Almost a year ago I collected a Vivitar 28-105 mm f/3.5-4.5 for $10.50. It is a Minolta mount lens. It sat on my desk, next to a short Nikon zoom also waiting for just the right body to come along.
It seems the aftermarket demand values camera lenses more than their bodies. As a result you can pick up camera bodies pretty cheaply. Which brings us to the present. I was rooting through a store’s discards when I came upon a Minolta XG-M body for $5. After I bought it I asked, “What is wrong with it?” The answer was electrical problems. I joked I just needed the camera as a rear lens cap for a lens I had lying around.
Much to my surprise when I did pry the lens out of the pile on my desk I found it had a rear lens cap. I may still need to keep it around as the Minolta XG-M has more than electrical problems. I had everything working except the self-timer LED when I noticed the shutter blinds weren’t closing after the shutter was fired.
It is too bad, as I like the combination of the Vivitar short zoom and the Minolta XG-M. The zoom range of 28 mm to 105 mm covers a lot of what I shoot. The extra close at 105 mm macro 1:5 extension of the front element is dandy too. The one small draw back is the lens push-pull single focus/zoom ring is loose enough to change zoom all by itself when tilted away from level.
Of course with that shutter problem I won’t be shooting with the combination. But the Minolta XG-M is a nice rear lens cap.
UPDATE: Late one night I had to distract myself from being too nervous to fall asleep—I had to get up at 4 a.m.—I tried playing with the XG-M’s shutter curtains. Somehow I got the camera out-of-step with itself. I can’t wind the shutter/film advance as it sits.
I tried to open the bottom and then I could wind the shutter, but the mirror fails to flap up and down as it should. Instead it just hangs partway up and down.
In disgust with the whole problem I have added the camera body to a box that is already full of cameras that don’t work properly. Maybe next photo fair somebody can take the (free) overflowing mess of projects away and have better luck playing with them!
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