I’ll admit that this was an exercise in frustration, but I think I made the best of it. This camera came to me by way of my local camera shop, who took it in with a mixed lot. It had some problems, and was handed off to me to see if I could get it working properly again.
Prior to the usual cleaning and light seal ritual, I started to work on the mirror return mechanism, which I thought was the main problem. The shutter would lock open with the mirror in the up position. I cleaned and lubricated all of that, and it helped immensely. I went to shoot a short test roll, only to find that the meter was very inconsistent. After finding and fixing that problem, the film advance failed.
I was starting to wonder if I had bitten off more than I could chew. I kept digging and located the source of that problem, rectified it, and loaded it with film. Again. The cherry blossoms were in bloom, so I went down to our local art museum grounds to stroll and shoot.
All went well, right up until some beautiful light shone through the trees and I was gifted a perfect scene. One shot left on the roll…meter…focus…compose…and then I pressed the shutter release. The shutter locked open, the viewfinder went black, and I might have said some regrettable things. Such are the adventures in vintage analog photography.
Minolta’s XE-1 is known by different names, depending on the geographic market: XE in Japan, XE-1 in Europe, and XE-7 in North America. What is special about its genealogy is that it is a result of the famous collaboration between Leica and Minolta. It has been called a Leica R3 in Minolta clothing, but that is not entirely correct. This camera does share some internal workings with the R3 but it is a different camera.
The XE occupies an interesting place in the evolution of Minolta cameras, and SLRs in general. Photography has always been driven by technological advancements, and at the time, electronics were the future. The XE has at its heart a mechanical shutter governed by electronic timing.
Even though it has an electronic brain, the body is solid muscle. It is quite weighty and exudes quality workmanship and design. Everything about it is smooth and it feels good in the hand. I might even say that it feels better than my beloved SRT-xxx cameras. There seems to be an increased sense of refinement that may have resulted from the Leica collaboration.
Specs are largely unremarkable, as many of its contemporaries share a similar set. There are a couple of notable features, however. First is that the shutter speeds go down to four seconds, largely owing to the electronic timing. Second is the multiple exposure switch. This disengages the film advance but allows the shutter to be cocked for subsequent exposures on the same film frame.
Perhaps it is the locations of certain features that make this camera feel different. On the far left top of the camera is a little unmarked lever, which when pressed downward, lights a small LED in the center. This is the battery check. The On/Off lever is on the back of the top, just right of the viewfinder. This must be switched to “On” to use the camera. That turns on the meter and the electronically controlled shutter. Just right of that is the frame counter and film load indicator.
On the front of the camera is the self-timer, depth-of-field preview button, X/FP flash type switch, PC cord socket, and the lens lock release button. All of that is pretty straightforward, except that the DOF preview button is opposite of the typical configuration. It is disengaged when it is pushed all the way in. By pressing it, the button unlocks, pushes out, and engages the aperture for previewing the depth of field.
Across the top, left to right, we have the exposure compensation dial and the film speed dial, both of which lock. The pentaprism holds a typical hot shoe. ON the right side we have the usual controls: shutter speed dial, film advance lever, shutter release, and multiple exposure switch.
On the back there is the aforementioned On/Off switch, frame counter and film load indicator. Left of the viewfinder there is a viewfinder blackout switch. Below the viewfinder is a holder for the end tab from the film box. This can serve as a helpful reminder of what film is loaded. The bottom features only the battery compartment, tripod bushing and film advance release button. There is no provision for a motor drive.
I understand the hesitation to get into some of the other X-series bodies during to the poorly-aging capacitors, but the XE doesn’t appear to be plagued by those. As I understand it, the capacitors in the XE are the more reliable type of tantalum capacitor with less tendency to leak and fail. This camera had enough problems; at least the capacitors aren’t one of them.
It doesn’t play music, feed the dog, or do the dishes. There are no features that stand out as groundbreaking or earth-shattering. This is simply a well-refined, full-featured solid camera that is an absolute pleasure to use. The shutter is quieter than one might expect. Advancing the film is as smooth as my Contax 139 or Nikon F3.
Part of its charm is that it is a Minolta, and Minolta lenses are both wonderful and inexpensive.
Minolta doesn’t get the love it deserves, either for their lenses or for certain camera bodies. I’m not sure this body ages well, as most that I see for sale online are either inoperable or untested. I would love to find one that behaves as it should.
Upon developing the film I discovered that I had missed the focus on otherwise easy subjects. This made me suspicious about its focus accuracy. I checked it closely and determined that indeed the focus is off. Most of the time that error was hidden in a generous depth of field, but shooting the 58/1.4 or the 200/2.8 wide open exposed its secret flaw. Unfortunately this is a difficult fix on this model.
I contacted Garry’s Camera Repair, arguably one of the leading Minolta resurrectionists, but he had little confidence that the shutter issue could be repaired. It will be temporarily relocated to the repair box, but not forgotten.
Specs:
Designation: Minolta XE-1 35mm camera (XE, XE-7 in other markets)
Introduced: 1974
Manufactured: Japan
Lens Mount: Minolta SR (often called MD mount)
Weight: 765g (27oz)
Shutter: Leitz-Copal electronically controlled focal plane metal shutter (B,X are mechanical)
Shutter Speed range: 4 seconds-1/1000 second plus bulb and X (sync), stepless in auto
Flash Sync: 1/90 second
ASA range: 12-3200
Hot shoe: Yes
Meter: Full-aperture compensating TTL
Modes: Metered manual, aperture-priority
Battery: 2 x LR44 1.5v batteries (or equivalent)
Self-Timer: Yes
DOF Preview: Yes
Mirror lockup: No
Multiple exposures: yes