Vintage Camera Review: Minolta SRT-201 35mm Film SLR Camera

You can find the coolest stuff at your local thrift store. Over the past six months, I've had fun rummaging through shelves filled with classic 35mm film cameras. With renowned names like Minolta, Canon, and Nikon, I knew I was looking at equipment that once cost hundreds of dollars and was now just cruelly thrown in a box and dropped off with Goodwill. One of the first photography treasures that I found was a classic Minolta SRT-201. It was dirty, banged up, and missing a lens cap. But, the lens was clear, the camera focused, the film lever advanced, and the shutter fired. I decided to take a chance. I liked the idea of a nearly totally manual film camera because I wanted to learn more about the art of photography. Fully automatic film cameras like my Canon Sure Shot Z135 and Canon EOS Elan 7 were simply making life too easy. And to paraphrase John F. Kennedy, we choose "to do these other things not because they are easy, but because they are hard."

I'm fairly new to serious film photography, but the decline of film has made many classic vintage cameras affordable. For example, my Minolta SRT-201 was about $20 at one of my local thrift stores. Once I got my Minolta SRT-201 35mm film camera home, I cleaned it up a little and dropped a few dollars on a camera bag, a 55mm lens cap, and a new battery for the internal light meter. The battery and lens cap were about $12 and the camera bag was another $10. Since I was used to lightweight digital cameras like my Kodak Z950, I was most immediately impressed by the heft and weight of the SRT-201.

The Minolta SRT-201 really is built like a tank. However, I appreciate that since I have experienced problems with more lightly built hardware. For example, I once damaged the bottom of my Canon EOS Elan 7 35mm film camera just by setting it down on a stone wall. The circa 1975, Minolta SRT-201 might be able to beat down that wall. The bottom and top of the camera are clearly metal and the camera body feels pretty solid. The old camera clearly has some history. The Japanese-made Minolta Rokkor-X lens has a slight ding that might make it difficult to screw in a filter. The lens itself is of a standard 50mm focal length and has a 1 to 1.7 aperture range.

For my initial shots, I just used cheap film from the drugstore. I visited swamps, scenic roadside views, lakes, and forests. I took great shots! If only I had found and read a manual. I ruined my first roll of film by forgetting to push the button on the bottom of the camera and forcing the rewind issue. The film simply snapped. I lost a few pictures off of the second roll by opening the back of the camera before the roll was completely rewound. After that, I downloaded a manual off of the Internet and learned how to load and unload the Minolta SRT-201 correctly.

For my next couple of rolls, the photo technician at my local drugstore still griped that the end of my film was bent a couple of times and she had to fish it out with a paperclip. This prompted me to experiment a little more with my film loading technique. Once I got it right, it was easy. It's amazing how auto loading and auto rewinding film cameras and film free digital cameras can spoil us. Sometimes the money-saving retro lifestyle takes commitment.

Despite my bungling with film loading and unloading, the rest of the controls of the Minolta SRT-201 are surprising easy to comprehend. Through the viewfinder, it is easy to read the shutter speed and light meter. With a quick twist of the lens, I can set the appropriate aperture for lighting conditions. While I'm still a beginning film photographer, I think that a manual focus film camera like the Minolta SRT-201 will be helpful in learning and really gaining an understanding of manual settings for aperture and shutter speed. The internal light meter and manual focus are a lot more precise than the zone focus of my vintage Kodak Retinette 1A. My first few rolls of film have turned out very well and I'm looking forward to gaining more experience with this classic camera.

For less than $25 and a little practice, the Minolta SRT-201 can take far better pictures than an entry-level digital camera like my Vivitar Vivicam 7022. The classic camera is one of the great things guys can find at a thrift store. With super low prices at thrift stores and at online auction sites, you can't go wrong with a classic film camera like the Minolta SRT-201.

Sources:

www.rokkorfiles.com