. Films from other manufacturers can of course also be used with the camera.