Minolta XE-7:
One of Minolta's most interesting cameras, the XE-7 (XE in Japan & XE-1 in Europe) had a fairly short production run from 1974 to 1977. The camera was built at a time of joint cooperation between Minolta & Ernst Leitz GmbH (Leica). The camera has excellent “German style” build quality and some of the most advanced electronics and light metering for the time. The camera also sported a Copal CLS vertically traveling metal focal plane shutter with excellent reliability. In fact this camera became the predecessor to the Leica R3 sharing many of the same parts. When set in aperture priority mode the camera sets seamless shutter speeds. When used in manual mode the shutter speeds are set to full stops. Its solid metal construction makes it a heavy camera with a hefty body weight of 775g. Perhaps it’s only negative is that the camera has an electromagnetic shutter and does need battery power to work but the cameras were so well made it’s not hard to find working models today over 45 years later!
