Minolta XG-9

Our XG-9 was purchased by Hannah at a thrift store in Durham for about $25. It came with a Minolta branded 45mm/f2 lens as well as two off-brand zoom/macro lenses. It is a mostly-manual 35mm SLR using the standard Minolta mount. It takes two type 357 batteries for its metering and automatic shutter speed capabilities. The aperture is set manually on the lens, though the camera can read that value, and, combined with the light that's metered, select an appropriate shutter speed.

Overall, our impressions of this camera have been incredibly positive. It is fairly compact for a 35mm SLR and is not all that heavy. The thumb-actuated winding lever is a lot of fun to use, and the onboard metering system makes it hard to screw up a shot. Focus is manual, meaning it can be incredibly difficult to focus in lower light or on faster moving objects. It uses the standard split-circle focusing method in the viewfinder found on most full manual SLRs. The only bad thing we've found about this camera, actually, is that it can be somewhat difficult to load a roll of film into it. The film takeup sprocket is very peculiar about how (and how much of) the film tab is loaded into it. On the bright side, you'll never end up wasting film because there is a very clear indicator of whether or not the film loaded properly. This indicator also shows how much of the film has been shot (though the shot counter is better for that) as well as when all the film has been reeled back into the spool. This is also the oldest camera we've ever seen to have a DOF preview button; something that aids composition considerably.