Minolta XG-M with Minolta MD Rokkor-X 50mm F1.4 lens. Excellent Film Camera with Fast Prime Lens.

Minolta XG-M

The Minolta XG-M was a 35mm single-lens reflex camera introduced in 1981 by Minolta of Japan. It was also known as the X-70 on the Japanese market, in which it was not available until 1982. When released, it was the top model in Minolta's XG series of consumer-grade manual focus SLRs, replacing the XG-9. Changes from that model included a metered manual mode (the XG-9's meter was switched off in manual), and a revised body style with rearranged controls. This was also the first camera to use Minolta's new logo, which was used until the 2003 merger into Konica Minolta.

The body style became Minolta's standard manual-focus SLR body, so the XG-M strongly resembles subsequent Minolta cameras.

The XG-M supported both aperture priority auto exposure and full manual mode. For aperture priority shooting, the shutter speed dial was set to the A (auto) position. The photographer would set the aperture on the lens, which would be visible in the viewfinder by means of a small periscope beneath the image. The camera would decide on the correct shutter speed according to the reading of its center-weighted average metering. This would be displayed in the viewfinder: a column on the right of the image showed all the shutter speeds, and an LED would light next to the chosen speed. The automatically selected exposure could be adjusted by means of the exposure compensation dial on the left; compensation of plus or minus 2 stops could be selected in half-stop increments.

In manual mode, the XG-M would use that LED to display its recommended shutter speed. However, to select a shutter speed, the camera had to be removed from the eye; the speed selected was not shown in the viewfinder. Speeds between 1 second and 1/1000 second could be chosen, and there was a BULB mode for long-duration exposures.

The camera is battery dependent, needing 2 LR44 or equivalent button cells to operate.




Minolta MD Rokkor 50 mm f/ 1.4 - fast prime lens for a 35mm SLR with Minolta SR (MD, MC) mount.

The lens feels fantastic, focus is buttery smooth and the weight balances well. Optical qualities wide open and the effective focal length of 76 mm on APS-C cameras make the MC Rokkor-PG an excellent portrait lens.
It got the typical optical performance of a spherical Gauss-derived fast 50mm lens.
It's ergonomics are excellent, with very grippy and smooth-turning aperture and focus rings.

Personally, I never seen bad fifty from Minolta and this MDI 50/1.4 isn’t exclusion. It has enough resolution for portraits even wide opened, becomes great on F2.0, ready for landscapes from F4 and absolutely sharp over the whole frame on F5.6. It provides creamy bokeh and light bubbles with contrast borders, this bokeh can be described as ‘classic’ – beauty and predictable without any pronounced features

The first thing any shooter is likely to notice when grabbing hold of the MD 50/1.4 is just how excellent it feels in the hand. Minolta lenses are known for being solid, and the 50/1.4 does not disappoint. It’s a hearty lens that feels delightfully hefty. While lenses from other brands might feel loose, fragile, or squeak and rattle when squeezed, the Minolta does not. It feels tight, compact, and strong. Were the nameplate removed, one could be forgiven for thinking it a German lens (Minolta did, in fact, design and build lenses for Leica). It weighs a healthy 235g, putting it right in the middle of the pack when compared to other 50mm lenses, but it’s compact in a way that many of its contemporaries simply aren’t.

Optically, the MD50/1.4 is second-to-none in its class. Minolta’s engineers knew what they were doing when they carried over the optical formula used in the much more expensive MD 50mm f/1.2. This seven element in six group design offers ample correction of optical aberrations, and provides exceptional resolution and contrast.

Sharpness is fantastic, even when shot wide-open. Corners suffer a bit of softness, naturally, but it’s nothing in comparison to some other fast primes we’ve shot. The Minolta performs among the best we’ve tested in this regard.

The ability of the lens to resolve sharp images at f/1.4 opens up a whole new world of low-light shooting possibilities. When light conditions allow, and when sharpness is valued, stop the lens down to f/2 or f/4 and things become outstandingly sharp across the entire frame. At f/8 we’re seeing sharpness to rival many higher spec (and higher cost) lenses.

Bokeh is phenomenal. Partly due to the close minimum focus distance, and partly due to the lens being simply exceptional, you won’t find better bokeh in a competing 50/1.4. When shot wide open, background blur is exceedingly smooth, creamy, and blended, and depth-of-field is super shallow. Bokeh curve is predictable and nicely modulated without any drastic changes through the aperture range. At its widest aperture the lens creates impossibly thin depth-of-field. While this value will change dependent on range to subject, at the minimum focus distance the DOF is razor thin. Some shooters will love this, others won’t care. Shooting portraiture in bright light at f/4 results in perfect subject isolation and dreamy backgrounds. Even at f/8 it’s possible to get extremely organic looking bokeh behind up-close subjects.

Compatibility for digital and film shooting is a non-issue. For shooters using Minolta film cameras, the MD 50/1.4 will work with quite literally every SLR the company made between the years 1958 through 1998. That’s pretty amazing, and offers a world of choice for us analog shooters. For photographers using today’s mirrorless cameras and DSLR machines there are countless inexpensive adapters available. Make sure the adapter you buy allows infinity-focus and enjoy worry-free shooting with any Minolta SR mount lens (these include all lenses marked MC, MD, Rokkor, Celtic, and 3rd party lenses).

If you’re a mirror-less shooter who has yet to invest in legacy lenses, or a Minolta film shooter who’s looking for the perfect standard lens, now’s the time to buy. And there’s no better place to start than Minolta’s MD 50/1.4. It offers an unparalleled blend of quality, performance, and price. A lens that’s more robust than Canon’s, more reliable than Olympus’, and less expensive than Nikon’s, the Minolta MD 50mm f/1.4 may just be the best legacy 50mm out there.



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