This post is about the Minolta Dynax 60 autofocus 35 mm SLR which was the last 35 mm film camera which Minolta produced, and a pretty capable performer it was too.
Minolta Dynax 60 Images
My Minolta Dynax 60
I paid a total of £2.99 for this camera, which was sold on eBay as faulty. The fault described was, 'Camera faulty - back door stuck and won't open'.
I could see from the pictures the seller had posted that there was still a film in the camera, and a little bit of research on the Internet told me that the Dynax 60 has an option to lock the film door when the camera is loaded, so I suspected there was actually nothing wrong with the unit.
Sure enough, once it turned up a few days after the sale ended, I put a couple of batteries in, turned it on, and it sprang to life.
Cosmetically, the camera is in almost new condition. I can't find any marks on the plastic of the body or the top panel LCD, and even the hand grip and the back of the camera where the thumb rests is completely clean and free of marks.
The only issue I've found, and it doesn't affect the camera's use, is some discolouration in the bottom corners of the viewfinder. This takes the form of a rainbow of the sort you sometimes get when plastic is deformed. It may be a distortion of the prism, or the focus screen, but it doesn't affect the camera as far as I can tell.
I bought just the body, so for the pictures above I've coupled the camera with a Minolta 28 - 80mm autofocus zoom lens of the sort the camera could have been bought with, although it would possibly have been in black rather than the silver one I've fitted.
Minolta Dynax 60 Description
I'm not going to give a long description of the Minolta Dynax 60 because it will just be boring to read. The pictures above actually tell you quite a bit about the unit's usability and form.
By the time this camera was released, nearly all cameras produced by one of the major manufacturers were capable of outstanding results, and this unit is no different. It has all the exposure modes and light measuring capabilities any photographer would need and to be honest they are all covered in great detail in the manual, which is available on-line, and is linked below.
I haven't yet tried the Dynax 60 out, although there is still the film in it, which was the reason the original owner couldn't open the back. The control placement is quite similar to the Minolta Dynax 5, with the control wheel situated to the left of the shutter button, and I found that camera quite easy to use with the camera to the eye, so I suspect I will the Dynax 60 as well.
When I finish the film, I will update this article with a more detailed report of how I got on with it.
Minolta Dynax 60 Specification
- Minolta Dynax 60 auto-focus 35mm SLR camera
- P-A-S-M exposure modes and also fully Auto and scene modes
- Multi-segment (14) TTL exposure measuring - spot or centre weighted
- Hot shoe flash + pop up flash unit
- Auto-focus light to aid in low light situations
- Flash synced at 1/90 sec
- DX coded + ISO override
- Diopter adjuster above eyepiece
- Auto film load and auto rewind with manual option
- ISO 6 to 6400 in manual setting
- Minolta A autofocus lens mount
- Vertical shutter with speeds of 30sec to 1/2000
- Powered by 2 CR2 batteries
- Manual available on-line here
