I have the X370s and even paid to have it repaired, That's how much I like it and the X700 was even better. It's a little sad to see so much quality discontinued, but digital has a lot to do with it. Contax is a good example and I always associated that name with quality, Now it's gone. too.

It's not too late, you can buy used X700's and MD lenses. I still use my X700 and am very pleased with it.

I still have two X-700 bodies, my first I purchased new back in 1983. I have since bought the PowerGrip,MotorDrive and Auto-Winder. The X-700 is an excellent camera and although I don't shoot with mine much these days, they still take great photos. I doubt that I'll ever part with my X-700's.

I have 3 X700's, some old Minolta rangefinders (not the CLE, my Holy Grail), and a Maxxum 9. I take better pics with the X700's because I'm not relying on the camera as much. And that's even though I have better lenses for the Maxxum 9.

Unreliable, cheaply made POS. Circuit board failure, broken film transport, broken film rewind lever (made of plastic!) and (multiple) capacitor failure. The X-700 is well known for the latter, along with the cheap plastic used in the film transport mechanism. Compare the internal construction and mechanism of an old FE-2 to the X-700 and you will see the shortcuts Minolta took. Oh, my X-700 was a Japanese model, BTW. Chinese-made X-700 models seem to have even more problems. I'll never buy another Minolta.

I just picked up an X-700 body, several lenses, and equipment as part of an estate. I'd like to see if it's functional but have no owner's manual. Anyone know where I can get one or short of that what sort of batteries the body takes.

Check out this web site for battery info:

http://www.batteryvalues.com/Minolta-x700-digital_camera-batteries-product-b320.aspx?gcid=c11058x009

Also, you should be able to download the manual from the Minolta website. Go to www.minoltausa.com. If you use the KonicaMinolta URL, it takes you to some kind of third party site.

Thanks a ton for the manual link.