Popular Photography Magazine Archive

[Audioraven]

I came across this Popular Photography archive on Google Books the other day. It's a great resource, especially for you 35mm film photographers out there. It includes almost all issues from JAN '81-DEC '99 and also JAN '05-DEC'08.

Here is the link: https://books.google.com/books?id=r...issues_r&cad=1&atm_aiy=1980#all_issues_anchor
https://books.google.com/books?id=r...issues_r&cad=1&atm_aiy=1980#all_issues_anchor
Enjoy!

 

[Audioraven]

Thanks Karl! Glad to see somebody enjoyed these.

 

[Karl vd Berg]

I want to thank you for this priceless gift, AR. Ready and easy to read, doesn't need to download anything.

The other day I spent a few hours reading some issues from around 1982 to 1984. A real joy to read them. I definitely need a bigger monitor.

LOADS of excellent pro tips from people who really knew about gear and Photography. And the wonderful atmosphere reading these old mags, even nice ads of various manufacturers and offers, price lists from camera dealers as well.

Below, I want to share a few pictures of a random issue - March 1982...

(Edit: since it is now for free reading online, I hope I'm not breaking any copyright law, just showing what's available there)

 

[brian222]

I used to read every page back when I had a Minolta 102 or 201...whatever...looking a the next lens I could afford.

 

[Karl vd Berg]

And some smart ads were smarter on double page mags...

(from January 1981 issue)

 

[Wildcat]

March 1985 issue (pg. 70) was the debut of the Minolta Maxxum AF SLR. I ended up buying one about a year and a half later. Kind of neat to read about it all these years later. I still have my original lenses in fact, using them on a Sony Alpha DSLR body now.

Used to have a subscription and would read them cover to cover.

 

[Karl vd Berg]

The 7000 is still a nice camera! I had it, too.

Bought it second hand (around 1993?) from a friend with an "ordinary" 35-70mm f/3.5 AF that was surprisingly sharp for a zoom lens. In fact, there is somewhere an article about comparison on 3 of these versatile 35-70mm zooms - Nikkor, Zeiss (for Contax MF) and the Minolta AF. All of them quite impressive.

 

[Wildcat]

I bought a newer Maxxum body around 2003 (it was a refurbished Maxxum 4, I believe), and I couldn't get over how much faster and better it worked than my old 7000. But the 7000 never gave me any problems. It was heavy and solid. One issue I had with the Maxxum 7000 was the battery life--it used AAA batteries and they would die rather quickly. I bought the accessory AA battery holder, which made the grip a bit fatter (which was good, as I have larger hands), and that improved battery life quite a bit. I had the 50/1.7 lens that came with it, plus the 28-85 zoom with macro. I had also bought a 75-300 Sigma that was OK, but in later years the barrel would slowly slide out of position (this one, you pulled the barrel in/out to zoom, vs. rotating on the Maxxum lens). I bought newer lenses with the newer Maxxum body due to their weight, but I suspect those used plastic elements vs. glass, as the 28-80 lens was half the weight of my older 28-85. (I've kept all of the lenses.)

My favorite Maxxum trick was to use the flash and take a photo in complete darkness. I had a cheaper knockoff flash, but I think the better Maxxum flash had a powered zoom head on it (vs. manual in the flash I had).

Such memories.

 

[Karl vd Berg]

I think the Dynax 9 was my last Minolta film camera. Such a beautiful machine. I bought it new in Nov. 1999 with a 17-35mm f/3.5 G zoom lens ($$$$) and used it till 2004 when it was sold to a collector...

As for the 7000, I also had its later competitor, the EOS 600 (EOS 650 in N. America, released in 1987, Canon's first AF camera I think), but the 7000 is better built and solid.

Tough competition times!

 

[Wildcat]

My dad was a Canon user. I forget which older model he had (it was pre-SLR, probably late 50s origin), but he also had an AE-1 Program. It was another trendsetter in its day, and I know he got a lot of good use out of it. The funny part is that when I sold both cameras, I got a lot more money for the old Canon than the AE-1 Program!

My cousin was a photographer (and is now a cinematographer who has shot TV series in the Los Angeles area), and he always preferred the Minolta lenses. That is one reason I went with their SLR when it was time for me to purchase one. There might be better systems out there now but for my budget (and my old Maxxum lenses), the Sony Alpha DSLR body is suiting me just fine, and does everything I want.

Nice Dynax! Didn't they have a digital Dynax as well? That would have been just before they sold out to Konica.

I also remember the Maxxum 9000, which had a few extra "pro" features to it. And the entry-level 5000.

 

[Karl vd Berg]

Yes. Both "old" Rokkor lenses and the newer G series are very good lenses. The 17-35mm f/3.5 G (see below picture) is still superior to the first EF 16-35mm f/2.8 (first version) in terms of sharpness, vignetting and distortion.
It was said that, when bought the company, Sony hired the Minolta staff behind the G lenses. Minolta quality then still lives on.

And Sony could release a new Dynax 9 digital version, but I guess their mirrorless A7 cameras changed a bit everybody's plans...

New Zealand, Stewart Island, July 2000
Dynax 9, 17-35mm f/3.5 G, Fuji Sensia 100 - (scanned by Nikon Super Coolscan 4000 ED) - the slide is much sharper