Minolta Hi-Matic 7 rangefinder

This was in excellent condition a big chunk of camera with a very nice lens only issue was the very faint image using the rangefinder although all the mechanical gubbins work including the parallax correction and the case was in poor condition but did its job protecting the camera.

There was no need to change any light seals as this camera doesn’t need them all the seals are mechanical (very nice engineering 🙂 ).

Like most cameras of this time it used a mercury cell as the voltage was steady throughout its life at 1.35 volts fortunately a zinc air A 675 hearing aid battery is a good working replacement with a very similar voltage and a flat voltage output but may require a little help as its size is not the same as the original an alkaline battery such as the EPX625G could be used as it is size for size to the original mercury cell but will give slightly variable reading dependent on the voltage through its life.

The Hi-Matic 7 is no lightweight but still nice to handle.

A user manual can be downloaded from here User Manual Hi-matic 7

 

Manufacturer Minolta
Model Hi-Matic 7
Type 35mm rangefinder camera
Film 35mm (Type 135)
Picture size 24 x 36 mm
Lens Fixed. Rokor PF lens 1:1.8/45mm (6 elements in 5 groups). angle of View 52 degrees
Filter size 55 mm,  Lens hood 57mm push on
Focusing Double image matching system by rotating the front component of the taking lens. Coupled Rangefinder
Focus range 0,9 meter – infinity
Viewfinder Marked Finder with 0.49 magnification. With parallax correction marks f stop scale battery check
Shutter Mechanical Leaf Shutter speeds B, 1/8, 1/15, 1/30, 1/60, 1/125, 1/250, and 1/500
Self timer Yes
Exposure Automatic or Manual and Multiple exposure (ME)
Exposure meter Built in CLC exposure meter coupled to shutter auto compensates for filters and lens attachments
Exposure range EV 5.7 (f1.8 at 1/15 sec) to EV 17 (f22 at 1/250 sec) with any film.
Battery 1.35 Volt mercury battery type RM-625
Film speed setting ASA 25 – 800
Flash Sync Cold Shoe and……. X sync flash contact at all speeds with electronic flash
Film Advance Manual, single stroke .
Dimensions 140 x 82 x 74 mm
Weight 720 grams