Despite it's status now as a "
junk store camera", there will always be a special place in my heart for my
Minolta Hi-Matic 7s rangefinder. This was my first "real" camera -- it was given to me by my Grandfather when I was about eleven years old, after I found it at the back of a closet.
The Hi-Matic is built like a
tank. It's solid, and the light meter still works great. It uses the
now-illegal PX-625 mercury battery, but luckily most good
camera stores have mercury-free replacements, or even
adaptors. I think I'll have to get one of those soon.
You can probably pick up a Hi-Matic on e-bay for about $30, maybe less. So go ahead, you won't regret it.
