They never die,period nuff said.

NONE

I own several cameras in the SRT series and I can't imagine being without them. I also own several Olympus models and a Nikon or two all of which have had various issues over the years. The only ones that have come through without fail are the SRT's. Whenever I am doing some important photography they are always the ones I turn to.

Customer Service

Only preventative maintenance like CLA.

Similar Products Used:

Olympus OM-1, OM-2, OM 10, Nikon FG.

incredible build
quiet (seriously!)
mechanical
accurate meter
accurate focusing
easy film loading

dimmer finder (compared to x570, an excellent finder)
dim shutter speed scale in viewfinder
awkward on/off switch

This review is for the srt 202, An amazing camera! I expected the camera to feel "old" and "clunky", however it is just as fast and capable as you want it to be. The exposure meter is accurate (mine's been converted to 1.5v) as is the focusing. The viewfinder is noticeably dimmer than my x570 and this sometimes does not help in low light situations, but again, it is accurate (more important). the viewfinder has FULL information, showing shutter speed and aperture. however, the shutter speed scale is also a bit dim. I also am surprised at how quiet the camera is, no it's not a leica, but it is not any louder than my x570. in fact, it might be a bit quieter. the camera is well built and heavy and i love this about it, it feels solid in my hands. I love that it is mechanical and virtually indestructible. Flash metering is not great with my 360px, (again, x570 ttl much better) but i dont expect it to be. flash sync is mechanical too, no need to turn on the camera for flash. the on/off switch is a bit awkward but i think i will learn to get used to it. the camera is very simple and has virtually nothing to break. also, the film is easier to load than my x570. if you are looking for a tough, capable camera, look no further

Customer Service

not used, its over 30 years old....

Similar Products Used:

minolta x570 (have i mentioned that yet?)
minolta x700
minolta x370
canon elan 7e

-Solid, mostly metal, heavy and well-made -Plenty of available excellent, used and reasonably priced Rokkor-X MC and MD lenses -Make all settings yourself

-Loud shutter and mirror slap. ('KA-CHUNK!' compared to a muted 'snick' on Canon EOS Elans) But that's the character of this camera. -Uses discontinued 1.35 mercury batteries but there are alternatives including using a hand-held meter. -Meter on/off switch is awkward to use. -Unusually long winding stroke for the advance lever

I remember this as one of the popular cameras among high school students back in the 70's. It was clunky, large and noisy. At the time, the "in" cameras were the compact SLRs such as the Olympus OM-1/2, Canon AE-1, Nikon FM, Pentax MX/Me, etc. They made the SRT's look so archaic. I picked up a used SRT-201 w/50mm lens about 10 years ago for nostalgia. I took it out the next day with a 20+ year old Rokkor-X 24mm lens after snowing the night before to give it a test run. I loaded it with 100 ISO color film and headed out to a nearby nature center for some snow scene pictures. A couple of days later, I got the pics back and surprise, surprise, the lab wanted to enlarge a couple to put up on their customer gallery. One photo was blown up to 11x14. The exposure was right on and the edge to edge sharpness was amazing. (Although I used a 1.5 instead of the 1.35 mercury battery the exposures were fine due to the color negative film). This is a no frills, do everything yourself, built like a tank camera. Like all older manual mechanical cameras, you are in control of every aspect before you click the shutter. It is a joy to use.

Customer Service

Not needed

Similar Products Used:

Nikkormat FT3, Nikon FM/FM2, Olympus OM-1

Easy to use for an all manual. I was able to pick it up, and within fifteen minutes knew how to work it.

Weight, it's heavy, and for quick shots you'll need to have everything pre-set in anticipation.

My first SLR camera, I found it at a garage sale where the last owner had upgraded to a digital camera and gave it to me at the above price because "I looked like I knew what I was doing" It came with three lens (one has broke since..but I have purchased a replacement zoom). Overall an excellent camera, all manual and mechanical which means if the batteries die it will still work, just no light meter.

Customer Service

MinMan group on Yahoo.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta HiMatic 7s, Zenith B

all..its an endless machine

the meter stops..i hear..but not on mine

i have just returned from a succesfull and very nice holliday with my son in mallorca ,spain. the camera i brought with me was the srt 100 x and the pancake 45 F2,0 lens,and some rolls of my beloved Reala 100 iso films.i was a little worried about the shots since the meter is ..well very very old.. But oh my God the pics was som so nice and good looking only few shots totally under and over exposed and this old machine keep clicking and clicking and....every time i wanna give it up..im astonished how pro the pics i get from the Ool Srt..BUY IT

Customer Service

nope

Similar Products Used:

many..oh boy..nikkormat..and so on and so on..

Very durable, very reliable, all mechanical. Simple match needle light meter. Extensive range of high quality lenses. Widely available used bodies and lenses, and not expensive either. Service and support still widely available.

Mercury battery. Although they last a long time they are now hard to find. The camera can be re-calibrated or adapted for other types of batteries. Light seals and mirror foam deteriorate with age, but can be replaced at low cost. These comments apply to almost all 30 year old SLR cameras.

I also purchased an SRT-101 in the early 70s. In the first few years, it travelled and was used very extensively, but it has been in regular use throughout these years. Like a hammer, it has just kept going and going. It was obviously a great design and well constructed. To give myself some of the credit, I have always used a lens cap and have always kept the camera in a case. I have acquired 2 more SRTs in recent years, one from a used camera shop and one from eBay. Favourite body - SRT-202. Favourite lenses - 58mm f1.4, and recently 45mm f2 (very sharp, and also cheap!), and also others from 35mm to 200mm plus a 2x converter. There are usually 30 to 40 SRTs for sale on eBay at any time. Although they're all 30 years old, most of them appear to be working cameras. The same cannot be said for the later X series Minoltas, which are electronic to varying degrees.

Customer Service

My original SRT-101 has never been serviced (but deserves one now). Later used cameras - SRT SC required a shutter service plus light seals, and SRT-202 required light seals plus meter recalibration for different battery. This work was done at shops in Toronto (Commercial Camera) and Calgary (Athena Camera) for very reasonable cost.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta XG. Various 35mm point and shoot. Rollei and Yashica TLR.

Durability Easy to handle Works without batteries (except meter)

Limited availability of new lenses

I purchased my SRT-201 back in the early 70's and it has been my workhorse camera since. Over the years I have acquired another 35mm body (Minolta X-700) and 2 medium format cameras, however, for general use, I keep returning to the SRT, mostly because it's just a good basic camera. No bells and whistles to fuss over. The meter recently quit working, but that's not much of a problem since I use a hand held meter for most of my exposure determination. Besides, I never quite liked the way the SRT metered outdoor scenes anyway; it seemed to overcompensate for the sky, thus leaving foreground subjects slightly underexposed. Now that the meter's dead, I don't have to worry about batteries since the remainder of the camera functions are all manual. When first introduced, Minolta had an extensive selection of lenses available for the SRT's. Unfortunately, most of the Minolta line today only consists of a few primes and a few zooms. Many of the older MC and MD series lenses can be found on the used market and e-Bay for reasonable prices. The Minolta glass is quite good.

Customer Service

none needed.

Similar Products Used:

Minolta X-700