Minolta 7000

The Minolta 7000 was launched in February 1985.  Although not the first autofocus camera (the Pentax ME-F was one of the ones that preceeded it), it was the first really succesful autofocus camera.  Minolta abandoned the lens mount they had used up until then, introducing the new A mount (still used on Sony cameras today).  It was heavily reliant on batteries: the wind-on was motorised, the exposure was input via buttons with no batteryless manual option, the lens had no aperture ring and that had to be set via the body.  It is very much a child of the '80s, with push-buttons and LCD screens.  (Its big brother, the Mintolta 9000, is famous for the LCD screen leaking.)  A new range of autofocus lenses were launched to go with the new cameras.  Here, I have fitted the AF35-105mm zoom.

This camera belonged to my friend Kate Rook, who sadly died in 2000.  Her father, Tony Rook, gave me her camera a few years later.  It still works fine.  I have since picked-up a second 7000 body with a 50mm f/1.4 lens.