Minolta Hi-Matic 7 rangefinder film camera

Here’s another awesome rangefinder film camera from the 1960’s. Are all cameras from that era made like a brick? And yes, I love it! The Minolta Hi-Matic 7 is the second 35mm film rangefinder camera from the Hi-Mitac series and the first to have the option to set the exposure manually. The camera can run with batteries (auto setting and light meter), or fully mechanical. And as mentioned these cameras are made to last – I got mine fully working and just needed some cleaning. Although, as with most of my vintage cameras, I won’t bet too much on its lightmeter. I shoot most of my cameras in manual anyways.

As for the looks, the camera is very boxy and simplistic, a design seen on most cameras during that era. The Minolta Hi-Matic 7 is also big and heavy. Personally I don’t mind, it makes the camera feel indestructible (which I think it is) although ergonomics is not the best especially when holding the camera for a long time. As with most Minolta rangefinders, the aperture and shutter speed controls are on the lens which is nice but they are too close to each other that you can accidentally move both unintended.

One of the best feature of this camera is the beautiful 45mm f1.8 lens. It renders nice images that are sharp even wide open. Also placed in front of the lens is the cds meter, which is great when using filters because the cds will compensate for the filter attached. If the Minolta Hi-Matic series has one frustrating flaw, it would be the wobbly lens syndrome. Mine has a bit of a wobble but luckily it doesn’t affect the image quality.

Another great feature of this camera is that it has a big and bright viewfinder and rangefinder patch. I mean, looking through the viewfinder is always a pleasure and focusing is easy too thanks to the very bright rangefinder patch. Unlike most rangfinders the patch is shaped diamond instead of the conventional square shape. I prefer square but I have no complains either. Also speaking about non-conventional, to open the film back you need to pull down a latch at the bottom side of the camera instead of the normal pull up on the rewind knob. Again, no complains here and it might be a better design to avoid accidental opening of the film back.

Here are some photos I took with this camera using a Fujifilm 200 35mm film.

I really liked how the lens render the images and how sharp the images are even at f1.8. 45mm is also a versitle prime focal length because it gives a little more space compared to the standard 50mm while not being too wide that you need to be too close to your subject or introduce any distortion. The Minolta Hi-Matic 7 is one of my go to casual film camera especially if I don’t mind dragging a big camera with me. Definitely not my first option for street photography though 😂

So there you have it, first blog of 2025. I have been on some haitus lately enjoying the holidays but I am back and ready to hit 2025 running! More awesome content coming this year so hopefully you continue to enjoy reading my blogs. I plan to be more active making videos aswell so please check out my YouTube channel. Until the next one, Salamat at Manigong Bagong Taon!