Ease of use, drop and load, picture quality, ruggedness.

gears, ISO 400 questions?

I got the Minolta GX-2 for Christmas in 1998. As far as I'm concerned this is/was a great camera. It lasted trips to Vancouver, across Canada, and most of my university years. Unfortunately, like the previous reviewer, I was under the impression that it would take ISO 400 film. Apparently it does not. It didn't even make the first frame before it blinked that infamous "88" on the LCD screen. Although I believe that the ISO rating should not have a mechanical effect on the camera, it seems like a pretty strange coincindence to me. Upon examining the camera, I realized that several teeth on one gear were squashed, making the camera virtually useless. This broke my heart as I really loved this camera. Alas, all good things must come to an end. This is an excellent camera though. 4/5

Water resistant. SIMPLE to use. Shape makes it easy to use one-handed (right handed). Very solid feel to it. C H P bright-line frames are easily seen in the viewfinder (very useful!). Needs only one CR-2 battery per 20 rolls (or so the specs say). Has self-timer (which I haven't used).

When my friend gave it to me, I researched it on eBay, and sellers there claimed that it used 400 ASA film. Be forewarned... IT DOES NOT! On a new battery, I shot two rolls of 200 ASA and then inserted a roll of 400 ASA. When I did this, the camera "outwound" it only as far as frame 15, stopped, and started to blink the flash icon, "88" and the low-battery icon on its LCD. Thinking that the battery may have died after only two rolls, I bought ANOTHER CR-2, but it hasn't helped.

Now, the film is partially extracted into the camera body, I can't remove the film cartridge, the LCD is still blinking icons at me, and I can't find a mid-roll rewind control! So as of now, the camera seems locked in an unusable state.

Based on my BRIEF experience with Minolta's Vectis GX-2, I'd steer clear of ANY APS camera that lacks a manual control for mid-roll rewind! If anyone has any suggestions about how I can remove the film and continue using this fun camera, please email me at dave_powell_1@lycos.com I'd appreciate it!

Thanks!

Dave

Customer Service

Tried emailing Minolta's FAQ/upport site, but received an auto reply that it accepts queries only about registered cameras.

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