Minolta SRT101
This is the most recent addition to my small collection. I never owned a Minolta SRT101, but it was a direct competitor with the type of camera I did use for more than 20 years and several of my friends used them. This camera was removed from the boot of a car in an underground carpark and passed to me under the cover of darkness.
In other words, a friend gave it to me and happened to bring it along when we all went out to a show at the Melbourne Comedy Festival last Saturday night. Thanks Graham!
Although the shutter is broken and the camera no longer works, it is in excellent condition with hardly a mark on it. It came with an owner’s manual, filters, cleaning brush and cloth, cable release and two Vivitar lenses; a 24mm and an 85-205mm zoom. The lenses look brand new. The whole lot came in a cute 1970s style camera bag. This is a very typical, and very well looked after, amateur photographer’s kit from the great golden age of 35mm film cameras. I am very pleased to add it to the collection.
Minolta made the SRT101 between 1966 and 1975. It is an-all metal construction which gives it a heavy, solid feel. The big innovation was the use of two CdS cells in the metering system. This was done to compensate for the brightness of the sky to prevent over-exposing, and to give a better average meter reading across the whole field of view.
I’ve got the same one, with a 58mm lens, but with a bung light meter. We should put our two together and get a working one out of them. They are quite heavy but there’s something nice about having a weighty SLR in your hands.