Minolta Maxxum 9000

Another short review/initial impressions of a camera that unfortunately was not in working order, so I did not put any film in it. This camera was suffering from the dreaded 'Dead aperture magnets' problem, something that marred the first generation of AF cameras from Minolta.

When you pick up the 9000 you immediately understand that this is a very well made camera. Although the outer shell is plastic, there is a lot of metal underneath it and fits well in my hand. It has a rubberised grip which unfortunately it suffers from deteriorating and chipping away but this does not impact on the camera's functionality.

The camera accepts a motor drive but without it you have to manually advance the film after each shot. I find this quite nice really, especially if you like your camera to be quiet – and the 9000 is a quiet camera. The shutter/mirror vibration/noise is kept to a minimum. The camera offers the 4 most important (according to me at least) modes; manual, aperture priority, shutter priority and programme – that is all you need actually. On the light metering department, there is the old-fashioned (but still effective) average metering but it is complemented by spot metering with a highlight/shadow exposure compensation option. An unorthodox depth of field preview lever in right next to the hand-grip, I can't say that I liked that, the old-fashioned button next to the lens mount would have been better.

In terms of AF speed, this is a sloooow module. I feel that it is even slower than the original 7000. There is some info on the internet stating that the 3V battery supply was probably too little for the AF motor. It is slow and it tends to hunt more than the 7000. The viewfinder is nice, bright and clean, although I would prefer the meter reading to stay alight for a bit more time.

Summary

This is a good camera, I see it as the AF version of my beloved X-700. Don't be phased by the slow AF, see it more as an complementary function. The biggest problem with this camera is that sooner or later the magnet that controls the aperture gets broken and renders the camera inoperative. This is the only reason why i cannot recommend buying this camera - sooner or later the dead magnet will catch up with it.

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