So
with a few minutes on my hands today I felt like talking briefly about one of
the greatest cameras of all time. Yes, of all time! The Minolta Maxxum 9000, the worlds first
PROFESSIONAL auto focus camera. I
believe it was introduced sometime around 1985-86 maybe, and set the stage for
every camera company on the planet to play catch up to Minolta again.
The
camera features tank like construction, titanium pinned shutter curtains, high-speed
flash sync, and shutter speeds of up to 4000th of a second. Auto Program, Aperture, Shutter and full Manual
modes. Two professional grips were
available with battery packs to extend camera life and high speed
shooting. The camera were impervious to
dust and moisture. Though not 'water
proof', mine has seen plenty of time in the wet covering events.
The
auto focus, slow by today's standards was amazing and made shooting 'grab'
shots a breeze. Minolta had an excellent
line of autofocus glass that was lightweight when compared to the competition
because Minoltas patented auto focus system brilliantly placed the auto focus
motor into the body, and not in the lens like everyone else. This results in a camera that has superior
balance even when using long focal lengths because the only thing in the
lens is glass.
I
really miss using this camera. It is
very heavy, but feels great in the hands.
The solidity and heft harken back to a time when a Professional camera looked
and handled like a serious precision workman's tool. No one picked this beast up and thought of it as anything but.
The
all metal construction, composite top, paint over brass and rubberized palm
grips both front and back made using the 9000 a joy. Even the motor drives oozed with quality and
offered up that wonderful clean razor sharp click when firing off shots in
succession. The 9000 could blast through
a 36 exposure roll of film in about 7 seconds.
Additionally,
like any professional camera, the 9000 had an endless array of accessories and
backs, including multiple user changeable focusing screens. It
also sported the most sophisticated flash system of any camera ever made.
All
in all, it was a huge home run for Minolta.
Oh and it was bullet proof.
My
1986 example has gone through countless rolls of film, without ever needing so
much as one repair. I often wish that
we could turn the clock back and begin shooting E6 again. It was so easy and the images were always
beautiful. I don’t ever remember losing
a shot with this camera, or it ever delivering a bad one. Not ever.
If
you're up for a modern classic, seek out a clean 9000. You won't be disappointed.
