After reading this article by Alex Luyckx, I decided to invest in an example. I found one with a lens and instructions for under £25, a bargain, and a week later it was sitting on my shelf. Alex’s post has many technical details and a history of the camera’s origin, so read it if you want to know more or read it because it is a great blog.

Apparently, this was one of the last SLRs released by Minolta before they merged with Konica. I was drawn to it by the styling and the example photos in Alex’s piece.

How pretty is that? I took the photos after some gardening on a recent spring morning. I was planting loads of sunflowers, strawberries and tomatoes. So expect photos of those in the near future…if they grow. Last year, the slugs and birds ate the lot.

Anyway, back to the camera. I have tried several other Dynax models, and they all worked well despite some having issues. They are usually plasticky, have lots of modes, weak battery doors, occasionally have yellowing viewfinders and often have rubber grips that are degrading. This example seemed to be in excellent condition, with no degrading, yellowing and an intact door.

It was released around 2004 and has a maximum shutter speed of 1/2000th. I would write about the modes, but there are loads, too many to mention. It even has two setting dials. In fact, as I have the manual, here are some of the pages with the relevant information…

They are a selection of pages from the manual, I would recommend having one for this type of camera. You can see on one of the pages, the viewfinder has plenty of information for you. That feature always elevates a camera in my opinion.

I loaded my example with a short bulk rolled Fomapan and headed to Blackpool, then finished the roll in Leeds. I used the 28-70mm kit lens that came with the camera. I also used the built in flash a couple of times. Here are most of my results.

The camera was a delight to use. It was responsive, focused quickly, and as you can see, chose perfect exposures. I loved it. The fact that it accepts Sony lenses is a bonus, not that I have anything other than kit lenses, but they would fit.

I am especially impressed with how well it handled backlit subjects. The carousel horses were next to a window with blazing light, yet they were perfectly exposed. I was even impressed by the built-in flash. For both shots, the subjects were sitting across a table from me, but the photos are not blown out in any way.

I much preferred using this model and its look over the 505si, so I gave that camera away and will be keeping this one.

I am sure I will use the 60 again in the future, but not for a while. April will be a Voigtlander month, all posts will be based around their cameras. I have some in my collection which I will reuse and have some new ones to try. After that, May will be a Purma month. I have a new addition to that line of cameras that I am excited to try for the first time…it is what reset my GPS counter.

And finally…YEAH!!!! Spring is here at last, and the clocks go forward tonight!!!