Hand-me-down Heroes : No. 8

We love cameras. We love geeking out about their wiz bang specs, elaborate craftsmanship and proudly share/boast about our technical and ergonomic marvels. This series however, will open the aperture on perhaps an oft overlooked aspect of our gear: sentimentality.

Hand-me-down Heroes is a new series aiming to share the stories of the machines that started us down this rabbit hole. Bequeathed by a family member or close friend, these are the cupid cameras that pierced us with the arrow of photographic obsession. Though they may no longer be our daily workhorses, lack some luxurious features, or missing that brand image, the memories they’ve witnessed and the valuable lessons learned have no price tag.

Aleks Zajac: Minolta Maxxum 7000i

My hand me down camera is an old Minolta Maxxum 7000i, it belonged to my late uncle who unfortunately passed away a few years ago. The stories I have heard about the camera came from my cousin and my dad. My cousin would always tell me how beautiful the photos were that came from this camera whilst my dad told me how when he visited my Uncle in Chicago he was excited to show him this camera as it was fitted with auto-focus and it was such a new thing at the time.

From time to time I use the camera however unfortunately the plastics on the body are brittle so I had to sticky tape it up however the images from it are really good and it’s super easy to use.

One day I will hand it down to another family member and with its help keep film alive for future generations.

Instagram is @alzjac

Kind Regards
Aleks

Do you want to be a part of Hand-me-down Heroes? If you’d like to share with us on Japancamerahunter.com, send us a short story of what/ how you acquired your Hand-me-down Hero and relevant photos, optimally sized 1500px across.

Oh and don’t forget your contact details (Insta, website, flickr et al). Send your Hand-me-down Heroes here.  And please make sure the shots are good quality, you are a photographer after all. 

JCH