Hello from the North of England

[Jaybee]

Hi,
My name is John. After wondering for many years what happened to Minolta Club I have finally found this site. I have been a Minolta fan since 1977 when I bought my SRT101b and graduated to an XD5 some time later. I still have the XD5 and it still works along with the 50mm f1:7 that came with it. I couldn't part with the XD5 but moved on to a Dynax 700Si and have finally succumbed to the digital age and have a Sony Alpha. I have to admit I was a bit sceptical about digital but now love it.
I see that the old Minolta club finally closed. I used to receive Photoworld/Image and remember attending one of the workshops run by David and Shirley K at Fountains Abbey I think.
I have hung on to my collection of Minolta Mirror 1978 -1993 in the hope that they might be worth something someday but there doesn't seem to be much of a market for them. I see there is a place on this forum for buying and selling so may try my luck there. Anyway, glad I found you and I'll start wading my way through the site.

John

[Dr. Harout]

So in your case John, we have to say welcome back.

[David Kilpatrick]

Hi John - yes, we did do Fountains Abbey, and a strange retinue it must have been with Adrian Paul, a model from the agency he had started up, two kids and one nanny coming along with Shirley and me. The magazine is still going, but the club events like meetings are much reduced - almost to a single day in Scotland, and one or two things around London. We have had no support or funding for any activities for twenty years now, it all ended in the economic mess of 1988 and the Gulf War which killed our bookings for workshops and travel events. Shortly afterwards Minolta took a big hit from the Honeywell lawsuit, almost ruined them, and they never were able to do as much again.

The membership is now fairly international, but we still have hopes for reviving some UK activities.

The Minolta Mirror collection would be a great purchase for anyone able to collect it. They, again, belong to past era when Minolta had money to spend. But you need to find someone within collecting distance!

David

[KevinBarrett]

Greetings! Ever read any Larry Niven, Jaybee?

[Jaybee]

Hi All, Thanks for the welcome.
Kevin,
Sorry never heard of Larry. A quick Google shows there is a Sci Fi author and a photographer of the same name but not known to me.

John

[KevinBarrett]

Ah, it was a long shot. The main character in one of his better stories was named Jaybee Corbell. I hadn't ever seen the name besides that. I didn't know there was a photographer!

[Dr. Harout]

Ah, it was a long shot. The main character in one of his better stories was named Jaybee Corbell. I hadn't ever seen the name besides that. I didn't know there was a photographer!

In this case our photographer is John B. (initials J.B.)