Minolta XG-E

The Minolta XG-E is an SLR camera from Minolta. It was introduced towards the end of the 1970s. The model was sold in Japan. Outside of the home market, the model was available as Minolta XG 7 (North America) and Minolta XG 2 (Europe).

The lens of the 35mm still camera is interchangeable. It comes with a Minolta SR bayonet. In many cases, the 35mm camera comes with the Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm f/1.4, but there are many other lenses available for the SLR. The Minolta XG-E does not have an autofocus. Focusing is done manually by hand.

For this, the Japanese camera has a light meter. The light meter is designed for films with a film speed of ISO 25 to ISO 1600. The exposure is measured with metering cells through the lens. The shutter allows shooting at 1/1000 second to 1 second.

Exposure time and aperture can be freely selected in manual mode. In this mode, the exposure is not measured by the camera, but must either be measured externally or estimated. In addition, there is an aperture priority mode. In this mode, the aperture is selected by the user and the camera technology automatically selects the shutter speed.

For long exposures, the SLR has a Bulb mode. In this shooting mode, the shutter is opened as long as the shutter release button is held down. The camera should be mounted on a tripod for this purpose to avoid camera shake. The camera can be released with the self-timer or an external cable release. The self-timer has a lead time of ten seconds.

An external flash can be connected via cable or hot shoe. The maximum usable shutter speed is 1/60 second. Faster shutter speeds cannot be used.

According to the user manual, the dimensions of the Minolta XG-E are 13.8 x 8.8 x 5.2 cm. It weighs 505 grams. Power is supplied by two SR44 batteries (eBay / Amazon*). This type of battery is still easy to get today.

Films for the Minolta XG-E

What kind of films are needed for the Minolta XG-E? You have to buy 35mm films for the camera. These films are still manufactured by some companies and can be specified and developed by almost any developing vendor. Possible films for the Japanese SLR are the Fujifilm Superia 400* and the Kodak T-Max 400*. Of course, there are a variety of other films for the camera.

The pictures taken with the camera are rectangular. Usually 36 pictures fit on one roll of film. There is no automatic film transport built in. The film must be rewound by hand after each picture. However, there is a motor for the film transport as an external accessory.