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SAMPLES

SUMMARY
Occasionally I have some time to simply browse EBay for cameras, with nothing particular in mind.  This is usually when I get myself in trouble.   I’m not always prone to impulse buying but it’s inevitable that I’ll come across a bargain I just can’t resist, and I have an out-of-body experience watching myself click the ‘confirm bid’ button.  Luckily most of these ‘impulse’ bids are for cameras in the 10-20 dollar range, so if I do end up getting a dud I’ll still be able to feed and clothe my children.  On the bright side, if the camera is DOA I just tear it apart, using it for repair practice.  So at least it serves a purpose.  This past Christmas during such a browsing session on the ‘bay, I came across a Minolta XD-11, that the seller claimed worked with ‘variable’ results.  The XD-11 was introduced in 1977 by Minolta in a joint effort with Leica, as it also provided the basic construction for the Leica R4 that same year.   The manual focus, XD-11 has a great reputation so I took a shot, entered my maximum bid, clicked the ‘confirm bid’ button and walked away.  Not quite a Christmas miracle, but the next morning I was surprised to see I had won the auction for around twenty bucks plus shipping.

Upon arrival it was obvious this classic photography tool had been dropped at least once.  Dents usually give that away!  After testing the metered Manual, Aperture and Shutter Priority modes it was clear that the only issue was a meter that was off by about one stop.  The 45mm MD Rokkor-X coated lens that was attached to the camera was in great condition with no scratches, fungus, or haze.  This lens alone was worth the twenty dollar price tag, even if the camera turned out to be defective.  I’ve read good things about this lens and the results can be seen by selecting the ‘samples’ link above.  The viewfinder is bright and fairly clean with some noticable, but not obtrusive particles.  When in Aperture Priority mode the shutter speeds are indicated on the right side of the viewfinder, with the selected aperture at the bottom.  When Shutter Priority mode is selected the available apertures are indicated on the right side with the selected shutter speed displayed at the bottom of the viewfinder.  When in Manual mode, both selected aperture is displayed along with actual and suggested shutter speeds.  These are some of the features that make the XD-11 one of the most popular manual focus Minolta SLR’s even produced.  The 1 second to 1/1000 shutter speed range plus bulb setting is adequate for most exposure situations.  The XD-11 even has a flash sych of 1/100 which is faster than the other highly regarded X-700 manual focus SLR.  The center weighted TTL metering has a range from EV1 to EV18.  The XD-11 can also be used without a battery at 1/100.

Other features include an exposure compensation dial ranging from -2 to +2, depth-of-field button, self-timer, PC connection for external flash along with the attached hotshoe, interchangeable viewfinder screens, metal body construction and a built-in eyepiece cover.  This baby is fully loaded.  It was also released as the XD-7 in Europe and XD in Japan.  It’s little brother the XD-5 also has a great reputation while missing only some minor features.  MC and MD lenses can be used with the XD-11, but I believe the MD type lenses were actually introduced alongside the XD series of cameras in order to take advantage of the Shutter Priority mode so I’d recommend the MD lenses.

CLEANING AND REPAIR
As mentioned, mechanically this camera works well except for a one stop variance in the meter, while cosmetically it’s a different story.  This was an ugly little sucker when it arrived.   It had obviously been dropped at least once as the upper left side, where the back release and exposure compensation dial are located is dented.  The back panel is also slightly off center but after running a roll of film through the camera, there doesn’t seem to be light leaks.  A few scratches and common brassing and wear are noticeable on the metal body.  One of the other issues I have read about, and now have seen first hand regarding the XD-11 is the original soft, black vinyl was subject to shrinkage with age.  It probably didn’t take too long for this to occur as Minolta changed to a hard, black leatherette during the XD-11’s production run, possibly to resolve this known issue.  The camera I received was one of these that had the original soft covering which resembled shrinky-dinks, a children’s item of that same era.   The leatherette was pulled back on nearly every edge due to this shrinkage, as if it were baked in an oven, exposing the metal chassis and adhesive residue.  It’s a shame because the covering used on the XD-11 is thick and soft making it very comfortable in the hands. 

There is hope, if you have an XD-11 with this problem, www.cameraleather.com now offers a covering that is very similar to the original soft, black vinyl.  I chose this opportunity to utilize cameraleather.com for the first time.  I decided to go with some color and chose their basic seal grain red leatherette.  Removing the original vinyl was never easier.  Usually I have to scrape off old leatherette, but this old vinyl seemed to be applied with something a kin to rubber cement and I was able to simply peel off the covering.  No hassle at all.  Cotton balls dabbed with nail polish remover removes the remaining adhesive residue and a clean metal XD-11 chassis awaited the cameraleather.com kit.  Cotton swabs dipped in Windex cleaned up the lens as well as the body crevices.  The three-piece kit arrived in less than two weeks and within fifteen minutes my XD-11 had a face lift.  The pieces arrive on a kind of wax paper and are self adhering.  Not to be a commercial for cameraleather.com but they make it very easy to order, and affordably re-cover classic cameras.  My Autocord, another ugly duckling turned into a swan, was also given a face lift using their seal grain blue kit.  

EBAY SUGGESTIONS
Generally the XD-11 can be found for fifty to one hundred dollars depending on condition and whether the auction is for the body only or with one or multiple lenses.  I’ve read about possible circuitry and reliability issues with the XD-11 but can only speak to my camera which works great other than the one stop variance with the meter.  If you can pick one up in good working order, the XD-11 is a wonderful and full-featured manual focus classic that can utilize all MC and MD compatible Minolta and third party lenses.

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