Minolta X-700 Outfit Complete (Collector Condition)

A near mint example of a Minolta X-700 Camera Outfit as originally sold by Dixons, probably sometime in the early 1980s.
This outfit is collector condition throughout and complete with boxes, polystyrene inner sleeves and most of the original manuals.

Minolta X-700 Outfit Complete items described below:-

Minolta X-700 Body (serial number 1714932)
Body shows little signs of use and would be considered mint by any reasonable standards. Battery cap is intact with no burring on its edges as is common with most cameras of this period indicating very low use.  The flash contact on the hot shoe does have a small indent and tiny corrosion mark indicating the flash must have been attached at some point.  Camera body work is immaculate with no scuffs or scratches and leatherwork is as clean as the day it was manufactured.  Interior is completely clean showing little, if any signs of use. Lens mount ring shows minimal scuffing caused by lens changes. All lettering and index marks immaculate.
Camera light seals had degraded in storage and these have been replaced with Jon Goodman seals which will last at least 40 years.  Mirror bumper also replaced and prism, focus screen and mirror cleaned.
Shutter test and film test have been done and camera operation is within factory specification. Serial number would be a Japanese manufactured X-700 and the camera has the reliable tantalum capacitors fitted unlike later versuions which had the unreliable and leaky electrolytic capacitors.

This body may well never see another role of film as we expect it to be acquired by a collector rather than a user.
Camera body is complete with its original body cap, box, original inner polystyrene protectors, camera manual and short pocket manual guide.

Minolta MD 50mm f1.7 Lens (serial 9030713)
The lens has been cleaned and re-lubricated as its original lubricants had congealed from long term storage.  Glass is clean, fungus free and the body is immaculate, showing little or no signs of use.  No scuffing to lens mount face indicating lens had probably been rarely mounted to the camera. All lettering and index marks immaculate.
Lens is supplied complete with its original Minolta branded front and rear cap, box , polystyrene inners and warranty card.

Minolta Auto Electro Flash 280PX
Tested and working.  Battery contacts completely clean, like the rest of the outfit shows little signs of use.  All controls work as expected and flash has been tested on the camera and found to operate perfectly.
Supplied with its original box and soft leatherette case but with no manuals.

Minolta CH-3 Camera Case
Case is perfect showing no signs of ever having been used.  Interior is clean and soft like new.  All case seams are fine and case is immaculate.  Supplied strap has clearly never been removed from its original packing.  Supplied in its box together with some small forms and documents from Minolta

Minolta Wide Shoulder Strap
Almost certainly a non-Minolta supplied item and probably added by Dixons as part of the kit. The strap is immaculate showing no signs of use.  The clasps that attach the strap to the camera show some paint loss but these were probably like this from new as the strap has clearly had no use.

Boxes
Main outer box shows signs of wear and yellowing from age.  Most inner boxes show similar yellowing apart from the box for the case which is still bright. Overall condition of this Minolta X700 Outfit Complete is good considering the outfits age.

Special Condition on Returns for this Item
As this item is very much one of a kind and collector quality we are placing a special condition on returns which supersedes any relevant conditions on our standard returns policy.
Should this item be returned all boxes, packaging, accessories, manuals, warranty forms  etc will be required to be returned and items must be in EXACTLY THE SAME CONDITION as when sent out.
Failure to abide by this may result in deductions being made to your refund or refusal to accept the return.

The top of the range model from the Minolta X-x00 series – the last manual focus cameras manufactured by Minolta before the debut of the revolutionary Maxxum 7000 series auto focus camera.

The X-700 used the basic body of the XG-M (the top range camera from the XG series with electronically controlled stepless shutter speeds, but added full program auto exposure in addition to the XG-M’s aperture priority and metered manual modes. This program mode was referred to as “MPS” or Minolta Program System.

The X-700 was very much Minoltas response to the Canon AE-1 and is in our opinion a much nicer camera to work with being slicker in all regards.

Minolta sold more of these than any other camera they produced exceeding even the spectacularly successful SRT series.
The X-700 was in production for almost 18 years.

This Minolta X-700 Outfit Complete came from Dixons.

On arrival the camera was tested and checked, light seals had deteriorated very badly.  All seals have been changed for Jon Goodman seals (the best in the business) and the mirror bumper replaced at the same time.  Camera cleaned throughout including prism, focus screen and mirror.  Shutter tested for accuracy and found to be within factory specification.

Lens had a very stiff focus and mild haze caused by deterioration of its lubricants.  This is very common with the MD series lenses.  Leans was stripped and completely cleaned before re-lubricating with Helimax XP grease which is designed for optical helicoils.

After cleaning and testing the camera was used to shoot a roll of expire Fuji 400 film so we could be 100% positive the camera was in ‘as new’ condition.  We doubt its new owner will ever want to risk it and we expect it to go to a collector. None the less the camera will shoot perfectly if required to do so.

Please be aware that the cameras and lenses for sale can be up to 50 years old.  They have been serviced and/or checked and are always as good as they can be made, but please don’t expect them to be flawless as if they were made yesterday.

All lenses of this age exhibit some small particles of dust and coatings are not up to modern standards. Cameras will exhibit some wear signs and likewise may have small dust specks in their viewfinders or focus screens.  These do not affect the picture in any way.

ANY problems or issues will be described in the main text which you are advised to read carefully.If you are unfamiliar with film cameras we suggest you do some online research and read the manuals which are freely available from online resources.

We are enthusiastic film fans and spend our time hunting cameras and lenses that have been or are being unloved. We then spend hours to bring them back to fully working and clean condition, ready for a new lease of life with you  We always change the film seals, give the camera a clean/service and make sure its fully working before we sell it on to you.

Most lenses are cleaned, re-lubricated and all of their functions checked prior to sale so you know they will work, full details will always be in the text. All items are packed safely for transit using proper packing material NOT something the cat was sick in. Having been stung both on eBay and by dealers alike who often know very little about film cameras we decided to offer people a chance to experience film using a camera that will last for many years and which we can say for sure works reliably

Mel & Claire