Minolta Freedom Explorer EX Panorama 28-75 Zoom Date 35mm Camera

I got this camera almost two years ago and never had a problem with it. It got stolen recently and now I'm shopping to replace it with the same model. After reading other reviews I was reminded that the only problem I really had with the camera was the viewfinder. It was hard to find. Other than that the camera was great. I even dropped the dang thing like 10 times and it still worked great. So, buy it. :)

The camera broke before I even finished my first film. Very unreliable.

The Minolta Freedom Explorer EX camera worked great for my first 3 rolls of film. After that, the auto-focus feature did not work well and all my pictures were out of focus. I changed the battery but there was no improvement. Obtaining "customer service" from Minolta was virtually impossible. I was able to find a Minolta authorized dealer in Florida from a list on Minolta's web site. The camera was sent for repair and it took 6 months (Yes, SIX months) for it to be sent back to me. It was returned with the lens cover not working properly (it only retracts half way and it does not close entirely) and with some improvement in the focusing but still not acceptable. Again, getting help from Minolta or the dealer was impossible. Minolta didn't even respond to emails that I sent to their customer service department. Although the features of this camera were very attractive to me, I have since bought a digital camera from SONY and a 35 mm camera from Kodak. I don't think I will ever again buy a product from Minolta. Be careful!

For under $200, this is probably one of the better point-and-shoot cameras. The Minox CD-140, ... is nice too, but a little pricier.

It is near perfect! It has autoexposure with center-weighted metering, 4 modes you can select between for dummy-proof GREAT shots you might otherwise screw up, infrared focusing, uilt-in flash with "red-eye reduction" (but this only works so-so). It also has a panorama mode, but most people never use this. The date imprinting, and self-timer are nice additions too.

I ave TWO complaints though. 1) Small viewfinder for your eye to look through and compose the picture. 2) Only a 28-75mm zoom; most other zoom point and shoot cameras in this price range have a longer zoom (like up to 100 or so) so you can get closer to the action/image.

Overall, it's a GREAT buy.

I had the junky Yashica before I purchased this Minolta. This Minolta is an excellent camera. You won't regret buying it. The film results were clear and crisp. No blurry prints with double faces showing-up like on the Yashica. This camera has features that work just as the instruction manual describes (pretty unusual for me). Simply awesome!