A charity shop find, this camera is apparently a descendant of the X-300, but not a direct one.

It appeared as late as 1990, is largely plastic and was made in China, so it's very reminiscent of a low-end DSLR. Lightweight (comparable to a D40 with lens mounted), but with an old-fashioned manual film advance - a big attraction for me. The lack of a motor wind almost makes up for the loud shutter. It feels like a toy, but a fairly robust one. I'd feel happy taking it somewhere dodgy or where it was liable to be damaged.

Aperture priority automatic exposure, or manual, along with the suggested and chosen shutter speeds (1-1000, plus Bulb), shown in the viewfinder by very responsive red lights. Runs on 2 x SR44 batteries: the electronic shutter needs them to fire.

Viewfinder clear and bright, some distortion towards the extremities, focusing screen precise. Chosen aperture available beneath the viewfinder, via a judas window. For this and the shutter speed scale to be visible a modicum of light is necessary. No rubber eyecup on the viewfinder, which for a spectacles wearer like me could be an issue; nice to see the VF cover thoughtfully threaded onto the strap. The strap is the kind I prefer - thin, with a wodge of rubberette for the shoulder.

Mode wheel, situated below the shutter release, a little fiddly. The exposure lock is ergonomically brilliant: front-mounted, it means you can operate it, shutter release and wind on comfortably with thumb and two fingers. There is also a power switch, which Minolta counsels should be left off to reserve battery power, but that you might want to leave it on in case you miss a shot... the agony of choice.

Hotshoe, of course. Connections for motor wind on base. Screw-in release to the side of the lens mount.

No exposure compensation, but ISO adjustable from 12-3200, so that will do.

The 50/1.7 MD lens which came with just needed a clean, feels good, focusing down to 45cm, possibly even less. A nice touch is the half-stop detents from f/2.8-f/16 - like a Leica lens, even down to the red dot :-) Its minimum-aperture lock is redundant on this model as there is no programmed AE.